When Julian Marley steps out onto the stage Saturday at Howelsen Hill, he won’t just bring his well-known Grammy-winning reggae career. He’ll bring decades of musical growth rooted in his family legacy, the spirit of reggae and a message that continues to resonate across generations.

“It’s been one musical road, one musical journey,” Marley said, looking back on the path that began with his 1996 debut album “Lion in the Morning.” His most recent album, “Colors of Royal,” earned him a Grammy for blending his roots reggae sound with messages of peace, equality and love — foundations he sees as inseparable from the music itself.

Those themes, Marley believes, are more than lyrics. They’re a calling in his life, as well as in the lives of others.

“The message is love, peace, justice and equality,” he said. “That’s what reggae music is — a heavy-duty machine to carry the heavy-duty words of inspiration and upliftment.”

Raised in London, Marley was surrounded by a strong Jamaican cultural presence, including the legacy of his father, the late Bob Marley. He credits both his parents with shaping his love for music, as his mother filled their home with sound combined with the influence of his father. While Julian did not know his father well, he views the shared musical legacy as inescapable.

“I didn’t grow up with my father,” he said. “I only probably have one memory of him really.”

But what he lacked in shared experience, he gained in spiritual connection through reggae music. His father’s songs and the stories shared with Julian by those who knew him became an inspirational form of cultural and spiritual inheritance.

Marley calls it “a university for my music.”

Despite that inheritance and shared legacy, he’s careful not to frame his path as a matter of duty.

For him, it’s about authenticity and the joy that comes with the music that he loves to create and perform. He doesn’t see himself as carrying a torch. Instead, he feels that he is simply following the rhythm that’s always been within him.

“You do it because you love to do it,” Marley said. “Music is in the spirit, in the genes.”

His Saturday performance will feature a mix of new songs and older favorites, offering something for longtime fans and new listeners alike.

This concert also marks a return to a place Marley fondly remembers. He last performed in Steamboat several years ago and recalls the people and atmosphere as warm and welcoming.

“It was a great vibe, man,” he said. “The people were loving and great, the music, everything was nice.”

This time around, he’s bringing even more music to share as he kicks off a two-week tour stretching through the mountain states to the West Coast.

While natural settings like Steamboat’s mountains inspire him, Marley said it’s the people who truly fuel the connection he seeks to create.

“You can speak to the mountain, but the mountain won’t respond back,” he said with a laugh. “We’re here to see the people.”

That connection, he added, doesn’t always happen through the simple matter of presence. Often, when he’s on stage, he’s deep in the music, in what he describes as “a trance” — a state where he feels inspiration takes over and the performance takes on a spiritual aspect.

“Once the sound is right and the stage is right, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “You could be playing to the crocodiles, even they would enjoy it.”

Though reggae has expanded its reach since its inception, Marley believes the foundation hasn’t been lost. The heartbeat of the music itself — what Marley sees as a “deep, rootsy pulse” — still resonates with people worldwide.

And while the sound has continually evolved, the message has stayed the same.

Today’s world, according to Marley, needs reggae just as much as ever. While the challenges that inspired the music may have changed, it remains a guidepost to those who create it and those who love to listen to it.

“These times, it’s still rough now,” Marley said. “So it is as relevant as it was, and it is as present as it is also. And very needed.”

Marley said he hopes the crowd in Steamboat comes out ready for what he and his band have been building using that framework. He compared it to a pressure cooker filled with love, rhythm and spiritual energy, just waiting to be shared.

“We want Steamboat to be steaming,” he said. “We want the people to be there and to come get some of this good vibration, this love and this music that we have building up.”

Julian Marley’s performance Saturday at Howelsen Hill, part of the Steamboat Free Summer Concerts series, is free and open to all ages. Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. with opener Mighty Mystic taking the stage at 6:30. Marley will perform at 7:30 p.m.

For more information on the free summer concerts at Howelsen Hill, visit KeepinItFree.com.