The music of the Virgin Islands reflects long-standing West Indian cultural ties to the island nations to the south, the islands' African heritage and European colonial history, as well as recent North American influences. Though the United States Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands are politically separate, they maintain close cultural ties. From its neighbours, the Virgin Islands has imported various pan-Caribbean genres of music, including calypso music and soca music from Trinidad and reggae from Jamaica.
The major indigenous form of music is the scratch band (also called ''Fungi band'' in the British Virgin Islands), which use improvised instruments like gourds and washboards to make a kind of music called ''Quelbe''. A Virgin Island folk song called 'cariso is also popular, as well as St. Thomas' bamboula. The quadrille is the traditional folk dance of the islands, and include varieties like St. Croix's Imperial Quadrille and St. Thomas' Flat German Quadrille. The Heritage Dancers are a respected dance troupe that perform traditional folk dances from the Virgin Islands and beyond.
Characteristics Virgin Islander culture is syncretic, based primarily on African, European and North American cultures. Though the Danish controlled the present-day US Virgin Islands for many years, the dominant language has been an English-based Creole since the 19th century, and the islands remain much more receptive to English language popular culture than any other. The Dutch, the French and the Danish also contributed elements to the island's culture, as have immigrants from the Arab world, India and other Caribbean islands. The single largest influence on modern Virgin Islander culture, however, comes from the Africans enslaved to work in canefields from the 17th to the mid-19th century. These African slaves brought with them traditions from across a wide swathe of Africa, including what is now Nigeria, Senegal, both Congos, Gambia and Ghana.Sheehy, pp 968–974
Folk music Virgin Islander folk music has declined since the mid-20th century, though some traditions, such as scratch bands, remain vibrant. Trends that contributed to this change include the rise of the tourism industry, the switch of American tourists from Cuba to the Virgin Islands following the 1959 revolution, and the growth of industries based on mass radio, television and recorded music. These changes "(diluted) local traditions and (diverted) younger generations" from becoming involved in folk music, because popular styles came to be viewed as having more prestige, class and income.
Scratch bands and fungi music
Scratch bands, also known as fungi bands and formerly string bands, are a distinctive form of folk ensemble; they have survived the decline of other Virgin Islander folk traditions, through adapting to newly imported instrumentation and songs, and becoming a part of a more general revival of interest in folk culture on the islands. The name scratch band may derive from the sound produced by scraping the squash, an instrument similar to the Puerto Rican guiro, but larger, or from the word squash itself, used to refer to the bands first by American visitors and then by locals.The sound of the instrument theory is from the Jamesie Project; Sheehy, pg. 969 is the source for the other claim
The traditional scratch band ensemble varied, but always used a percussive instrument, either the squash, tambourine, or a local form of double-headed barrel drum similar to the Dominican tambora, as well as an accordion, cane flute or violin as a melodic instrument. String instruments were also common, including the banjo, ukulele or a six-string guitar. The ass pipe, made out of a car exhaust tube, often provided the bass, and was played similar to the tuba. Since about the 1980s, the instrumentation for scratch bands became more rigid. The alto saxophone became the most common melodic instrument, replaced sometimes by a silver flute. Conga drums, squash, electric guitar or bass guitar, and a steel (a triangle). Banjo or ukulele, keyboard and additional saxophones or other melodic instruments are more rarely found in modern bands.
The music of scratch bands are a type of folk music that dates back to the days of slavery. The slaves on the islands used everyday objects to fashion instruments. However, this was not unique to slaves as individuals like James "Jamesie" Brewster, considered by many as the King of Scratch in the Virgin Islands, recalls making his first banjo from an old sardine can, old white pine wood, and an old sack of flour to make twine. Lyrics traditionally function as oral history, spreading news and gossip. Modern scratch bands play a wide range of dances, including calypsos, boleros, quadrilles, international pop songs, merengues, mazurkas, waltzes, jigs and other styles. They perform at church services, private parties, public festivals, local dances and fairs, christenings and weddings, and also perform for tourists. The scratch band tradition remains most vibrant on St. Croix, where the bands Bully & the Kafooners, Stanley & the Ten Sleepless Knights, and Blinky & the Roadmasters are well known. Scratch bands are less common on St. Thomas, and in the British Virgin Islands, though the popular Elmo & the Sparkplugs hail from Tortola.
