US – Have you heard of the “vacation effect,” those positive feelings that return you to a vacation mindset triggered by an image, a smell, or a sound? Steel bands are known to produce the “vacation effect”! The inherently tropical sound of steel pan music—that buoyant, dulcet, mellifluous, silvery liquid, euphonious sound—sweeps listeners away to

TT – Starlift Steel Orchestra will be the recipient of three more years of sponsorship from Methanol Holdings (Trinidad) Ltd (MHTL). This was announced during the Starlift on Fire event held at Starlift panyard last Tuesday night. Dr Euric A Bobb, chairman of MHTL, said three years ago, when his board decided to expand the

TT – The Harvard Club in conjunction with the Harvard Harps Steel Orchestra will host Steel and Parang at the club on Friday. This event had been a feature in the past and now it is back. Entertainment will come from the Harvard Harps, parang band Los Diamantes, Sonrie the Band –which is led by

US – Ouachita Baptist University has begun offering an after-school, community steel band program for fourth and fifth graders from Peake Elementary School in Arkadelphia. The steel band, called Pan Harmony, meets every Monday on Ouachita’s campus from 3 to 5 p.m. The community steel band program began at the start of the 2018 fall

TT – Ken “Professor” Philmore is gone, but his contribution to culture will never be forgotten. Especially not by the community of Pleasantville, which gave birth to this pan genius who died on September 30, a week after an accident on Republic Day. On Saturday, the community will honour his memory with a steelband festival,

CH – Längst sind die Sommertemperaturen passé. Das Laub hat sich verfärbt. Es bleibt eine Frage der Zeit und der Winter steht vor der Türe. Doch in Schmerikon ist das ganze Jahr Sommer, denn hier probt die Steelband Hot Queridas. Da stehen Stahlfässer, im Fachjargon Steel Pan oder Steel Drum genannt. Sie werden aus einem