Written by Ted Goslin
Known for showcasing a variety of percussive instruments and styles over the years, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) has never shyed away from including steelpan acts. This year’s convention was no different in that sense, but did highlight something unique in its 40-year history: this the first year to feature a steelband of 80 players on stage at once.
On Friday, November 13, Tracy Thornton led his massive steelband to present Pan Rocks, a set of rock standards and his own original compositions to a PASIC crowd of over 500 people. The group was made up of various professional, community and high school players, with two full local high school bands and one university group from Alberta, Canada, making the trip.
“I couldn’t be happier with how well the whole thing went down. When you put together so many groups like that, it’s a lot of hard work with so many moving pieces that you’re not sure how it will turn out,” Thornton remarked. “Four different groups came out to perform, including two full high school bands, Jim Royal’s drum studio, and some of Global Drums through Adam Mason, who won chapter of the year for PAS this year. Their from the University of Lethbridge out in Alberta.”
Most performers brought their own instruments but some were provided from local groups, including those led by CJ Menge, renowned pannist and educator who runs several community and school groups in Austin, Texas.
Thornton’s goal with the concert was to promote the movement he’s created, which seeks to “turn kids on to music with rockin’ fun tunes,” he said. By arranging songs by Metallica, Nirvana, Led Zepellin and The Who, Thornton has gained international attention with his program being used in public schools and universities around the world.
The program was inspired by Thornton’s regular trips to Trinidad & Tobago to perform in the annual Panorama competition, which features hundred-player-plus bands competing for a championship and price money. Considering the popularity of the musical style, which takes a theme and variation format in conjunction with Calypso and Soca music, Thornton wanted to capture the excitement that the music carries but without the difficulty level so that beginning players could be attracted to the instrument and not feel intimidated.
“I was a rock musician before I got into pan. Going from heavy metal music to Panorama I was able to get into it considering the similarities in intensity and difficulty,” Thornton said. “When I introduce friends who are into Heavy Metal to Panorama music they love it. Then they listen to artists like Liam Teague and Jonathan Scales, and get what pan is all about. That’s why we have this little corner with Pan Rocks to help people appreciate what the instrument can do.”
Teague, who is a world-renowned pannist in his own right, also performed at PASIC that same day with collaborator, percussionist Robert Chappell. Teague has carved a name for himself by composing his own brand of music that blends classical, calypso and latin genres.
Thanks to support from artists like Teague, Andy Narell, Thornton was inspired to push forward with his program, which has only been active for just over two years.
“A lot of the music we’re playing, I wrote 10 to 15 years ago. ‘Dain Bramage,’ an original I wrote, is one of the top selling charts in the country over the past few years. Someone said I should go do what Andy Narell and Victor and Liam do by going to different schools and teaching my charts to them. I’ve been doing this full time since 1995,” Thornton said. “I had a group called the Sons of Steel from 1999 to 2002. We’d go tour with original Wailers Band and used to open up with Buffet. The average age of the group was 14. Now, doing Pan Rocks at PASIC, it’s the 80-piece version of what Sons of Steel was.”
Given the level of competition Thornton had to beat out to perform at PASIC, he was surprised the group was selected. The PASIC website describes the selection process as “rigorous” with performers being selected from a pool of over 500 applicants. But given the turn-out, level of participation and positive response from the audience, it would seem the selection was well-justified.
“Mark Schuman, who played drums for Foreigner, Velvet Revolver and Pink, was very complimentary and said he’s never seen anything like it,” Thornton said. “The participants blew me away, as well. Most of my whole front line and second line already had the music down enough to perform and enjoy themselves without staring at the charts. We wanted to have a Trini vibe and we got it with the whole band jumping. Everyone that was on board put a lot of work in and showed up prepared. It is just amazing how our community does when they need to rise to the occasion.”
With only one rehearsal as a full group the night before, the group had several challenges to overcome on its road to the performance, including transporting the performers and instruments to the performance space. Thornton rented a bus to haul players and equipment but had help with the rehearsal space from Menge. Thornton also hired a friend from Canada to play drums, with a challenge of his own to overcome.
“My drummer, Brad Park from Toronto, who never played with a steelband before, learned the charts through recordings and came out like a pro. It’s a different sonic vibe to play with a steelband,” Thornton said.
The popularity of the groups amongst players was also a welcome to surprise to Thornton, who had over 100 players asking to perform with the group on stage. But, due to space restrictions, he had to selections no more than 80 in total. “I had to turn away a lot of people; everybody was like, I’m on board. If they would have given me 200 people I would have filled it.”
What helped the performance as well was the exposure of it to an audience that was made up primarily of people not part of the pan community. “Just having that show at PASIC I would say opened doors for a lot of people doing their own thing with it. We’ll see what happens in the future.”
Thornton is hopeful that his program grow enough to become more successful in its own right and give opportunity to other artists like himself looking to bring recognition to the instrument.
“There’s a power and spirit about pan that you can’t get with any other instrument. My whole thing with Pan Rocks is to get it into the public consciousness of another style of music, kind of like the group Apocolyptica, who plays Heavy Metal arrangements on strings. Their albums go platinum and they are performing at European music festivals for crowds of 100,000 or more,” Thornton said. “Pan Rocks! has legs. I’ll just push it as far as I can. I hope people see the bigger picture with the potential for steelpan.”
