Island Music of the British Virgin Islands

Island Music

The BVI offer a wide variety of entertainment, especially live music. The Limin' Times features scheduled daily dates and places.

Quito Rymer
Many a boater in Cane Garden Bay has had a pleasant evening surprise to hear this outstanding island music come drifting across the water. "Paradise" from a You Tube video, with the words "home man, home man, home, home, home--take me, take me to my paradise" is a beautiful synthesis of Caribbean, gospel and British rock influences. Visitors who regard the BVIs as a paradise can appreciate the irony in this eager expression of a native son to return home.

Famous Local Performers.

Local recording star, Quito Rymer, plays this selection (requires RealAudio), when performing at his Quito's Gazebo in Cane Garden Bay, with these time-tested lyrics:

Fame and fortune,
That's all they crave.
And all it ever gets them
Is an early grave.

Quito's music can be ordered here.

Foxy. The yachties' troubadour, the incomparable Foxy Callwood, sings spontaneous Calypso ballads, sometimes about his guests at his Foxy's Tamarind Bar and Grill on Jost Van Dyke (photo from TMM Bareboat Vacations).

Fungi is a kind of musical group and style unique to the BVI--basically a home-grown jam session or "scratch" band with assorted homemade instruments such washboards, gourds, etc."Fungi is a local food which has corn meal as its primary ingredient and is combined with okras, onions, sweet peppers, etc. (although it must be noted that sometimes it is served as plain cornmeal). The Fungi band is a similar combination or "cook-up" of instruments." --BVI Tourist Board

Fungi is similar to 'Quelbe' in the US Virgin Islands.

A "j'ouvert" is a
street dance.

SteelDrum2.jpg (8838 bytes) In the BVI, a drum is called a pan, so Pan Vibes is a steel drum band.

BVI Performers and Kind of Music.
Blue Haze-excellent modern reggae and rock
Eldon John--calypso and island tunes on guitar.
Elmtones--fungi, blues, rock, jazz and more (video).
Focus--selections from soft rock to calypso.
Impulse--reggae.
Latitude Stars--oldie goldie romantic music with a basic calypso/reggae theme.

Lashing Dogs --reggae, American rock, fungi and more--no matter what kind of music you like, you will love their style! Currently the most popular fungi band in the BVI!

See at YouTube:
Medley-Lashing Dogs

For copies of recordings, call Mr. Varisse Hodge at 494-2927 (home) or 494-3475 (work).

Lonely Man One Man Band plays guitar and sings calypso, reggae and rock.
Lover Boys--fungi

See at YouTube: Michael Beans takes you sailing away

Michael Beans (website)--great pirate show with songs of the islands, old seafaring tales and audience particiapation. Don't miss it!

MJ Blues-blues (see video).
Morris Mark--steel band and calypso solo
Natural Mystic--jazz
O-2-reggae, rock and top 40 (here is some of Krosfyah's music from Barbados, which O-2 plays).
Pan Vibes--steel band.
Paradise Roots--reggae, soca and rock.
Ruben Chinnery (video) brings his personal touch to a wide array of songs on guitar performed throughout the island--don't miss him!
Reflections--steel band.
Reggie Georges--in memory of the late steel drum artist.
Romeo and the Injectors-steel band
Shooting Stars--steel pan band
Spark Plugs-fungi. For copies of their cassette recording, call Mr. Elmore Stoutt at 495-4985.
Xtreme--reggae, rock and top 40 (lead singer Vincent, who used to be with O-2, has an great voice)

Amazon Music

Search Amazon Music. Enter artist name, CD title, or song title and get discounts on music. All sales commissions earned on this music are donated to the BVI National Parks Trust.

Variety of Caribbean Music. "There are over 70 different styles of distinct Caribbean music, which varies from island to island. These include the junkanoo from the Bahamas, the rumba from Cuba, Jing-Ping from Dominica, the merenque from Haiti, Reggae from Jamaica, Zouk from Martinique and Guadeloupe, salsa and bomba from Puerto Rico, and Calypso from Trinidad and Tobago (article)."

Dancehall
Dancehall is a Jamacian form of reggae, and much more!

Soca
"Soca music is the music of the Caribbean Islands and is deeply rooted in African and Spanish origins. It is an acronym for SOul CAlypso and perhaps the most memorable soca song of all time is destined to be Hot, Hot, Hot (from Island Fever).

Reggae. Going Away (hear excerpt), by Beenie Man/ Sanchez from Reggae Gold 98 (1999), shows the diversity of dancehall. Going Away is built on an old time song. Many in the islands (see the Mine Shaft's "All Out") grew up on these sweet old tunes from the U.S. coming in on the radio.

Jamacian dancehall hits of 1998 are featured in Dancehall 98. Maestro (see review), pictured above, has many of Beenie Man's single hits.

Gospel Time (hear exerpt), from The Doctor album (audio CD), attests to Beenie's Christian faith. But who can understand Beenie Man? From the controversial "shake that booty that Jesus gave you" to the ascendant praise, "he is the lily of the valley," this song may draw in the modern idol worshippers-- whose idol is "booty."

Hear Rivers of Babylon by Bolivar and the Connection. The fabulous title song, Rivers of Babylon, has gospel overtones. But it is the song Shine On (South Africa) that truly shines.
Soca.
See Island Fever by Bolivar and the Connection.

Local Music Stores
Kaunda's Kysy Tropix (495-5636) has CDs and cassettes of Caribbean and local music at its stores on Road Town's Main Street and at Virgin Gorda's Yacht Harbour (see selections popular in the BVI here).

Hear Caribbean Midis
by ScubaMom

Radio & TV Stations.
BVI. ZBVI Radio AM 750 has Caribbean, religious and contemporary. See list of Virgin Islands web radio/TV stations.

USVI. KISS at 101.3 FM is an adult-contemporary music station with local Caribbean programming each evening. JAMZ at 105.3 FM is a cutting-edge (18-34) music station with an uptempo urban sound. Hear them live!

The DJ Web Radio has reggae and other stations. The Jammin Reggae Archives has many resources and links. And more Reggae from the AudioNet Jukebox.

LiveMarley features the legendary Bob Marley and the Wailers live.

Radio Margaritaville has Jimmy Buffet and island music.

Other Island-Themed Music.
Jim Johnson's On a Boat in the background of this fun sailing vacation video.

Kenny Chesney's, Somewhere in the Sun, in the background to this photo montage featuring Jost Van Dyke.

Lauren and Bo from St. John, Little Shack, in the background of sailing video at Jost Van Dyke.