News
The Rising Stars Youth Steel Orchestra: An Ideal Example of What the Caribbean Steelband Represents
In a not so perfect world, The Rising Stars Youth Steel Orchestra of the USVI represents steelband truth in its perfection. Founded in 1981 by Chief Judge Emeritus, Hon. Verne A. Hodge as a part of the Superior Court of the USVI (formerly the Territorial Court of the USVI), the Rising Stars was established with the intention of keeping young Virgin Islanders focused on school and out of trouble. As a former Rising Star of the entering class of 1992, this blog author is writing from personal experience. Biased as this author may be concerning the Rising Stars, it would...
Busking While Black Can Be a Serious Charge, Especially for Pannists
There is truly a high degree of irony in being a busking pannist and getting charged by the police with ''panhandling'' for such effort. What is even more ironic is the fact where one would think music is colorblind, as far as negro street performers are concerned, color like everything else in life, is usually the first thing that people see and actually recognize. Therefore, it is quite obvious that busking, despite its humble, stigmatized nature as a profession or way of life, is not an area of human activity that is exempt from racism by any means. As such,...
The Handpan as an Instrument of Steelpan Neo-Colonization in the Words of Pantheon Steel, PANArt and Steve Shehan
In 2016 there is no doubt that the handpan is an instrument, both literally and figuratively, which is increasingly being used by Europeans and those of European descent worldwide to establish an Apartheid, neo-colonial government of sorts in the world of the steelpan. There is no doubt that this Apartheid handpan landscape exists, as there are currently at least 200 known handpan makers present in the market and aside from KaribPAN, Mark Wilson of Panstream is the only other Caribbean, negro maker on the market. This is a stark fact considering that the handpan in its entirety (minus the nitriding...
Most Self-Respecting Pannists Would Never Be Caught Red-Handed Playing a Handpan, and Most Handpan Players Could Not Play A Steelpan To Save their Lives
A monkey can play the Hang. The Hang Playing Hedge Monkeys are living proof multiplied by 2 that not only can monkeys play the Hang, but their uninspired videos can go mega viral as well. Who would not find it fascinating to see a monkey playing a musical instrument after all, especially when most of those fascinated by such monkey business have never even heard of a steelpan? These two Hang playing monkeys pretty much epitomize the majority of the handpan cult in the sense that they are of European ancestry, appear as crusty looking hippies, are essentially flavorless, and...
A Closer Look at the E.W. Harris and Mark Garner Produced ''ReEntry'' Album and it's Strong Luciferian Overtones
Discussing anything related to Mark Garner and Saraz handpans is no pleasure of ours. As we have proven through our blog, anything Mark Garner does in the handpan world is so highly convoluted that delving into to the demonic nature of the crooked snake that he is in order that he may be exposed is very time consuming. We often find ourselves being led into rabbit hole after rabbit hole of occultic twists and turns which often lead to the same rabbit hole, which is Lucifer. Nonetheless, out of our duty to establish the truth in a wicked handpan industry,...