Q&A: Who cares about soca? October Stats

As a web mistress, I've learned all sorts of things I never dreamed of before.  Once of my biggest facinations is checking out the vistor stats for www.nurse-karen.com .  Some say I travel a lot, but there are still so many places that this blog is enjoyed, where I have yet to visit.  I thought about that and realized that many of you don't realize just how many people (in how many places) are interested in soca music and culture. So, I thought I'd take a moment to inform you about the people who read this blog!

All statistics below refer only to the month of October 2009.  They vary from month to month depending on what music is out, which carnivals are approaching...and what we take the time to post.  Ready?  Here goes...

Top 10 most popular post with Nurse Karen Etc readers?
With more than three years of valuable soca information online, Nurse Karen Etc now boasts more than 2000 individual posts.  Last month, these were the most popular posts to visit: (go ahead and click to see them yourself)

1. Free Download:  Eden Miami Carnival Mix by D'Bandit and Private Ryan
2. Booster Shot:  Artistes Doing Their Lil Bitts for Charity
3. Eye Unit: Happy Birthday Problem Child
4. Booster Shot:  French Canadian Soca Ambassador Featured in Fader
5. Eye Unit:  Happy Independence SVG
6. Booster Shot: Destra is Pregnant!  (originally posted on August 20th!)
7. Booster Shot: 2009 International Soca Awards Nominees are Up
8. Nurse's Lounge:  Miami Bacchanal Wednesday
9. The Rounds:  October is Calypso History Month
10. Booster Shot:  The Asylum Family Sticks it to Miami Promoters

Top 10 Most Common Searches on Nurse Karen Etc
Last month 1153 visits to Nurse Karen came to us via online search.  As the web's most comprehensive portal for contemporary soca news updates, there's no question that people come to us for all sorts of things. Here are the top ten

1.  Nurse Karen / Nurse Karen blog
2.  Destra Garcia Pregnant
3.  Soca Awards
4.  Roy Cape Honored at World Creole Festival
5.  Calypso History Month
6. Miami Carnival
7. Fay-Ann Lyons
8.  Soca News
9.  Claudette Peters
10. Ninja Dan

Where do Nurse Karen Etc Readers live?
1. Unites States of America    37 %
2. Canada  23 %
3. Trinidad and Tobago   11%
4. United Kingdom   6%
5. St. Lucia   2%
6. St. Vincent 2 %
7. Barbados 2 %
8. France 1 %
9. Germany 1 %
10.  Sweden   1 %
11.  Jamaica   1 %
12.  Antigua and Barbuda  1 %
13.  Grenada   1 %
14. Belgium    1 %

The remaining 10 % of visits come from 82 other countries in the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, South America, The Middle East, Australia and Africa.

The market for soca is vast, diverse and growing every day.  I truly appreciate the interaction, support and feedback I get from readers around the world.  Hopefully Nurse Karen Etc helps you see that what many consider to be a small, season, niche music genre has a widespread audience all year long.  To show your love in a more tangible way, be sure to visit our online advertisers whenever you surf in, so we can continue to provide the best in soca news and info to 95 countries worldwide!

Love and Soca,

Nurse Karen

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Booster Shot: French-Canadian Soca Ambassador featured in FADER

Ghislain Poirier and Nurse Karen after our meet and greet in Toronto

Listen to the Ghetto Palms 76: Poirier Soca Mix while you read:

I got pretty excited earlier in the week, when I found out that FADER online chose to feature a soca mix on their "Ghetto Palms" DJ page. Love it or hate it, the mix I'm talking about wasn't dj-fied by a Caribbean-based or even Caribbean-descended sound. The man behind it is Ghislain Poirier. He's a french-speaking Montrealer of good old Quebecois roots.

We met last spring in Toronto. At the time, he was on an international tour promoting his Soca Sound System EP. He produced 4 tracks of original soca, one that features Trini DJ/Artiste Dawg-E Slaughter. Due to his genuine interest in penetrating the scene (that and his unrelenting pursuance of good media), he looked me up and arranged for us to sit down for a chat.

