On De Scene: Vincy newspapers disrespecting Soca Stars

Well, ah know dis one go be a shock to de Nursie... to see a post from me after so long. Hahaha. But after today's newspapers came out ah had was did have to commment. By now we all now how well Skinny Fabulous, Zoelah and Tabia did in the Int. Soca Awards, with Tabia winning 'BEST NEW FEMALE SOCA ARTISTE'. Zola winning, "FEMALE SOCA VOCALIST & FAVOURITE GROOVY SOCA OF THE YEAR", and Skinny Fabulous winning in all 5 categories where he was nominated: "BEST NEW MALE SOCA ARTISTE, MALE SOCA PERFORMER OF THE YEAR, OVERALL MALE SOCA ARTISTE OF T HE YEAR, SONG OF THE YEAR & FAVOURITE UP TEMPO SOCA (MALE).

Well, in today's papers, the story was printed on Pg. 52 in the Searchlight Newpaper. Lemme say dat again in case yuh ain't really ketch.. FIF-TEE-TOO. Now in the same paper on page 2, is some story bout somebody find some long lost relative. So this is more important news than our premier musical artform making great strides?

And if dat nah bad enough... in the News Newspaper, the story was on the second to last page... sharing the page with the weekly update on "THE BOLD & BEAUTIFUL". Like whatever de hell Ridge doing with Stephanie, is of more consequence than Skinny taking all the awards.

Is only outta respect for the Nuss, and my blogging family mek ah don't type two clean dutty word to go with this.

Anyhoo, I had to take time out of compiling the Top 10 Countdown for tomorrow nite to let allyuh know how the print media views our Soca artistes. Ah gone. Til next time.

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Eye Unit: Happy Birthday Tabia!

Nurse Karen and Tabia in St. Vincent, July 2009

This year more than ever before, soca fans internationally are getting to know the name Tabia. She is St. Vincent's only female member of the LIME Soca Dans, a sponsored group of soca artistes that includes popular local artistes such as Jamesy P, Fireman Hooper and Luta.

In 2009, she participated in a project that took her name beyond SVG through the rest fo the Caribbean region and beyond.  It was a little song called "Boom Boom Boom", written and produced by St. Lucia's Courtney Louis. By now you are probably one or the combine 85 000 people who have watched the remix video on YouTube.  It has long been on the Toronto-Lime dot com charts, and now even gets regular rotation on MTV's Caribbean station, Tempo.  Not a bad feat for someone who's fairly new to the business.

So today we wish her a Happy Birthday.  Clearly, the girl has been putting in work this year.   Tabia let me know that she's taking a weekend vacation with her girlfriends to celebrate the occasion.

Like a true workholic.  She will be mixing business with pleasure by appearing on BoomTribe Radio this evening for an interview on Mix 96.9 FM, before she goes out to party.  If you're online between 6 and 9 pm Eastern Standard Time, you can tune in by clicking HERE

(That's between 5 and 8 pm for listeners in Toronto, Montreal, New York, Atlanta, Miami)

In the meantime, here's another look at BOOM BOOM BOOM featuring Nathy from France

Love and Soca,

Nurse Karen

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The Rounds: Shurwayne Winchester and Y.O.U celebrated 1 year, etc!

Originally aired on Flow 93.5 FM in Toronto "Soca Therapy"

In this edition:

- Shurwayne and Y.O.U. celebrate one year (Trinidad and Tobago)
- SVG goverment promises money to artists (St. Vincent and the Grenadines)
- Problem Child's Mad House Tour Reality Show (St. Vincent and the Grenadines)
- December carnivals: St. Kitts, St. Croix, Montserrat
- Soca or Die (Canada)
- This week's soca birthdays: B.V.I, St. Kitts and Nevis

Good Evening Soca Lovers,

I’m Nurse Karen and these are Dr. Jay’s Rounds. Last Tuesday, Shurwayne Winchester and YOU celebrated their 1st anniversary together as a band. The event took place at Woodford Cafe in Trinidad, the same place they held their very first performance just one year before. Since then, they have the have grown as a cohesive unit, opened their own band room, produced the ABX Riddim for Carnival 2k10, and recorded 18 of their own songs. Shurwayne announced that Y.O.U. would be releasing a new album on the 1st of December.
The very same date marked the 30th anniversary of independence for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. There’s all kinds of reasons why something like that is important news for the rounds, but allow me to give you one more. To mark the occasion, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves announced the government’s plans for an economic stimulus package that includes 1 million dollars in grant money to be doled out to its cultural entrepreneurs. It plain English, the soca artists are getting cheques in the mail just for being creative. Boyyyy, nothing says happy Indy like free money.

