PROFILE OF JOSEPH “JOE GO” BRANDY A Master Kettle Drum Player.

Culturama Patron 2003. Joseph “Joe Go” Brandy hails from the village of Brick Kiln in the parish of St. James’ Nevis. Mr. Brandy, affectionately known as “Joe Go”, developed a passion for the kettledrum from a very early age and his dream was that one day, he would be a kettledrum player. He however never realized that one day he would have been one of the best kettledrum players to walk the streets of Brick Kiln and Nevis. Joe Go recalls growing up in Brick Kiln and going to the bar shops on Saturday evenings to observe practice sessions by the Masquerades, Giant De Spear and other traditional folklore groups. Joe Go got his first “knock” of the kettledrum during one of these practice sessions one evening at the bar shop of George Glasgow. He remembers vividly that the year was 1949 and he was only 15 years then. Joe Go was very excited but his dream of continuing to play the kettledrum was short lived as Mr. Glasgow and his two sons were avid drummers at the time so Joe Go had to give way to them. However, Joe Go was determined to satisfy his new found love for the kettle drum so he decided to make his own Tambu Bamboo drum which he carefully crafted using a pen knife and a cutlass. In the mid 1970’s Joe Go bought his first kettledrum for $100.00 from the now deceased Ezekiel Kelly of Gingerland. Shortly after, the late Ernest “De Warrior” Rawlins gave him a pair of Cherry Sticks, a gift he treasures up to this day. Later he received a Bass Drum from a fellow folklorist and thus he had both instruments that made up the famous Big Drum. Joe Go first played for Quarter’s Giant De Spear and later he drummed for clowns and masquerades. Over the years his accompanying musicians were Redman, Quarter, Long Man, Quailey and the late Farad Browne. Mr. Owen Bussue has also accompanied Joe Go’s band as a fifer but his longest accompanying musicians have been bass man Best Elliot and “De Wicked Fifer” David Freeman, with whom he still plays. Due to his tremendous skills as a kettledrum player, Joe Go has been a musical ambassador for Nevis traveling to St. Kitts, St, Eustatius, St. Maarten, U.S.V.I. Miami and to CARIFESTA in Barbados, Trinidad and Surinam. In 1996 he served as an expert facilitator for a St. Kitts and Nevis Folk Drumming Workshop, which was sponsored by UNESCO. He has also taught his daughter Singing Carmen to play the kettledrum and had been a mentor for his nephew “Snowflakes” who is an outstanding folk musician. Mr. Brandy is always willing to teach youngsters to play the kettledrum and would like to encourage them to learn to play the drum, blow the fife or learn some form of folklore dance. Mr. Brandy presently resides in Brick Kiln with his wife Evelyn with whom he has raised seven girls. He continues to support his family from the earnings gained from beating the kettledrum and from being a fisherman and stock farmer. Mr. Brandy presently plays the kettledrum with the Joy Bells Big Drum of Rawlins Village. Mr. Brandy was indeed elated to have been selected as the esteemed patron for CULTURAMA 2003 and feels good with him self that he has been able to keep the art of Kettledrum playing alive for the past 29 years of Nevis’ Culturama Festival. The Nevis Island Administration, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the Department of Culture and The Culturama Secretariat along with the Nevis Culturama Committee join with the whole of Nevis to wish Mr. Joseph “Joe Go” Brandy many more years of kettledrum beating and wish him many more years of good health and prosperity. “LONG LIVE JOEGO you have been a true Cultural ambassador for Nevis and an outstanding Cultural icon”!