Later that night, me and my cousin Slimmy checked out his set at downtown's swanky Drake Hotel.  We wukked our waists into a frenzy, as the beats-per-minute increasing incrementally without us even knowing it. The night was incredibly fun.  I had no choice but to give credit where it was due as he digged into his digital crates to pluck rare gems that rarely play at your typical soca party.  It didn't matter. No one in the crowd had a clue about the music - no one but us, that is.   Trying as they may, our critcal ears could not interfere with our waistlines.  The set was incredible.

If you search the internet, you'll find the Poirier brand everywhere. He travels coast to coast in North America, and Europe may as well be the far corner of his playground. He flies. He spins. And he flies again. next month the Poirier Sound travels to; Mexico, France, Belgium, The UK, Sweden and The Netherland.

The media loves him too. Quite frankly, dear soca fan, I think it's about time you get to know him. Despite the misfortune of not having any sunny and spicy West Indian blood in his veins, Poirier is quickly establishing himself as a major ambassador for our music. He takes soca through doors it never dreamed of, and in some cases never knew existed.

Poirier doesn't only do the soca thing though. He's an avid student of world music styles, whose introduction to the anglo-Caribbean stuff came through reggae and dancehall. But soca's maniacal BPM's offered him a new weapon for the clubgoers on every coast, and he gladly welcomes her to his arsenal.

* boom *

Love and Soca,

Nurse Karen

P.S.   Read the FADER feature HERE
         Follow Ghislain Poirier on Twitter

Wanna send a little big up out to Ghislain Poirier for being a courageous ambassador of Caribbean music, with your Canadian passport.  Kudos on the growing list of accolaides, and we'll catch you in Toronto on November 22nd.

PULSE CHECK:  How do you feel about non-West Indians playing and creating soca music?

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Digest: Amazing April

(Nurse) Karen (Digest): Amazing April!

Happy Easter! Wishing you and yours all the blessings of this exciting time of year, pluse all the great food that goes along with it!

Random Newness: This month Florida’s DJ Crown Prince makes his debut as a Soca Artist. His first song “The Anthem” featuring Skinny Fabulous was recorded on “The Nurse Karen Riddim”, produced by Afterdark. Get it Free & all your fave hits from Trini Carnival on Supa Soca Vol 12: http://mustardseedmedia.blogspot.com/2009/04/free-download-crown-prince-supa-soca.html


Journalism: Nurse Karen is psyched about finally meeting a few industry peeps she’s been watching for a while now. This month, she’ll be interviewing Montreal electro DJ Ghislain Poirier whose revolutionary mixes are bringing soca music to the mainstream dance scene. She’s also looking forward to sitting down with Grenada’s Brother B about his plans for Spice Mas 2009. If you follow her on twitter, you’ll be notified as soon as the articles are posted! http://twitter.com/nursekaren

Travel: As we mentioned last month, Karen’s taking care of business at home for a little while. However, she’s coordinating arrangements to cover Atlanta Carnival in May. If you’re looking for an affordable cultural getaway, why not come along? http://www.atlantacarnival.net

Poetry: Good news and bad news. Good news first! Karen will be performing a spoken word set at the album launch of “Pleasure in Pain by Devon “The Split” Jones, on April 27th in Toronto. Wanna reach?

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?sid=d3badc5a64b1972cb50446f6d0e91597&eid=68915791729&ref=search

Bad news... After performing poetry locally and internationally for half of her life, Karen finally applied for a government grant to record her own spoken word album, featuring original music by some of the Caribbean’s top soca producers. Sad to say, she didn’t get the money! There will be an album though. Stay tuned! Learn more about Karen’s work as a writer in this clip from her interview on Island Style TV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrZW0nsB2UQ

Community: Thanks to Corey Graham 2.0 in Barbados, there’s an easier way to tell MySpace why you think they need a soca category. All you have to do is visit the link below, fill out the form and click send. Do it now! http://www.coreykgraham.com/socanow

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