Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

(If you don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Chinese Food and Movies day!)

I hope you all are having a good holiday wherever you are in the world.

Where I am in Trinidad.

Today I have some electronic "Christmas" music for you all courtesy of Soundcloud. Personally, it doesn't replace Little Drummer Boy in my heart, but to each his own.

 Christmas Songs 2010

Enjoy the music and have a happy holiday!

Keep Merrily Rocking.

Christmas in Trinidad

Hi folks.

I have landed safe and sound in the motherland. After a tumultuous journey from St. Louis, stops in Miami (for what felt like forever), and Grenada (for about 15 minutes) I have arrived in Trinidad. Three days after my arrival, my bags have made it too! So all is well. I am having a grand time here, but I do not have internet access everywhere, so posts may not be as frequent. But do not fear! This won't become a"hiatus" like back in April.

Today I wanted to share with you all some more music from Trinidad. Today it is Parang. Parang is a music from Trinidad, played mostly around Christmas time. It's like caroling, but with more instruments and way more fun. For a time, parranderos (the parang players) came to houses and played, or you could find them playing around the country, but now parang is mostly played by established artists. Below you'll find a few Christmas parang songs I was able to find on youtube.

Scrunter: I want a piece ah pork


Scrunter: Leroy


Lord Kitchner: Drink a Ru,


And a Christmas Calypso from Baron:


I had the fortune of seeing a live parang band the other night, they came to a party for my aunt. It was really a great experience, but I regret not having my camera. I did have my camera yesterday when I went to the beach and took this beauty:

Palm Tree at Maracas

I can't think of a better way to spend Christmas.

Hope everyone is having a good holiday!

Keep Rocking.

Trinidad Bound!

I am getting the hell out of dodge folks. I am packing up my headphones, my ipod and my guitar and heading to Trinidad for Christmas. For those of you unfamiliar with Trinidad it's here:

It's the one circled in red. Find it?

My family is from Trinidad and we are heading back for the holidays. Naturally, I am very excited to see family friends and oh yeah, instead of snow, I get this:

Maracas Beach.

Many of ya'll might be unfamiliar with soca music, a popular music style in Trinidad. Soca is a blend of calyspo and chutney music originating in Trinidad. The fusion of West Indian music and East Indian percussive themes led to the creation of this genre. I have grown up with this music and look forward to hearing the new music every year. In recent years (recent is subjective) soca has replaced calypso at the forefront of Carnival. Below you will find some of early Soca releases for Carnival 2011. (ignore the overdubbing "island mix/island mix radio" that's just the hosting website). Enjoy the music, I know I will.

Playlist Name: 2011 TRINIDAD & TOBAGO OFFICIAL CARNIVAL SOCA RELEASES

I am going to try and keep the music coming through the holidays, but it might not be everyday. So keep an eye and an ear out for new posts.

Keep Rocking.