Speaking of SVG, I’m not sure how many of you knew that St. Vincent’s Roadmarch king, Problem Child has his very own reality show. It’s called the Madhouse Tour and it launched on St. Vincent’s K45, Iktv channel in the fall. I never mentioned it to you before, because there were no videos online. Well now there are. If you surf over to youtube, You can see funny clips of the artist’s adventures all over the place, including....TORONTO.
We all know that Trinidad Carnival is coming in February. But there are actually several other Carnivals before then. In December three other Caribbean Islands will heat up with the sounds of soca, and theatre of mas; St. Kitts, St. Croix (USVI), and Montserrat. The 2009 Montserrat Festival calendar was just released this past week, with a packed agenda of activities from December 4th through January 1st.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Today is only November 1st. So, happy birthday goes out to soca artist, Lincoln Ward in the British Virgin Island. Then on Saturday, the Parade of Scorpio b-days continues. That night will be the 1st ever Soca or Die Surprise Birthday party for Dr. Jay and friends. Hope you got your tickets! But it’s also the birthday of Juliette Mills from St. Kitts, Tabia from St. Vincent, and Scarface from Trinidad. Don’t look surprised, we already told you November is the month of the Soca Baby!

Before I go...good news. Knycky Cordner performed again with her band Ventures for the 1st time since her hip surgery earlier this year. Happy to see the girl back in action!
I’m Nurse Karen and those were Dr. Jay’s Rounds. To get the news first, be sure to visit nurse dash Karen dot com or follow me, nursekaren on Twitter. Now back to de Docta!

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Eye Unit: Boom Boom Boom by Tabia and Nathy (Video)

Love to see good quality videos for soca artistes. If that kinda thing gives you sweet dreams, you should enjoy this one. Here's "Boom Boom Boom", the remix.

It's an international collaboration of talent, the likes of which St. Lucian producers have been facilitating for a while (especially with European artists).
You'll enjoy a beautiful montage featuring two hot artistes, and the gorgeous scenery of St. Lucia! Enjoy!

Song Title: Boom Boom Boom
Artists: Tabia (St. Vincent) and Nathy (France)
Riddim: Boom Boom Riddim
Composer/Songwriter: Courtney "Curty" Louis (St. Lucia)
Producer: Courtney "Curty" Louis (St. Lucia)
Engineer: Francis "Leebo" De Lima
Director: Emanuelle Bruch (France)



Love and Soca,

Nurse Karen

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Booster Shot: Vincy Ragga Soca Results...Maddzart is King

Man what a night. When I say the competition was steep....I really mean it.

Lemme not stall tho.

And the winner is Rayon "Maddzart" Primus with "Is Me Friend"

Danielle Veira came 2nd with "I wan me soca"

Skarpyon rounded out the top three with "Soca Love"

I'm kinda in a rush to take a late night swim...but here's my 2 cents.

Maddzart was the obvious crowd favourite tonight. It was a big night for his whole band with he D'Lanlord and Tamisha all making it to the finals. His presentation was simple and effective. His song tells a story (that happens to kinda sorta refer to somebody with the same name as me). Maddzart portrayed the scene of being tossed out of his house with an actress who did his show justice..and a couple a dudes whose antics kinda made you feel sorry for him about the 'situation'

Danielle...boy that girl looked beautiful tonight. She is really coming into her own this carnival. It's obvious that her camp was in it to win it...and they came super close. She was looking like cleopatra in a vegas style presentation with a bevy of beauties who decorated the stage in feathers, corsets and top hats. Flawless vocals. Very memorable.

