Music of Anguilla

Music of The Anglophone Caribbean
Genres
Calypso Chutney Dancehall Dub Junkanoo Ragga Rapso Reggae Ripsaw Rocksteady Scratch Ska Soca Spouge Steelpan
Regional music
Local forms	Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Bermuda British Caribbean Caymans Grenada Montserrat St. Vincent and the Grenadines St. Kitts and Nevis Turks and Caicos UK Virgin Islands US Virgin Islands Other Anglophone islands
Related areas	Aruba and the Dutch Antilles Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Guadeloupe Guyana Haiti Jamaica Martinique Puerto Rico St Lucia Suriname Trinidad and Tobago

The music of Anguilla is part of the Lesser Antillean music area. The earliest people of the island were the Caribs and Arawaks, who arrived from South America. English settlers from St Kitts and Irish people later colonised the island. Unlike regional neighbours, however, the plantation system of agriculture that relied on chattel slavery never took root in Anguilla, causing a distinctly independent cultural makeup. The most recent influences on Anguilla's musical life come from elsewhere in the Caribbean, especially the music of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, as well as abroad, especially the music of the United States and the United Kingdom. Anguilla's Rastafarian heritage has played a role in the island's music and culture and produced influential figures like activist Ijahnya Christian and Robert Athlyi Rogers, author of The Holy Piby.^[1]

The island has produced a number of popular reggae, calypso, soca and country musicians. Of these, the last is especially characteristic, as country is not otherwise a part of much Caribbean popular music. Anguilla's Island Harbour, an Irish-settled village on the east side of the island, is a major centre for local country music.^[2] Soca is a major recent import that has become the most important form of dance music on Anguilla; it is often accompanied by frenzied, sexualised dancing called wukin up.^[3]

Perhaps the most famous musician from Anguilla and one of the Caribbean's most acclaimed recording artists is Bankie Banx. Banx has released over ten albums and has played with such music legends such as Bob Dylan, Jimmy Cliff and Jimmy Buffett. He has also opened a popular music bar called the Dune Preserve, built in order to save the Rendezvous Bay dune; the Dune Preserve is home to the Moonsplash Annual Music Festival.^[4] More recent popular successes include the soca group Xtreme Band, who gained regional fame following their success in the 2001 Carnival.^[5]

Music institutions in Anguilla include the Soroptimist Club and the annual Tranquility Jazz Festival, though the island's most famous music celebration is Carnival, held near the beginning of August (the first Friday after the first Monday); it includes calypso competitions, j'ouvert, street dances, boat races, costumed parades and stilt walking, and beachside barbecues.^[4]^[6] Anguillans also celebrate the anniversary of emancipation in August, and British holidays like the Queen's birthday. For the first time in 2005, Anguilla was home to a Country Music Festival, which was promoted by American country star Billy Ray Cyrus; in addition to Cyrus and other American musicians. Other popular musicians from Anguilla include Evan Webster,^[7] the most famous recent performer to emerge from the island's country music heritage.^[2]

In 2015 the island’s musical community made history when it was selected by legendary music mogul and producer Kedar Massenburg to record a compilation collection titled "Sounds of Anguilla (Volume 1)". The production marked the first album ever to feature artists from a single Caribbean island representing a multitude of genres: pop, reggae, hip-hop, soca and R&B. Executive producers included Massenburg, former Parliamentary Secretary Responsible for Tourism Haydn Hughes and Marvet Britto, President and CEO of the Britto Agency, who conceived the idea for the project. The album was released on June 30 on iTunes and included the following roster of musicians: Natalie, Amalia Watty, Raskim, Darius James from True Intentions, Jaine Rogers, Gershwin Lake and Parables, Bankie Banx, Raoul “Nyne” Vanterpool, Catriona Lake, Exodus HD, Pantha Vibes International, British Dependency, Deanna Mussington, Roxanne “Roxxy” Webster, Shara, and Keria Hughes. Proceeds from the sale of the compilation benefit the island’s burgeoning musical community and support its efforts to record, tour and present the island’s music to the world.

References

De Ledesma; Charles and Georgia Popplewell (2000). "Put Water in the Brandy?". In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla. World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific. Rough Guides. pp. 507–526. ISBN 1-85828-636-0.
"Country Music Festival In Anguilla". The Anguillian. Retrieved December 3, 2005.
Cameron, Sarah (1996). Caribbean Islands Handbook with the Bahamas. Passport Books. ISBN 0-8442-4907-6.
"Art Guide of Anguilla". Anguilla Guide. Retrieved November 27, 2006.
"The Story of Island Harbour". Anguilla Vibe. Archived from the original on August 24, 2006. Retrieved November 27, 2006.
"Carnival Was Colourful, Fun and Loud". Anguilla News. Retrieved November 27, 2006.
"History of Anguilla". The Anguilla Guide. Retrieved November 27, 2006.

Notes

External links

National Song of Anguilla: "God Bless Anguilla"

Music of the Americas

North America South America

Sovereign states	Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Bahamas Barbados Belize Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago United States Uruguay Venezuela

Dependencies and other territories	Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Falkland Islands French Guiana Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Turks and Caicos Islands US Virgin Islands

Music of North America

Sovereign states	Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States

Dependencies and other territories	Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Turks and Caicos Islands United States Virgin Islands

Lesser Antillean music

Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles Barbados Curaçao Dominica Grenada Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago Virgin Islands

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