Marie's Redemption

To deal with her daily battles, steelband captain of RBTT Redemption Soundsetters, Marie Toby said she relies on the grace of God. “He is the one giving me all the strength. That is the man I does call on every morning, every hour of the day,” she said. This is especially so when criticisms of her governance of the band oftentimes come from among her band members and “outside of the community.” Toby succeeded former captain Dalton Surrey in 1995 to become the first and only female steelband captain in Tobago. Her post attracted criticisms from persons who believed that a woman was not fit for the job. She took the comments in stride. Toby understood that she was venturing into new territory where few women have ever gone and that her new title would not be received by all, particularly men.

“The steelband movement was mostly men and then having a woman now as a captain to control or basically handle the affairs and give instructions to these men, as in anything, you know you will have opposition. But...you, as an individual, would know how to deal with it,” said the pan enthusiast. “Because of the type of person that I am, I felt that it wasn’t hard for me to deal with it. Once the criticism is healthy.” As a youth, growing up in Bethel, Tobago, she was an ardent supporter of the pan movement. “Over the years in my community I have been supporting the conventional band Melloharps. Eventually, like everything else, there were problems and the band broke up. Redemption came on the way and it started with 25 persons from the Bethel community,” said Toby.

From its inception in 1988, the band functioned at the residence of the Stevens’, Riseland Road, Bethel. Now, they’ve found a home at Montgomery Road, Bethel, which also houses a pan theatre and pan school. Toby said that 40 young people, on average attended the school last year. She was a founding member for the orchestra, and though she never played the pan, she remained “the behind the scenes person. Even though I didn’t hold the position of captain or secretary, I was sort of operating in all areas... I was an ordinary committee member. After that I grew to PRO (public relations officer), vice captain, and then captain. “So, you will have criticisms. I will not let that get in my way. My dream has been and still is to take the band to the highest level and to even bringing a national Panorama title to Tobago.”

In 1997, under her tenure as captain and together with manager and arranger Winston Gordon (Peter Daniel and Gerry Stewart have also been associated with the band), then Redemption Soundsetters obtained the Small Band Tobago title. Last year the band obtained sponsorship from RBTT. To date, they are the holders of the THA Panorama Championship title, having won the event on seven consecutive occasions. This year the band won Tobago Panyard Prelims, large band category, and though they placed seventh in the National Panorama finals, they secured fourth place in the semi-finals with the rendition of  “War 2004” by De Original De Fosto Himself. As she sees it, she has earned her ranks as band captain. It comes with hard work. Toby added: “As a leader you must be able to command that kind of respect, it is not what you demand, it’s what you earn. It’s the way I motivate my membership and players. I feel that is why I get the co-operation from them. We are like one family. The band is a mixture of the young, old, middle-aged. The oldest is 67 years. We used to have a lot more men in the band but now I am seeing more females, soon they might take over.” As much as she would like to play the steelpan, and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of learning how to play the instrument, she said her work schedule does not allow it.

She is also vice chairman of Pan Trinbago/Tobago Region, director of Bethel Credit Union Corporative Society and employed with the Health and Social Services of the THA. “Add to being a mother, working, and being involved in other things in the community — I played hockey with Paradise Hockey Club. I was involved in different action groups and in politics as an activist.” Her husband as well as her children are also involved in playing pan. “I must say that because my entire family — my son, my two daughters, brother, niece, nephew — is involved, this has strengthened me. “I was around the days when my parents would say they don’t want to see me going in a panyard, me being the only girl and my brothers used to play. That stigma gone long time ‘cause right now most people trying to get their children involved, or they themselves are involved in the steelband movement. Gone are the days when the steelband wasn’t money-making. Now it’s big business... Here in Tobago you find that you don’t get much assistance from businesses. Our hardcore, stage side had to do hotel performances to raise money. The band used to borrow from the credit union to buy instruments because as the membership grows you need pans. But we’re thankful to our sponsors and as I said, our goal is to bring Tobago that Panorama title.”