Skarpyon in my opinion is a consistant performer. You can trust him to take the competitive aspect seriously. He always utilizes beautiful costuming and talented dancers. This year's song isn't nearly as possible as his work in previous years, so his placement was a big surprise to most. However, he did perform the tune very well.

Honourable mentions:

Tabia - vocally strong, she looked hotter than ever, showing an edgier more grown up version of herself to the crowd. She should be proud tonight. She really rocked it.

Fullclip - I really enjoyed his stage show. He was dressed like Alladin with three beautiful genies emerging from a giant bottle on stage. I think Fullclip has long been overlooked as one of SVG's great talents. On my way out, I had to congratulate him. Tonight the crowd got the point too. They were really into his performance!

Zoelah - Among many in the media area, Zoelah was the pick to win. Her song has been popular since the onset of the carnival season..and is already making its way into regular rotation on Flow in Toronto (the station I'm on every week)

D'Landlord - First performer to really work with his song to engage the audience. I don't know if everyone was watching..but he showed real experience and personality. I think his number is coming up. The right year, the right song...you never know.

Ok...gots to go...the beautiful pool is waiting!!

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Booster Shot: SVG Ragga Soca Finalists announced

Dani-O

On Friday, June 26, 2009 fifteen competitors will vie for the Ragga Soca Crown. This year it is anyone's game. Last year's champ, Dani-O will not be defending her crown in 2009. In fact she will not be participating in Carnival at all. The 24-year-old has stepped away from singing soca music, to delve deeper into her Christian beliefs.

A list of finalists was released to the media in St. Vincent and the Grenadines yesterday, but I guess I`m not on that list.

So, I had to dig up the info the old fashioned way - I asked the artists, djs and other media people. Here's what I came up with. No worries tho, it's legit. 10 males competitor, 5 female. (Not that you were keeping score...but I am!)

D'Lanlord

Danielle Veira

Elegance

G Wise & Oscar

Lady D

Tabia

Icon

Maddzart

Troots & Ice

Radikal

Fullclip

Skarpyon

Squitty

Zoelah

Tamisha

HS Phaktor will accompany the artistes on stage. That's Bomani and Shaunelle McKenzie's band, if you didn't know. I'm excited! I'll be arriving in St.Vincent the very same morning. So you done know, I'll be there! Ragga Soca Monarch will be the first show I get to see live! Can't wait!

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Artist's View: Luta on the LIME Vincy Soca Dans Launch

Luta and Nurse Karen in St. Vincent, 2008

Oh goooooooooosh carnival come again! I love carnival in all its forms. Love it best when it's something that everyone can enjoy; old and young, rich and poor, black and white and every colour in between. So, I was totally excited to here that the Vincy Soca Dans and their big sponsor LIME threw a big FREE party for the public on Friday in Heritage Square, Kingstown.

Lucky for YOU, one of the stars of the show was kind enough to let us know what went down! LUTA de crowd motivator was there to lead his posse into the hearts of the fans just as the season heats from a simmer to a boil.

Formerly of the band Signal, Luta was a dub artiste turned Vincy soca star whose career began in the 1990's. Since then he's boasted hits like "Busy Tone" featuring Skinny Fabulous, and you may remember seeing him in the 2008 Soca Monarch finals in Trinidad, singing "Hey" with Tony Prescott.

If you stilllllll don't know Luta, look him up! He's making a lot of buzz this year for a tune called "Rumbo". It bad still. But to me, I will also think of his crazy signature wine. Presssshhhaaa!

Here's what Luta had to say about the LIME Vincy Soca Dans Launch!

Enjoy!

Karen me girl!

Heritage square was packed like never before as soca lovers anxiously awaited the launch of the LIME Vincy Soca Dans package for carnival 2K9.

The square was transformed into an atmosphere of euphoria as LIME left no stones unturned in the branding of the square, this certainly set the pace for great thinks to come later in the evening.

The entertainment segment got started when Adrian Bailey's Hottsand hit the stage with Johnnie Rebel as their lead vocalist, the band went through a repertoire of hits from the past and present, they had people dancing and singing the sweet refrain of the well known old school songs. The session got even sweeter when Gideon James took the stage with his usual silky voice, serenading the ladies in the audience.

