The evening of August 24 will be a hot one at Mine Oyster with King Hammond opening for the Boston Ska band, Bim Skala Bim.

What's ska? Ska is a music genre originating in Jamaica in the late 1950s. The precursor of reggae, it combines Caribbean mento, calypso, American jazz and rhythm and blues.

King Hammond, aka Nick Welsh, is a Grammy-winning musician and songwriter from across the Atlantic in Londontown. He began his musical journey in 1977 playing gigs with his band, The Dead, in now legendary London punk venues like The Roxy, The Vortex and The Nashville. He appeared on several (mostly DIY punk) singles now selling on eBay for a lot more than it cost to make them.

In 1987 he recorded three songs: “King Hammond Shuffle,” “Right on King Hammond” and “Skateville UK.” The first two were used on ska compilation albums and the third took on different route when it was covered and released as a single by Bad Manners, in which Hammond was the bass player. Hammond's version of the song was later used as the theme song for the UK television show “British Tribes.”

In 1989, Bluebeat Records released King Hammond's debut album, “Revolution 70.” The LP received good reviews encouraging Hammond to record a follow-up, “Tank Tops & Hot Pants.”

Unfortunately, Bluebeat Records went into liquidation and the record was never released — until 1992 when Receiver (a Trojan Records offshoot) issued Hammond's followup in a 25-track album, “Blow Your Mind,” that also contained previously unreleased material.

It wasn't until 2010, when Welsh recorded and released “The KING & I,” the first of his material in 21 years, that he could properly promote one of his albums. He toured in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Germany and throughout the United Kingdom. He has produced five more albums and has collaborated with the Argentina band, The Crabs Corporation.

For 30 years Welsh has worked with some of the greatest Ska and Reggae artists in the world: Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken, Rico, Dave Barker, Judge Dread and others.

A little known musical fact is Welsh writes music for TV. Some of his the shows he wrote the theme songs for include “The Osbournes,” “Malcolm in the Middle,” “Ugly Betty,” “Pimp My Ride” and “LA Ink.” Dave Wakeling, writing for The English Beat, describes Welsh/King Hammond's music as “top drawer ska.”