Dil-E-Nadan tours Spain and Holland

An excited Raymond Ramnarine, lead singer of the band, is still basking in the experience of sharing the stage with soca stars Destra Garcia and Shurwanye Winchester.

He said: “This year was really a step above the rest as we were able to provide the sweetest chutney and remixed tunes for the fans.”

The band performed at major events such as the Miami Day Fete, Soca Fest and the much anticipated Beach Fest alongside Machel Montano and his HD band KMC, Hunter (Lalchan Babwa) Baron, 3Veni, and Bunji Garlin.

Dil-E-Nadan played twice a day for six days at 12 venues before packing their bags and heading for Spain.

Last Friday night Raymond and his brothers Richard and Rennie Ramnarine gave the Spanish audience a treat when they performed chutney and soca hits.

“I am so surprised at the fans in Spain. They grooved to soca music way past midnight in Madrid,” Raymond said.

The band will be moving on to Holland where they will do five shows, including three private functions. Dil-e-Nadan will be releasing a new album, Da Boom for Carnival 2010.

In addition, Raymond is working on a new album for his 2010 Valentines concert when he will do his release.

His latest hit “Yeh Jeewan Hai,” which has been number one on local frequencies for the past month, is currently topping charts in Canada and New York.

Dil-E-Nadan was started by Raymond’s father Ramnarine Tole Moonilal.

The Ramnarine boys credit their success to their father whose dedication and determination gave them the drive to accomplish many things over the years.

Formed in 1957, in the early days the band won the Prime Minister’s Trophy for Best Indian Ochestration and dominated the local Indian music industry.

In the 1980’s the band toured extensively in Canada, Guyana and Suriname and boasted the best local singers the country had at the time, including Nazimul and Ruby Khan and Ras Nancoo Singh.

In the mid 1980’s Ramnarine’s sons Rennie and Raymond joined the group as percussionists then moving on to trumpets, and then guitars and keyboards.

With a push from then band manager Haseeb Majid, Raymond started his career as a singer. He entered a national singing competition with Swarsati Maraj in 1989 and won first place.

The next year Raymond took part in the Mastana Bahar television talent competition and placed second in the grand finals. Rennie, the eldest of the brothers also sang in the finals.

That same year the youngest of the brothers, Richard, joined the band as a tabla and dholak player. The band did their first show in New York in 1993 at York College in Queens.

They became the first local band to tour Holland and Spain in 1997. In 1999 Richard took over the band’s management and Dil-E-Nadan became the first chutney group to perform at two popular pre-Carnival events, Brass Festival and Youth Fest.