The atmosphere was about to take a turn for the hype and exhilaration of the much anticipated LIME Vincy Soca Dans. Jamesy P was the first of the Soca Dans to hit the stage and he did so in fine style singing the unofficial theme song of the Soca Dans "We Will Survive", this was followed by a string of hits from the Nookie Man like "Bashment" & "Rogaltic". At this point, the people went into a "Tipsy" frenzy and I, Luta "D Crowd Motivator" entered the stage alongside Jamesy P doing the "Tipsy" song from last year. I then went into his popular 2009 hit RUMBO which had everyone singing to the chorus "They calling me RUMBO", "Shake" was next on my repertoire and the ladies really enjoyed this one as they showed how to shake their posterior meat!

I used my usual magic in introducing Tabia on stage as she showed that she has developed as one of St. Vincent's finest female artist. Her petit structure and powerfully sounding, sweet voice makes Tabia an artist to look out for in the near future.

Making a guest appearance with the Soca Dans was Katalyst out of Barbados. Katalyst is a former lead vocalist with the band Square One. She delivered her 2K9 hit "Make Me Go Off" which I am featured on. The large crowd was very appreciative and give her a big round of applause as she left the stage.

The live concert was about to catapult into high gear as Jamesy P re-entered the stage to do his #1 hit song for 2K9 "Ants In Yo Sugarpan". The place went into a frenzy, and it was pandemonium when Jamesy P and me started free-styling on the Sugarpan rhythm. I then went into my up-tempo songs which had the large crowd jumping and waving.

Heritage square was about to be jolted into chaos when I introduced the 6 time soca monarch Fireman Hooper on stage, it was mayhem on the square as people went literally crazy to the mad performance of the Fireman. He left the stage and had scores of people asking for his return. Fireman returned to give the large crown a taste of his 2K9 hit "Finders Keepers".

The evening climaxed with the entire LIME Vincy Soca Dans on stage at the same time as we thanked our many fans, well wishers and all present for their continued support. The icing was placed on the cake when the Soca Dans gave a surprise acapella rendition of "We Will Survive", much to the delight of the large crowd.

Thanks Luta. You write real well King!

Sounds like a great show! Big up to LIME for streaming the entire launch LIVE on the internet. Hundreds tuned in. So, I'm sure that as the season unfolds we will see so much more of you. Can't wait!

Love and Soca,

Nurse Karen

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Booster Shot: Mavado releases his first soca collaboration

So this past weekend in St.Lucia, Courtney aka "Curty" Louis and co-producer Francis "Leebo" released their much anticipated "Boom Boom" riddim for Carnival 2kwine! 

Nurse Karen in St. Lucia with co-producer, Leebo

Perhaps much of the aniticpation was the result of this: one of dancehall's brightest young stars made his soca debut on it! Jamaica's self-described "Gangsta for Life", lends his voice to the caribbean's happiest genre, soca! I'll be the first to tell you, on the track "My Life", Mavado sounds just like his signature style...bringing a dancehall flavour to a riddim that is otherwise authentic groovy soca.

"After creating the riddim, I wrote lyrics for the song, "My Life,"...with Mavado in mind offcourse. I then sent the riddim and lyrics to Mavado and his team by email, who then sent me the vocals for his part of the song. Right after I contacted Baby Blue and he and I worked on his parts, and the rest is history..",

Three songs premeried on MC Scady's program on Radio Caribbean on Saturday afternoon.


