Jamar Walkes wasn’t even born then but from the time he was old enough to have some type of understanding, he experienced the connection to the same rhythm that Poonka spoke of so glowingly.
So much so that the 24-year-old is now among a new generation of tuk band players who not only want to keep the art form alive and relevant in Barbados, but hopefully export it where others can at least taste and appreciate a piece of authentic Barbados.
As Walkes sat in the verandah of his home in Deacons, St Michael, his face lit up as he spoke about what he loved most about tuk band music.
This love reached a zenith around 2008 when he and a number of friends took part in jam sessions, which were usually the musical accompaniment at inter-schools sports. But in truth, this passion for tuk began several years earlier as a member of the Barbados Cadet Corps where he first met those friends.
Walkes, a student of Lester Vaughan School at the time, recalled that what began as a group of cadets meeting after school to simply “hang out”, quickly transformed into a bond of friendship linked by a love for drums.
Jam some drums
“So even if we didn’t see one another on a day-to-day basis, when it came to sporting events of whatever kind, we would just link up and jam some drums,” he said.
“Then after a while we really [took] it serious in terms of watching people perform the tuk band and we liked it – because that was similar to what we did.
“One day we were hanging as usual and out of the blue Rydell [Williams] asked the question about if we interested in performing in a tuk band.
“Rydell used to watch a lot of tuk band videos and he decided that since we come together to perform, we might as well come together and form a band, and we agreed.”
As a result, in 2012 Drummers Federation was born. The group is made up of Walkes, Williams and another friend, Christopher Forte. The group still exists but members often accompany other tuk bands.
They were very serious about pursuing tuk full-time, Walkes said, especially as their desire was more about influencing other young people to see tuk as not “an old people’s thing” or a “rum shop thing”.
Walkes spoke about taking tuk to the streets, even when no sports or cultural events were taking place.
“We used to meet at Rydell’s house every Sunday evening in Military Road, Bush Hall. We would catch the bus with the drums, walk to Eagle Hall, catch a bypass bus to Oistins or go into St Lawrence Gap ‘scrubbing’ – playing for tips. It was there we got some recognition. We would ask a couple restaurants and hotels about pushing tuk; we worked really hard,” he recalled.
Backup plan
Although he was looking at a future in music, his parents encouraged him to have a backup plan in case his plan A fell through. Walkes enrolled at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic where he studied maritime operations, though he wasn’t keen on the course.
However, no matter how hard his parents tried, he resolved he would not give up on music.
“Music is something I always had a passion for even though I dropped music at school. Sometimes you make a decision at school and after you leave school, for some reason your plans change. That is what happened to me,” Walkes said.
“And it kind of emotional right now because it is something that not even my mother wanted me to do. As a cadet she wanted me to go straight into the army and she was thinking that the army was more suitable for me and would be a better choice, but my heart was leading me to entertainment.”
Though tuk music is his first love, after getting his feet wet with soca music last Crop Over season, this year the father of one decided to take the plunge.
Through Randy Eastmond’s Quantum Studios, Walkes released three songs penned by krosfyah’s Tony Rebel Bailey and mixed and mastered by Anthony Lowhar. They were Again And Again, Time Of My Life and the ragga soca collaboration with Bailey titled Leggo.
He told the DAILY NATION: “I always wanted to sing. Actually from primary school, I was singing. I used to do concerts and there was this one teacher named Ms Headley.
“I was in the choir and she asked me one time if I would sing a song and it was Edwin Yearwood’s Hit Parade. The following year I did a song by Kid Site.”
It was from those experiences that Walkes’ passion for singing was born.
“I didn’t carry [it] all through school but after being in the entertainment field because of tuk and getting to meet and talk to people, it just hit me again,” he said.
However, he maintained that nothing would come between him and his tuk music.
“Tuk band is where my heart is,” he proclaimed.
Future hopes
Walkes hopes to one day see tuk music evolve in the same way reggae has. While keeping its authenticity, he would like to see it transformed in some way or fused with popular music to remain relevant with future generations.
“To [fuse] tuk with other genres will be a good experiment to bring a new and different feel to the art form. When we play out, some people even make requests for popular songs they want to hear mixed with tuk . . . because presently we actually get a greater response from the tourists and older nationals who really follow the art form.
“Not many Bajans appreciate it. As a young person, I [am] always willing to try anything new, especially to please the public, preferably the younger generation.
“So it would be good to try something new to keep the youth educated and interested. It’s a new era and even the music has evolved, so I think we should keep the basics of the originality of tuk music, but also be up to date with the genres of music and always bring something fresh to people’s ears as time passes,” he added. (SDB Media)
