Joanna married to parang

Her face is pleasant as she makes her way on stage in a pretty blue dress that adds to her overall beauty. She is comfortable on centre-stage. She has been mounting the parang stage for 13 years now and it is like a second home to her. She is none other than the award winning parang singer Joanna Briggs. While many can relate to this name in the world of journalism, Joanna has since found a new job and a lot more time for the art which she says is the nearest thing to a husband. She worked with a daily newspaper for ten years before joining the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce as a Communications Officer. She has also been a parang singer since 1990. Like a true parandero, she has the parang tune on the tip of her lips — ready and waiting for the sound of the mandolin. She belts out the Spanish words so professionally and expertly that it is indeed admirable. As lead singer of the top parang band, Paranderos de UWI, she first sings the words of the song, then it is repeated by the back-up singers.  

Speaking about her climb to success, Joanna said that she has always been involved in the Spanish heritage having come from the home of Romanencia Briggs, her grandmother who is a “cocoapaynol.”  “Granny had a parlour in Curepe and she would always be playing parang tunes. Whether it was in season or not she would always treasure the Spanish songs. And I guess this is why I could have related to these songs easily,” she said. Although Joanna was going about the normal routine of studying and playing, tunes always played in her mind. Of course she had a natural love for the Spanish language. This is what brought her to study languages at a tertiary level. She attained a BA degree in Language and Literature at UWI. It was while in her final year at UWI that she decided to join the parang band. She was able to sing the most complicated Spanish songs with ease. The leaders of the band admired Joanna’s command of the Spanish language and before long she graduated to the front row as lead singer. She remembers singing the song, “Alagria” which is the Spanish word for “Happiness.” This song tells of the happiness of Mother Mary at the coming of the Christ Child.

She remembers climbing the stage as a child at the Fatima RC Church in the choir and singing popular hymns such as “Jesus Is My Friend,” “Little Baby Jesus” and “Joy to the World the Lord has Come.” Whenever she hears these songs on radio, they bring back fun memories to her. Having been born on Boxing Day, December 26, the Christmas season remained special to her and her family. She has been dubbed a “Christmas Baby” by all her relatives. Born to Joseph and Bernice Briggs both of whom are school teachers, Joanna was expected to excel in her academics and this she did. One of the many pastimes that she remembers distinctly in her mind is when her mother took her to Woodford Square to listen to parang. “The singers will give out sheets with the Spanish words so that members of the audience can follow and I would save them. I am what you would call a “pack rat,” collecting things and just saving them for no reason,” she laughs at herself. But her honesty as a child to keep the written parang words paid off. She is now one of the most respected parang singers in the country. Her love for singing brought her the title of “Best Female Singer” in 1997 at the National Parang Association of TT’s competition. Since her win she has risen to a greater height among paranderos in the country. This year Joanna had the opportunity to record some of her favourite parang tunes in the CD Mi Parranda, which was launched at UWI last Sunday. This CD is now on sale.

Joanna voiced her regret where the local artiste “mess” with the traditional parang melody for their personal gain. “I am happy that Scrunter sang the soca-parang tune “Madame Jeffrey,” because that song tells of the love a woman had for parang. But I cannot understand why someone could sing a song like, “Ah Want Meh Brush Neighbour.” The artiste must understand that parang is equal to gospel and you cannot take the gospel melody to deliver the double meaning songs,” she said on an angry note. She also regrets the fact that the radio stations choose these songs to play on a regular basis. “Their excuse being, ‘it is what the people like.” Parang is part of the history of this country and it should be promoted on TV and radio on a regular basis.  Just like all the other art forms. In the early days when the native would plant cocoa and coffee, they would communicate with each other by visiting the various homes and singing about the greatness of the Christ Child. This is a part of the history of this country,” she explained. She wanted to send a message to the many programme directors of radio, that the traditional parang is enjoyable and very important and should be entertained on the nation’s frequencies. Joanna is the mother of four-year-old, Jordan Briggs. She noted that she left the media because she wanted to spend more time with her son. While she was unwilling to talk about her personal life, she noted that she admires a man who is honest and supportive. “Supportive in the sense that he must be there in the good times and the bad times,” she said. Joanna is now leading a hectic life as we are in the middle of the parang season.