09 Oct One Family Is Bringing Steel Pan Back
Henry Potter was a 10-year-old in the Virgin Islands when he was first captivated by a noise from a churchyard.
“I’m like, ‘What is that ting ting ting?’ so I looked in and I saw kids playing and I watched them. The next day I went back. And probably about the third day, the guy who was in charge of the band, he asked me, ‘Do you wanna play?’ I’m like scared but I said yes. He said, “Well no problem, you can come, you can come and learn to play,’” Potter says.
These days Potter is the conductor of his own steel band in South Florida called Tamboo Bamboo. The name is based on an old-time bamboo dance in Trinidad. And the band is a family affair. Potter’s wife and daughter are also in Tamboo Bamboo. This Caribbean family is surrounded by steel pan music, a genre they wish was more commonplace.
“Down here we’ve got so many island people and we don’t have that much interest. There is some but I would like it to be more,” Potter says.
Tamboo Bamboo won the Miami Carnival “Panorama” steel band competition last year. The band also competes in Canada and Virginia. But Potter’s wife, Sharon, says it’s not just about the competition. The Potters’ daughter, Julia, was born in New Orleans but spent most of her childhood in the Virgin Islands before coming to South Florida.
“When I used to leave school, we used to run for a taxi and then go up to the pan yard and practice, practice, practice, and we practiced till like two in the morning. We just grew up with it. It’s in our blood, “ Julia says.
“A lot of island people come here and lose their culture, so we just try to keep it in the community so everybody can still say, ‘Hey, there’s still pan around, there’s still music around that you can enjoy,’” Julia says.
One of the ways Tamboo Bamboo is trying to reach out to the community is through schools. Julia remembers how important steel pan music was when she was going to primary school in the Virgin Islands.
Tamboo Bamboo and the Potters are playing in the “Panorama” competition this Friday at Central Broward Regional Park. The Miami Carnival main event is Sunday at the Miami-Dade Fairgrounds. Source: Wlrn.org
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