- Whole Day (Wuk) - Qpid (St. Lucia)
- Boom Boom Boom - Tabia (St. Vincent)
- My Life - Baby Blue (St. Lucia) and Mavado (Jamaica)

My Life - Baby Blue & Mavado

Nurse Karen with artiste, Qpid

A few more titles entered St. Lucian circulation on Tuesday of this week:

- Hot Gal List - Boone Chatta (Germany), one half of the internationally acclaimed Soca Twins sound crew.
- Who are You - Zionomi (St. Lucia) ft. Bobby Bling (Jamaica)

In Toronto with Soca Twins (Boone is the cutie on the left)

I always try to give a little shine to the producers. So it's time to big up the puppetmaster behind this peculiar assembly of talent - the one Courtney Louis. He's a St. Lucian who is well known and respected in Trinidad's music community, especially since he helped to slap together the track that would earn Machel Montano a roadmarch win for Jumbie. In 2007, he shared the accolaides for Soca of the Year and Song of the Year. However, it was the Song Writer of the Year Award that really turned heads.

In fact, the Boom Boom riddim was so named after the title track, which was written by Louis and performed by Tabia. Songwriting is definitely his strong suit, having either written or co-written all of the tunes on the riddim.

In St. Vincent with artiste, Tabia

Curty says he's got a lot more surprises this carnival: " The season hasn’t even started yet. We have at least two other riddims working on that will include power and groovy vibes. I have plans to work with a number of Saint Lucian and regional artistes. A few to mention are, Mr Killa ( Grenada ), KMC ( Trinidad ), Beenie Man ( Jamaica ), and Marie Anne ( St. Lucia )."

That's all folks!

Love and soca,

(Nurse) Karen

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On de Scene: Tabia on de "Boom Boom" Riddim

Last Weekend, I caught up with Vincy artist Tabia inside the Club as she came into St.Lucia to record another of her 2009 Carnival tracks with two of St. Lucia's finest producers. Many may recall Tabia last year with her notable track "Feeling It" featuring Luta from the Lime Vincy Soca Dans (which she is also part of).

Tabia and I, back in February inside International Soca Monarch 2009

Tabia's single entilted "Boom Boom Boom" is produced by power team Courtney “Curty” Lewis and Francis “Leebo” De Lima on their "Boom Boom" riddim set to release in Mid April.

Tabia and Curty before hitting the Studio.

As she states, " My involvement in St Lucia, doesn't stop here as I am planning on making a return for the carnival; so keep posted to know when I'll be touching the stage in St. Lucia."

Photo Up of Courtney "Curty" Lewis and Francis "Leebo" De Lima

This riddim will feature a host of local and regional artists such as Q-pid with her track entitled "Whole Day Wuk" . Newcomer to the St.Lucia Soca arena Baby Blue will voice the riddim with an explosive duo featuring Jamacian artist Mavado. Yes, Mavado!

Now that's enough , keep ya ears open on who else rides de "Boom Boom" riddim and the others set to release!

Peace & Soca,
Rochelle

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Soca Now: Tabia endorses the campaign to get soca on MySpace!

I've got to big up a young Vincy soca artiste with a big heart.  Tabia just added her voice and face to the list of people actively supporting the SOCA NOW MOVEMENT! For those of you who thought this was over...think again! We need YOU to keep writing emails to myspace to demand a category for soca.

If you don't know Tabia, she's a young artiste who is actively preparing to make a splash for Vincy Mas 2K9. One of the LIME Soca Dans, Tabia performs and works alongside some of St. Vincent's top artistes including, Fireman Hooper, Jamesy P, Luta and DJ Twenty.

Here's a shot of Tabia and me grabbing a bite at X-cape in St. Vincent 2008

She's just returned from NYC where she completed a series of studio sessions with top producers; The Great Zeee (Juk Up Riddim 2008), and Parry Jack (Zoelah's "Wine Up On Me" 2008)

I've heard an early demo of one of her Ragga Socas (Groovy), and I'm already sold.

Please, show your support for Tabia and the SOCA NOW Movement by listening to her special

 message and getting involved!




Where to connect with SOCA NOW

MySpace Group
MySpace Page
Twitter
Facebook Group

(Please repost and "retweet" Stay connected and do your part!

http://myspace.com/socanow1

... add it now!



Love and Soca,

(Nurse) Karen

P.S. Soca Artists...we can use every one of you to champion this cause! Connect with soca now on myspace and send in your own message to the fans. THANX!

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On De Scene : From J'ouvert to Carnaval!

