Reggae songstress Timeka Marshall will be making a special guest appearance at the Banks Open Mic series on April 8. This will be the first in the eight-week series of Thursday night sessions at Braddie’s Bar which start at 9 pm.

According to Lisa Howell, event coordinator and holistic vocal coach with Sing Vocal Arts: “ It is not an average open mic showcase.”

Howell, a seasoned performer, sees these events as an excellent forum for artist development. “In addition to promoting local and regional music and talent, they are a good way for artists to practice and develop their art and could be a proving ground for new talent or even material,” she said. “We are excited to have Timeka being a part of our first session and look forward to having guest appearance each week from artists in different genres.”

The free open mic series will focus on a different genre each week with the finale featuring the best acts from the previous seven weeks to compete for prizes.

“We will be awarding prizes to those persons who are determined by trained professionals to have demonstrated both vocal and performance potential in their chosen genre,” she explained.

Each session will close with participants and those in attendance partying to the sounds of DJ Selecta Frost and DJ Supa High Voltage Sound System.

Schedule:

April 8th	Week 1:	Open Mic segment and special guest appearances by Timeka Marshall
April 15th	Week 2	Spoken Word night. Special guest appearance by a local spoken word artist and the organizer of AD Lib Here. Guest artiste: Adrian Greene & Nala($2 Philospher)
April 22nd	Week 3	Reggae night. Special guest appearance by Lisa Howell
April 29th	Week 4	Hip Hop night Guest artiste: Nitro & Ruby Tech
May 6th	Week 5	Alternative Rock, R & B and Pop
May 13th	Week 6	Soca- Ragga Soca
May 20th	Week 7	Soca –Party Songs
May 27th	Week 8	Best of Open Mic

Pyramid Entertainment's first industry party took place at the Aqua Restaurant, Hastings, Christ Church where the who's who of the Barbadian entertainment fraternity came out in their numbers to support the company's achievements and celebrate the launch of Philip 7's hotly anticipated anad much acclaimed first album. Here are some pics from the event below. Enjoy!

Masala album cover

David Kirton

Amongst the attendees were musical stalwarts Arturo Tappin, Nicholas Brancker and Andrew Denny who rubbed shoulders with some of the islands' emerging talents such as Buggy, Ayanna John, Dwayne Husbands, (2008 winner of the Digicel Rising Stars) and Ria Borman who recently dazzled the audience at the Barbados Music Awards (BMA).

Arturo Tappin with Sophia and Paul Marshall

L-R: Statement, Wilfred Abraham, Ruel Ward, Claire Marshall, Shirley & Santia Bradshaw, Selina Philips and Tony Hoyos

The party was also used to showcase the latest additions to the growing catalogue of music videos produced by the Pyramid Music Group. Guyanese sensation Timeka Marshall's latest single "All Night" received thunderous applause as did Peter Ram's video for the single "Tight". The company also premiered the two recent videos from Philip 7 - alternative track "Space and Time" and reggae single "Looking For".

The evening climaxed with a twenty five minute performance by Philip 7 and his band Masala. log on to www.pyramidartists.com for more about Pyramid and their roster of artists!

Pyramid Entertainment Management out of Barbados is hard at work. This can be attested to by the hard work of their artists to bring great music to their fans and videos of a high caliber. Here are a few artist on the roster. See what they have been up to.



Verseewild, is a radio-jock now singer who's popularity has skyrocketed in the last year. I'm sure his song "Ahzam" has something to do with it. Well he recently released a video for the song and also has a sneak peak video for his track "Tek It Light".
The video was directed by Nicholas King, while production was done by the B.M.G.U. Production team.
It captures many picturesque Bajan scenes, it is bright and lively like the island itself. Of course this is a bajan ting so you know girls are there pelting waist and pushing back bumpa and ting. Interestingly enough, the video captures the two sides of Versee as in one scene he is shown on stage performing while talking to the DJ who happens to be him.

Check out the video below:


I recently saw Philip 7's video for "Beautiful Surprise" on Caribvision. Love it. He has a new song out. It's called "Who You Are".
The song is produced by one of Jamaica’s most long-standing and accomplished producers Richard 'Shams' Browne.

Though he is known for his alternative sound, he has definitely found something magical in this Reggae inspired music. Look out for another reggae themed track "Looking For" produced by Stephen McGregor,with the accompanying video directed by J Will. Additionally, he has also been working with another veteran producer Donovan Germaine of the Penthouse Label.

To round of this successful year, Philip 7 will perform at the Barbados version of A Moment In Time headlined by Beres Hammond. The concert is set for December 28, at the Sir Garfeild Sobers Gymnasium

I always knew Barbados had great musical talent. I remember going to gospelfests as a child on vacation with my aunts, and was always blown away by the awesome talent therein. So its no surprise to me that artists like Rupee, Rihanna, Shontelle and Levvi Franc have been signed to major record labels , Atlantic, Def Jam, Universal Mowtown, and Jive Records respectively. Well Hal Linton is gonna join not only Shontelle as a label mate but Lil Wayne, Nelly and Ashanti.




Hal, is not only a singing talent but a talented writer who penned the single "Cardiac Arrest". We are looking for only the best from him!!!!




Timeka Marshall just wrapped up the video fro her seductive new single "All Night" , directed by Jamaican Jay Will. The track was produced by Stephen McGregor. She was one of an exclusive group of artists chosen by KLAS radio station for a tour of high schools throughout Jamaica, where she spread positive messages to teens, sharing her story, giving advice, signing posters and CDs and of course performing.

She is also a nominee for this year's Guyana Music Awards to be held on November 30. She goes up against acts such as Adrian Dutchin, Jumo, Shelly G, Natural Black, and First Born.

Check out all the Pyramid Artists at www.pyramidartists.com