From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
Eleuthera’s Pineapple Jam Lineup ‘Entirely exciting’
Apr 4, 2014 - 2:22:09 AM
Queen's Highway Band lights it up at a previous Pineapple Jam.
|
As if a free
afternoon and evening of the best of Eleuthera’s local bands wasn’t enough, the
Pineapple Jam has landed hot New Providence-based musical act Willis and the
Illest. The group’s Facebook page proclaims “Reggae Music To The World”. For
the afternoon of April 13 at least, Willis and the Illest will bring its
Bahamian brand of reggae to Gregory Town, Eleuthera.
“Since 2008,
Willis and the Illest have been turning Nassau’s music scene on its head with
their own brand of reggae from the Bahamas,” an article on caribjournal.com
stated. “The group, which is led by vocalist and guitarist Willis Knowles, has
seen strong growth in a country that, while it listens regularly to reggae, is
largely devoid of home-grown reggae performers.”
The band’s 5
p.m. time slot will be one not to miss.
The
Pineapple Jam, a one-day music festival hatched four years ago by professional
singer-songwriter and American expatriate Nick Holmes, is back; event t-shirts
now on sale.
The previous
two Pineapple Jams, held in 2011 and 2012, featured a non-stop line up of live
musical acts from all over Eleuthera. The number and quality of bands was
unprecedented for a free Eleuthera musical festival. Holmes, 65, took
inspiration from the now-legendary jam night at Gregory Town’s Elvina’s Bar.
“I wanted to see it for myself,” said
the native New Yorker, who has written songs for Carly Simon among others, and
will himself perform at the festival with his band, Seaweed. “At that time we
were having a really good turnout at Elvina’s. Musicians were coming all
the way up from deep south, and all the way across from Briland, to join us for
the open jam night there. It was more fun than anything. It wasn't
really the bands themselves, but various musicians playing all the classics
that we all know… So the idea came naturally out of that. I went to
Elvina to ask if we could have it at her bar, she said ‘yes’. And her
husband, Chicken Ed Watkins, built the stage and helped me get some arch lights
up, and Pineapple Jam began.”
The
following year it moved to its present location – the Gregory Town waterfront
pavilion.
On the
lineup this year is a block of gospel music - Gregory Town Brass Band, The
Pinder Sisters, Hillside Rackers and Soldiers for Christ - marking the fact the
event falls on Palm Sunday. An early afternoon farmer’s market and a
heavyweight lineup of local bands including Island Flavor, Briland 1234, Spider
and the Boyz, and the High Rock Band also feature.
“There will also be a couple white boy
bands,” Holmes added. “Don Bouchet from Governor’s Harbour, Seaweed from
Gregory Town, and Queen’s Highway Band; plus, I am so excited about this, The
Island Boys from Spanish Wells. They are these two very cool young men
who wear flowered shirts and play steel drums and smile a lot. I am
entirely excited they are coming.”
The festival
will run 2 p.m. to midnight with a Bingo scheduled for 3 p.m. and the lighting
of a giant, burning pineapple, scheduled for 10 p.m. Admission is free. Event
t-shirts, tank tops and hoodies will be on sale and are now available at Island
Made Gift Shop in Gregory Town. Interested musicians and persons are asked to
contact Holmes at nholmes999@aol.com and join the Pineapple Jam –
Eleuthera Facebook group.
© Copyright 2014 by thebahamasweekly.com -