If you come to play Mas you have to do j'ouvert, after all it is part of the whole Carnival experience. Well, Karen and I ,played mas with Yellow Devils and believe me ah go be playing there for a while (once I in Trinidad). The music was good, the vibe was good and de people , well de people they could party . So much love to the leaders of Yellow Devils I was more than impressed with their j'ouvert package. Sad to say, sleep got the best of me so I sneaked away very early to catch a snooze before hitting the road.

Both Karen and I overslept that morning and ended up reaching Evolution late (1p.m.). What appeared different to me , was the fact that most bands did not wear full costume on Monday which heightened my anticpation for Tuesday Mas. I wanna thank Dr. Jay ( who was one of the DJs with Evolution) for his assistance in making Evolution Carnival Band my first experinence. We chipped with Evolution all de way to sunset and then made a sneak - peak in TRIBE . After socializing for a few hours, I could hear from de corner my bed and gosh I ran home because there was no way I would have stamina for 7 a.m. on Tuesday if I partied all night.

Ah was up early, no way I was missing the morning. We met up with Evolution at the Mas Camp for 7a.m. Unfornately, I did not wear a costume beacuse my flight back home was only few hours away. Nonetheless I played Mas ! It was a sight to see all the colour combination from the different Bands.Music wise, well ah go tell you "it had a hold of me!" . Faye Ann "Superblue" seemed to be under alot of pressure with Destra "Bacchcanal" but we know who truly dominated grabbing the Road March title again!

Nurse Kare and I on the Road with Evolution Carnival Tuesday

I met up with different DJ's who seemed to be enjoying the Evolution vibe. I did sneak away to catch a glimpse of my St.Lucian posse in IslandPeople but time was against me , so at 3p.m. I left Karen and left de Mas to go catch my flight to St.Lucia.

I will admit that Trinidad Carnival is THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH , which is the slogan they echo throughout their ad's . I want to thank Nurse Karen for making it a great liming experience and others such as Tabia, Jef, Corey, Dr.Jay and all the other people who contributed to making it one of the best Carnivals yet ! Now ah hope all you, who reading making your plans to come play Mas with us here in St.Lucia in July . Pack ya bags and come and if you can't , no worries I will give you the Day to Day run down on the season. Thanks for joining us on our Trinidad Experience 2009 and we do hope you join us again as we journey through our different Carnivals and staying tuned to more Soca News!

Stay Blessed
Rochelle

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Nurse's Lounge: Yellow Devils J'ouvert 2009!

Bess!

...that's one them Trini words, and it pretty much sums up my j'ouvert morning experience.  So, you can go back to whatever you were doing now. I'm done. 

Silly me, I didn't bring a camera to protect if from the paint.  We're gonna have to wait a few days till I get some pic from my buddies.  Before that, Rochelle would hit you up with the details on J'ouvert and the after lime in St. James, cuz that girl had a time!  Carnival is off to a fantastic start!

Love and Soca,

(Nurse) Karen

P.S. Large up Bandit, Hoppie, DJ Dane and any other fine brothers I forgot to mention who had a hand in helping us paint the town yellow. TV personality AJ Calloway, was jumping in the band, and so was St. Vincent's soca sweetie, Tabia.  And yes my Toronto crew, I saw you too!   

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On De Scene : Faye Ann Crowned De Queen

Lewe go back to Carnival Friday ,Yes! Faye Ann mash de place up with "Meet Superblue". Her performance was on point and it gave me goose bumps especially when she put de mic next to her belly and Junior gave his/her rendition of Superblue. It was beautiful to see Superblue himself on stage giving her performance that extra edge. I wanna commend Skinny on his "Head Bad" performance. He was one of the non-Trini artist who got an overwhelming support by the crowd. All in all, I must say that Soca Monarch was a great show which had the best of the best contending for the title.

Now ah go be honest , I reach there late with Vincy artist Tabia so I missed the groovy portion of the show but from what I heard from the Nurse it was just as great. And I am certain most of you were streaming or have viewed it already via youtube so no need to convince you that Fantastic Friday lived up to their name!