Quelbe Quelbe is a form of topical folk song, and is the official music of the US Virgin Islands. Quelbe is commonly performed by scratch bands, Stanley & the Ten Sleepless Knights Quelbe! Music of the U.S. Virgin Islands | Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. (n.d.). Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. https://folkways.si.edu/stanley-and-the-ten-sleepless-knights/quelbe-music-of-the-u-s-virgin-islands/caribbean-world/album/smithsonian being the most popular throughout the Virgin Islands, though their folk origin lies in individuals, who sang the songs in informal settings, celebrations and festivals. The music in most cases involved true stories where the listeners can identify events that happen throughout a timeline. These songs typically contained sexual innuendos and double entendres, as well as other hidden meanings; common topics included political events, such as a boycott. One example from the early 20th century chastises a carousel owner for opposing a wage increase:
I rather walk and drink rum whole night Before me go ride on LaBega Carousel I rather walk, man, and drink rum whole night Before me go ride on LaBega Carousel You no hear what LaBega say "The people no worth fifteen cent a day" You no hear what LaBega say, man "The people no worth more than half cent a day"
cited in Sheehy, pg. 971
Other folk styles The quadrille is a folk dance that was formerly an important part of Virgin Islands culture; it is now rarely performed, except on St. Croix. There, locals dance the quadrille at public performance venues, such as St. Gerard's Hall, or as educational spectacles for schools, festivals and holidays, or as entertainment for tourists. Educational and entertainment quadrille troops both wear traditionally styled clothing reminiscent of authentic attire.Sheehy, pp 971–872 Sheehy describes folkloric ensembles' clothing as "color-coordinated traditional garb reminiscent of early generations (typified by the St. Croix Heritage Dancers as led by Bradley Christian).
The Virgin Islands tea meetings, the David and Goliath play and masquerade jig all probably derive from elsewhere in the Caribbean. The masquerade jig uses elements of theatre, dance, music and oratory, and functions as simple entertainment with improvised jigs alternated with humorous monologues. Tea meetings are now only performed as reconstructions in folkloric ensembles; they were evenings of speech-making, feasting and the singing of hymns and parlor songs. The David and Goliath play features music, dance, theatre, and dramatic and witty speeches, all based on the biblical story of David and Goliath.
The Afro-Virgin Islander bamboula tradition is now only performed in a reconstructed fashion. It was a style of song, drumming and folk dance, performed by two drummers on one drum; one drum used his hands and heel, and the other two sticks. African-styled dance and group song with refrains were a constant part, with verses frequently improvised by a soloist.
Traditional Virgin Islander folk music festivals were performed until the late 1950s. Masquerading (mas'ing) was an important tradition, and consisted of groups wearing theme-based costumes, and playing melodies and rhythms that suggest their identity. Instruments included a fife-and-drum ensemble that featured a cane fife, double-headed bass drum (known as keg or boom-boom) and snare drum (known as kettledrum).
The Virgin Islander cariso tradition is extinct in a true folk context, but remains an important symbol of Crucian culture, and is performed by folkloric ensembles for educational and holiday events. Carisos were still performed as late as the 1990s by several elderly singers, most famously Ethel McIntosh and Leona Watson. Though similar in some ways to quelbe, cariso is more African in its melodic style, frequent sustained syllables and traditional performance context, namely women singing in groups in call-and-response. Carisos, like quelbe, commemorate historical events, and spread news and opinions about important issues. One particularly famous cariso dates to 1848, and documents the emancipation of the slaves; the first segment is the refrain, sung by a chorus, which is followed by a verse performed by a soloist singer:
Clear the road, all you clear the road, Clear the road, let the slave them pass, We a go for a-we freedom.
Hardship in the morning, suffering at night. No one ever help us, it is only Father Ryan. They bring we ya from Africa, that we bornin' land; Bring we ya in slavery, in the land of Santa Cruz.
The French Virgin Islander In the early 1900s, small groups left the small French island of St. Barths and travelled to St. Thomas, VI in search of work. Known throughout St. Thomas as "Frenchies" many played instruments such as the accordion, harmonica, ukulele and guitar and made instruments such as the "Weero or Guiros" out of dried squash from their farms and cowbells from their livestock. Cyril Querrard of the Mountain Kings Band was a pioneer in promoting the music and sound of the French Virgin Islander. He had his own weekend show at the "Luau Club" on St. Thomas where he sang and played guitar for military personnel, tourists and locals alike. Because he lived on the peak of the island, he was once introduced as "The King of the Mountain" and the "Mountain Kings" band was later formed. Other local French descent bands later followed, such as, The Originals, Obsession Band and the Under Pressure band. These bands continued to have this unique sound as a result of this mix of cultures.
Shawn Querrard, lead singer of the Obsession band and son of Cyril Querrard, is known for his song writing ability. Songs like "Gypsy Girl", "Cherry tree", "Chances", "I had to let you know" and "Music Medicine" has proven longevity and popularity in many of the Caribbean islands, particularly those of French influence.
Modern and recently imported styles Until the mid-20th century, the Virgin Islands were largely culturally isolated from international popular music. In the 1960s, a growth in tourism caused an influx of immigrants to fill the service positions the tourism industry created. These immigrants brought with them many styles of popular music, which were popularised by the growth of mass media in the islands, including television and radio.