Newsletter 1:
| Steel
Drum Music and Other Stuff 05/05/05 Howdy. Welcome to the River Rat Reading Project, official newsletter of the River Rat Rhythm Project. What follows is the first of what I hope will be an occasional, if sporadic, update regarding the activities of one Dan Hammond, who works harder than anyone to bring a little bit of sunshine to this dark corner of the world. The title “River Rat Reading Project” was chosen because of its obvious similarity to the name of a particularly special project, and because “A Series of Unfortunate Events” was already taken. If you’d rather not hear anymore about this, then simply reply with a (kindly worded) request to be removed from this list, and off you go. Or if you’d rather it be sent to a different address, the staff here at River Rat Central will gladly accommodate. Before going any further, here’s a very loud shout to ROGER WILLIAMS (and the Reggae Dolls) of Ocho Rios, Jamaica, whose willingness to hand over his email address means that this little project now reaches an audience that stretches across 3 and a half countries. (As soon as my Quebecois friends figure out what they are doing, we’ll round it off to an even number.) More on Roger in a bit. Now, if you have not yet been scared off, and if you have the slightest interest in the activities the River Rat Rhythm Project, Driftwood Dan and the Barefoot Band, Treasure Island, the Kingston Grenadiers, Dan himself (and his family, friends, fans and supporters) and perhaps the occasional witty observation or erudite musing, then you have met the necessary qualifications, and you may read on. Most newsworthy today is the fact that the River Rat Rhythm Project has very recently and verrrrry successfully completed its first public, outside-of-school, non-holiday performances. Standing ovations, encores, television coverage, the whole works. For those of you in the snow, but not yet in the know, the RRRP Northern New York’s first and only steel drum band! Made possible by the generous sponsorship of the Best Western in Watertown, NY, and the help of numerous volunteers, it is an opportunity for kids (and adults, too!) to experience the music of the Caribbean. There will be much more on this group in the letters to come, including performance dates, of course. Also, it should be noted that Driftwood Dan and the Barefoot Band are gearing up for another season. DDBB was assembled for a single performance last year, but was met with such an enthusiastic response, that we decided to keep going. DDBB is a quartet of percussion, guitar, cello, and of course steel drum, that aims to provide a gentle, secluded island retreat, a sort of refuge and alternative to louder, more aggressive forms of live entertainment. There will certainly be much more about this group and their performances, and their biography alone is so interesting that it may be an entire newsletter all to itself. Treasure Island is made up of Jonathan and me. Jonathan, as many of you know, is my 13 year-old son, and quite probably the subject of as much of what you will read as he will allow me to write. For now, suffice it to say that he is a talented musician, and that this is probably my favorite way to play. The summer season holds several performance opportunities for us, which I will be announcing here shortly. And, since the three groups are closely related, a performance by any one of them may well include a bonus performance by one or more of the others! The Kingston Grenadiers are the 2004 DCA class A world champion drum and bugle corps. DCA stands for Drum Corps Associates, an organization of brass players, percussionists, and visual performers who travel all over the country in crowded buses on summer weekends to play music in the blistering heat and pouring rain for the sheer enjoyment of giving everything they have to an 11-minute performance. It is my pleasure to be on the staff of this wonderful, slightly off-center crew of miscreants as they look forward to moving back up to open class competition this year, and earning that grudgingly given respect, the hard way. Certainly more on this group to follow, including performance info, and why in the world would anybody do this. As for me and my family and friends, we just returned from a Caribbean cruise. A first for us, it provided a first hand look at some of the islands we had only seen in our imaginations as we stood on a Key West beach and strained our eyes southward. The whole experience certainly provided much to write about (good heavens, how many would-be authors has such a trip inspired?) and as an aspiring world traveler, I hope that my travels will be interesting enough to find their way into an occasional message like this one. For now, I’ll leave it lay with an enormous, grateful hug for all the people of Jamaica, especially the generous and patient pan players who let me sit in with them (Waitaminnit, I’m a lead player. Where are the notes on this thing?), the effervescent conga player who let me jam with him for a little bit and paid me with a huge compliment and enormous smile. And especially to Roger Williams, gifted musician, artist, chemist, bio-chemist, and conversationalist who did as much as anyone during my all-too short time in Jamaica to make me feel like a friend, or at least welcome guest, as anyone on the island (and in a place like Jamaica, that is saying something!) Should your travels take you to his particular spot in the sea, look for him just outside the Reggae Xplosion museum at the Island Village in Ocho Rios. Easy to find. His particular art is the creation of the Reggae Dolls, and I am told that he actually breathes life into these creations, and they show their gratitude by singing with him on his recordings. Take it up with him if you don’t believe it. 5 minutes in Jamaica, and you may not be so sure… So it was an introduction. So many people have asked for the stories surrounding these activities that I thought I better begin to write it down, roll it up, stuff it in a bottle and heave it into the sea to see what happens. Stick with me and the stories will get better. In the immortal words of Gonzo the Muppet: “Come and go with me. It’s more fun to share.” Thanks for being interested in what I do. Dan |
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