Myself, Tabia and Chrystal at Fantastic Friday

After the show , we got a taste of the sour side of Trinidad . Nurse Karen was writing up her article while at the traffic lights and this young boy took de opportunity to open the car door to try to steal her laptop . Thankfully she reacted by screaming and kicking him and saved her laptop as we were driven away. For a moment, we were all in shock , however we could not allow this to get to us. So about 6 a.m. we decide we all go have breakfast by Smokey and Bunty with the toronto-lime.com crew and Corey Graham from Boomtribe. That turned out to one big lime because everyone from Girl Power deh getting on bad to the season tunes, which was a great distraction to the ordeal faced earlier that morning.

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The Rounds: 2008 COTT Awards highlight round-up

Good Evening Soca Lovers,

I'm Nurse Karen and these are Dr. Jay's rounds. What a truly impactful week...in the soca world, and the WORLD in general. Yes, we can and yes we did! Before we get to that, let's go to Jamaica. Just last Sunday, I closed The Rounds by dispelling the rumours circulating about the medical condition of Jamaican soca bandleader Byron Lee. Lee's suffering came to a peaceful end on Tuesday morning. We at Soca Therapy send our heart felt condolences to the Lee family, the all those affiliated with the Dragonaires band, and anyone touched by his musical legacy.

Next, I want to send some birthday love to some WOMEN who are making their mark on soca music in their respective homes. St. Vincent's Tabia and Juliette Mills of St. Kitts both rang in b-days on Friday, and Trinidad's Destra Garcia marks her big day tomorrow. (November 10th)

Nurse Karen and Tabia (St. Vincent 2008)

Speaking of births, and new band was born, just in time for Trini Carnival 2009. It's called Shurwayne Winchester and Y.O.U. The award-winning frontline vocalist from Caribbean Traffik Jam wasted no time getting mobilized for the next stage of his highly decorated career. The band is called Y.O.U....Yes, One Unit. It's all about unity. Around this time last year, I told you about Shurwayne meeting a producer called Alton Bertie at the Puerto Rico Airport. That first meeting led to the production of Carnival Please Stay, which won Mr. Winchester his International Groovy Soca Crown. Well, Bertie is an accomplished musician from a band called Showtime out of Tortola. He joins Y.O.U. as the keyboardist. From the discussions I've had, the sound will be refreshingly new. DJ Kamau joins the team, not only to handle samples, but he'll be manning turntables too. Definitely a new look in soca. Listen for their new track called "All I Need" featuring Serani.

Shurwayne and YOU made their first public performance on Halloween night, but the word really started circulating this past Thursday when they performed with raggae star Maxi Priest at the 10th annual COTT awards in Trinidad. COTT stands for the Copyright Organization of Trinidad and Tobago. The awards show recognizes songwriters, and composers. Here are a few highlights: Faye-Ann Lyons copped two of the top honours, winning Soca of the Year and Song of the Year for Get On. Machel took songwriter of the year. Others in his camp where celebrating too. Bajan producers Dwain Antrobus took home hardware for writing and producing "Wukking up" for Patrice Roberts, and Farmer Nappy was all smiles at the news that his song "Chippin" would earn he and songwriter Ginger kudos as "Groovy Soca of the Year". The veterans scored big too. The Mighty Sparrow was recognized with an International Achievement Award. The Baron was honoured as Pioneer of the Year.

Nurse Karen and Machel Montano in Miami

That's the kind of week it's been in soca. But everyone knows the biggest news anywhere is Barack Obama's US Election Victory on Tuesday. What a message of hope for anyone who is willing to listen. I'm Nurse Karen and those were Dr. Jay's Rounds. Please visit me online at the Nurse Karen Etc blog at triple W dot Mustard Seeds dot Net. In celebration of Obama's win, I've compiled a links to a list of Calypso songs about Obama from Antigua, St. Kitts, Grenada, St. Vincent and Trinidad. Be sure to take a look. And if you haven't already subscribed to the Rounds podcast, start today. Download it now at Soca Therapy dot com. Now back to de Docta.

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Eye Unit: Happy Birthday Juliette Mills and Tabia!

