KINGSTON, Jamaica — Through his job as a cosmetologist in Toronto, Sherlock Shepherd rubs shoulders daily with the Canadian city’s large Caribbean populace. It has strengthened his appreciation for their different cultures.

On May 1, the lanky Guyanese will honour some of the region’s influential musicians at the inaugural Guyana International Artistic Music Awards.

The event will be held at the National Cultural Centre in Georgetown, the Guyana capital, which is also Shepherd’s hometown.

Guyanese artistes Eddy Grant (Lifetime Achievement Award), Lord Canary and Natural Black will take centre stage. Several Jamaican artistes and musicians from the 1966-68 rocksteady era will also be honoured.

They are guitarist Lynford ‘Hux’ Brown, bass player Brian Atkinson and drummer Joe Isaacs, and singers Ken Boothe and Marcia Griffiths.

According to Shepherd, given the impact rocksteady has on modern music, he and his team had to recognise some of the genre’s giants.

“Being a student of music I am a great fan of rocksteady. I believe it is one of the founding pillars of the music that plays on the airwaves today,” he said in an interview with OBSERVER ONLINE. “Today, it serves as a template where new trends try to emulate to create their sound.”

The Guyana International Artistic Music Awards is one of the events celebrating Guyana’s 50th anniversary of independence from Great Britain. But Shepherd, founder of the Guyanese/Canadian Artistic Inc, believes it is important to salute the work of pioneer Caribbean musicians like Atkinson, Brown and Isaacs who played on some of Jamaican music’s seminal songs.

“The idea came naturally as the genres of reggae which originated in Jamaica and soca which originated in Trinidad are heavy influences within the Guyanese culture,” he explained. “Hosting an award show of this magnitude has given us the opportunity to honour legends and greats of reggae music who have pioneered great trends within the music industry. Moving forward we look to take on the task of awarding these great musician who have heavily impacted our culture for years to come.”

A resident of Canada for over 40 years, Atkinson’s resume is vast and impressive. He played on big hits including Boothe’s Puppet On A String and The Train Is Coming; Dancing Mood by Delroy Wilson; 007 (Shantytown) by Desmond Dekker and Bob Andy’s I’ve Got To Go Back Home.

Isaacs was a prodigy at producer Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd’s Studio One.

Like Atkinson, he migrated to Canada in the early 1970s.

His credits include The Train Is Coming, Johnny Nash’s Hold Me Tight, Feel like Jumping by Griffiths and Toots and The Maytals’ 54-46.

Brown was a top session musician during the mid to late 1960s. He became a mainstay in the Toots and The Maytals band, playing on many of their hit songs such as Pressure Drop, 54-46 and Funky Kingston.

Shepherd hopes to stage the event annually. Not just to honour Caribbean stalwarts, but introduce their legacy to a younger generation.

“People of different Caribbean descent respect their elders within music, but I believe there is a disconnect between the history and knowledge of music to what plays on the airwaves by disc jockeys today,” he said. 

Howard Campbell