Vincentian musician rubs shoulders with top Blues artistes

by Jada Chambers

A young Vincentian musician from Lowmans Hill has been invited to join Hall of Fame Blues music artistes onstage as a bassist, to perform for an international audience at the Mustique Blues Festival.

The festival is an annual event where Blues musicians from across the world converge on the private Grenadine island of Mustique to perform and raise money for the Basil Charles Educational Foundation.

The Foundation then uses the money to provide scholarships, bursaries and other support to students across St Vincent and the Grenadines who are engaged in educational pursuits.

The two-week event which commenced on January 24, 2024 and concludes on February 7, 2024 has seen Blues Hall of Fame and Grammy-nominated musician Joe Louis-Walker; British singer and recording artist Ian Siegal; Blues Rock singer and guitarist Dennis Jones; Blues Music Award nominee Murali Coryell; alongside music sensations Dan Rabinovitz; Peter O’Brien; Linwood Taylor Jr; Giles Robson; Robbin Kapsalis; and Matt Gest gracing the stage with some of their biggest hits.

And, 21 year old Vincentian Joshua Lewis has been invited to Mustique to perform onstage with these performers as a bassist for the festival’s 29th anniversary.

Having begun playing music since he was small Lewis can now play three musical instruments: the drums, bass guitar, and the keyboard.

“And I dabble in other things such as lead guitar and steel pan, but drums is my main instrument,” Lewis told SEARCHLIGHT yesterday, February 1 in an interview.

As to why he got started in music, Lewis said that there was no compelling reason, it was simply a “God given gift”.

“I feel like I’ve made great progress over the years. I started music since I was a baby and it has been a great journey thus far. I give all my thanks to God.”

Lewis explained that the festival was short of a bassist so he was contacted by one of the show’s engineers, Jason Jackson, who presented him with the extraordinary opportunity to travel to the private island to perform alongside international musical artistes who have dominated the Rhythm and Blues genre of music.

“It has been a great experience, learning more things about the Blues genre and networking with great musicians,” he related.
Lewis, a full-time musician who served as a panellist at the Steel Expressions 12th Edition ‘State of the Art’ auditions, said that he still aspires for more in his music career.

“I aspire to get to a level where music is sustainable for me, where I can make a living and be comfortable doing what I love.”
Lewis also had words of encouragement to youths pursuing a similar career path.

“If you have a vision and a dream, go for it, despite what others may think or say because if you don’t, you’ll be haunted by the fact that you’d never know what would [have] happened if you tried.”