Thursday, September 25, 2008

Songshine: Open Mic show in Trevor's Edge



Yeah folks, waz de scene? Yuh boy not as brisk with the posts these days but that will be rectified eventually. The development and promotion of Hitchhiker's Guide to Uwi aka my album has been taking up a significant amount of my time since strangely, I happen to be attempting to make a quality product (go figure). In spite of that, I've somehow managed to make time to take in the latest album by TI called "Paper Trail". Don't ask me how I managed to get my hands on it but it's worth the buy if you're wondering and if you're still in doubt you can check out two songs from the album here and here.

Recently it's been coming to me fervently - like those mosquitoes with dengue, that to get yourself out there as an artiste, you really need to hit up those open mic shows in Trinidad. It may be surprising to some but there are numerous one mic shows being held periodically in various 'holes' all over sweet T+T and almost all of them are patronized by a dedicated, hardcore following. In fact, some of the organizers of these shows have become very enterprising in their marketing since I guess they realize that numerous potentials have zero clue of their existence and thus they have begun to wield the power of Facebook for good. Of this set, Songshine is one of the more established.

As a show, Songshine features a win-win host of characteristics; it's located in a decent-looking, air-conditioned bar (Trevor's edge) that is several rungs above the 'hawk and spit' level, features soft lighting on stage that works to great effect and is hosted by none other than Gillian Moor, who is totally dedicated. Songshine also has a very interesting recurring theme in that at each show, which occurs monthly, a different artiste/group is venerated as the main act. Previously featured acts include OzyMajiq, Sheldon Blackman and the local rap group Spotrushaz. The fact that there are featured acts in addition to the assembly line of relatively unknown performers serves to draw in the uninitiated and broaden the audience beyond the militant who 'fed up' with what plays on the radio (yeah, I'm stereotyping lol). Maybe that's why Trevor's is always packed for every show.

So yuh boy Face was there last show performing for the second time in Songshine and I did my thing. Trust me, it's a good way to boost your performance skills and build your confidence in front of an audience with the safety net that they won't boo you unless you're Britney Spears bad. If I keep improving who knows, maybe I will become one of the featured big artistes. Anyways, check out the videos. Da Face out.



Chromatics performing in Songshine


Make it hapn performing in Songshine

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