Shurwayne sizzles

Shurwayne Winchester is undoubtedly one of this country’s best male artiste. Blessed with a sweet singer’s voice, a quick wit and an ability to make pictures with music, Shurwayne has been on a roller coaster ride to success.

Born on February 8, 1974, in Tobago, his talents first came to light in 1986 when he was 12 years old. He began competing in local calypso competitions, where he consistently placed within the top three. Shurwayne participated in these local contests until 1990, when he was encouraged to compete against veterans such as Calypso Queen Denyse Plummer, Calypso Monarchs, Cro Cro and Luta in the Carib Independence Calypso Competition. As a result of this performance, Shurwayne was hired for various calypso tents both in Trinidad and Tobago from 1980 through 1996. That year he joined “Trobble” but the band was short-lived. Upon its demise, he was asked to join “Inxs”. One year later Shurwayne auditioned for Spektakula. However, Spektakula’s management felt that he would be better showcased as a front line singer for a soca band and recommended him to Andy Joseph, bandleader of “Traffik.” His first recording was made in 1998 when he did “Leave it in” and “Soca Baby” with Traffik. His voice caught the attention of record producer Devon George who then had Shurwayne record “Get out of my dreams” written by Marlon “Socket” Clarke. Released in December 1998 the song remained in rotation for two years until July 2000 — a rarity in this tough world of soca music.

In 1999 Shurwayne was back in competition — this time he entered the Soca Monarch. His first performance gained rave reviews and was deemed “Most Dynamic” by the media. By then Shurwayne became the hearthrob of soca, both locally and internationally among West Indian markets. In May he recorded a remix of “Quelvis” by and with King Wellington for the album Rumour Riddims. His overdub is credited with sending the song to the top of the charts within one week.  This song remained on the charts for seven months. Shurwayne has five additional tracks he wrote on this album. In 1999/2000 he released — “Avanelle,” “Wine Down” and “Who Say”— three songs he wrote and they exceeded his previous successes. Released in November 1999, “Wine Down” stayed on the charts until mid August 2000. His up-tempo  “Who Say” released in December 1999, climbed the charts quickly and remained a hit through October 2000. On October 21, 2000 Shurwayne was awarded “Best New Artist” and “Male Vocalist of the Year” at the Sunshine Music Awards, New York. In late October he released “Why yuh blaming me?” which hit the charts the following week. In November he released “Jouvay Jump Up” which followed the same path, and “You Make Me Wanna” (aka So Hot) which became an instant favourite. “Release the Best” and his challenge tune “Revenge” joined the others on the charts in January. “You make me Wanna” stayed on the charts through August 2001.  These five songs were all written by Shurwayne.

His first solo album Under My Spell  was released in January 2002. Two cuts from the album “Splash” and “Doctor on Call” were also hits for Carnival 2002. The first release for Carnival 2003 was “Baby Love.” It took off immediately and became one of the requested songs for the ladies. “Masqueraders” was the second release, and was a contender for Road March. Shortly thereafter “Front” was released. It took the air waves by storm, and was the most requested song by Shurwayne. Both men and women showed their love for the melody and lyrical structure, which again took him to the finals of Soca Monarch. He collaborated with Chinese Laundry and Rikki Jai on his composition “Rags Don’t Care,” a fast nation building and unity song, which was requested by both artistes and fans alike. “Powder” was his Jouvert contribution and had already hit the charts on West Indian radio stations in North America. Shurwayne released a 17 track CD Press Play for 2004 and he is already “burning up” the airwaves with songs like “The Band Coming” and “Come Beta” a collaboration with Destra Garcia. It is said that Shurwayne is in the race for the Road March with “Look The Band Coming”.