In my line of work, the best gift I can offer an emerging artiste is a little bit of exposure. Here are two talented young ladies that don't have professionally produced music videos to their names as yet, but their voices are well-known in their home countries. Take a look and listen to the birthday girls!

Happy Birthday Juliette Mills of St. Kitts and Nevis!

Happy 21st B-Day to Tabia of St. Vincent and the Grenadines!

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Nurse's Lounge: Junior Soca and Calypso...Kevin Sardine's B-Day

So far, this was the BEST day of my stay in SVG. Slimmy and I decided to go to Victoria Park in the afternoon to see the Junior Calypso and Soca finals. I realise neither of us have been juniors for a few years, but it seemed like the best idea on a tuesday afternoon.


Here's why....

The sun was shining bright, and the venue was packed. From babies to seniors, it appears that everyone had the same idea. All the mas men from Dragons were there. The Calder posse that I met on my flight down were in the place, my media collegues were liming, and a few of the artistes too.


Especially this one...Kevin Sardine.

It's Shady's birthday. We bounced him taking a drink at Jr Calypso, so we bought him a few more. We caught all kinda jokes watching the lil children get on to the music. Girls screaming. Little boys tiefing a wine. It was priceless.

When the show ended, and my rising star 16 year-old Hance was declared victorious as Jr. Soca King for second year in a row, I was in a celebratory mood.

I texted the liming crew...and it was on...Xcape tonight!

What happens at Xcape stays and Xcape, but here's the posse enjoying ourselves in celebration of Kevin's big day! Everybody say SAM-BU-CA!!!

Wait nah, wey Kevin dey?



There you go...one you're enjoying yourself...

Happy B-Day!

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The Rounds: Bring your Mas and come! Vincy Mas 2K8 is officially on!

Good Evening Soca Lovers,

I'm Nurse Karen and these are Dr. Jay's Rounds. I'm finding new respect for the month of May! How can you not love a month that's going to be jam packed with amazing fetes, band launches, and carnival kick-offs? How can you not love a month that has all those things packed into one day?!

Saturday, May 3, marked the birthday of former Xtatik percussionist and vocalist Farmer Nappy. He's busy working on new releases for Barbados' Crop Over Festival.

Last night also marked the first ever Toronto edition of Shal Marshall's signature fete…Gyal Farm…and the girls came out in country and western costume, Daisy Dukes and all. Everybody knows where the ladies go, the gents will follow. So Callaloo mas camp can look forward to several masculine masqueraders in their hot new Gyal Farm section for Caribana 2K8. The section will be headed by Kerwin Du Bois and Shal Marshall, and was designed by Marlon Singh. It features peachy beads and feathers for the girls and straw hats in a matching motif for the boys.

Batabano Carnival wrapped up yesterday in Grand Caymen. Dexter Seusahai from Toronto's Tribal Knights Mas Band made the annual trip to see his beautiful designs hit the road with Swanky International. He'll be back in Toronto soon to launch his presentation of Deep Rising at Soca or Die. The Saturday night portion of the first-ever two-day long fete will feature performances by Destra and Atlantik, Tizzy, Maximus Dan and Kerwin Du Bois.

Yesterday was also the official launch of Vincy Mas. This year's theme is "Bring Yuh MAS And Come!" and all of Kingstown took it to heart. The crowd spilled out of the Chamber of Commerce Car Park for 6 hours as they were treated to all the elements of carnival; pan, calypso, mas and soca. Zoelah reigned supreme at the best new song competition for the second year in a row. She beat out Danielle Veira with her uptempo double entendre, Zoom In. Kevin Lyttle made a brief appearance to premiere his new ragga track "Come See Me" featuring Lexxus. Later, Shaunelle McKenzie brought the house down with her performance of Don't Let Go, a smooth one produced by Mark Cyrus and written by Luta. Dr. Jay gave it a spin last week. The night closed out with performances by Luta, Jalena, Tabia and Fireman Hooper, all backed by the Akcess Band. Don't you just love May?

I'm Nurse Karen and those were Dr. Jay's Rounds. Please leave your comments at the Nurse Karen Etc blog at triple W dot mustardseeds dot net. Now back to de docta!

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