Marcia Miranda Building TT’s musical landscape through parang

And then there are the local iconic Christmas songs, with offerings by music greats the likes of Marcia Miranda. The Soca Parang Monarch – having been given the title in 2000 – is a local household name to many a Trini.

It would be hard-pressed to find anyone who has not heard of or been touched by the work of Marcia.

From “Bring out de Ham” to “Roast Fowl,” she has certainly made her contribution to the development of the contentious genre called soca parang.

Born in Tobago, Marcia’s love and natural vocal ability was fostered by her upbringing in what was then Tobago’s only club owned by her family, La Tropicale.

In that space, her love for singing and performing was fostered by seeing local stars such as Ella Andall, the late Ras Shorty I, Calypso Rose, Crazy and Singing Sandra.

“That is where I learnt a lot about performing and about our culture,” she tells WMN. Having great music teachers such as John Arnold enhanced her skill and ability.

Sometimes great things begin unexpectedly, as was the case with Marcia. It was at a then British West Indian Airways’ (BWIA) competition that Marcia’s dream of recording her own song materialised.

It was not her first time singing though, as she sang Pop at the club, where she initially began singing calypso and soca. “I was a flight attendant with BWIA and I entered the competition....Peter Ray Blood (a journalist) was a judge and he said, ‘girl you need to go professional’.” She recalls what prompted her to record her first song, called “Run de Bread.” Although Marcia was unable to recall the exact year – around 1995, she says it was – this propellant that led her to do the song on an album with, “a guy called Straker in the US.” While this was the major drive for Marcia’s singing, getting into singing soca parang was also fuelled by her days in Diego Martin paranging her neighbours. “I was living in Diego Martin and there was a guy playing the box bass, another playing the cuatro...

we began going house to house singing real parang,” she recalls.

While Marcia has left her mark on different local musical genres, it is soca parang that has captured her heart. “Christmas puts people in a kind of beautiful mood. I really, really feel comfortable telling the story of Christmas time, it is easy for me to do that,” she says.

The joy and happiness brought by Marcia through music is also translated into her work done with charitable organisations such as The Trinidad and Tobago Cancer Society. This year as she gets set to celebrate Christmas, not only will she spend it with her family but also with also with children battling cancer.

The breast cancer survivor of 11years recalls that as a child her father would dress up as Santa Claus and give toys to children in the neighbourhood. This is a tradition, Marcia is trying to keep, adding the element of soca parang. And although some might suggest that the art of parang is dying, Marcia says she plans to make soca parang even more known by introducing it to the diaspora as well as taking up the Caribbean archipelago.

“I really don’t think that parang is dying, I really don’t think we have anything to worry about. The younger generation is beginning to understand the beauty and meaning of the music. Soca parang appeals to a much wider audience. There is also a fusion of Latin and chutney beats causing a whole evolution in parang. But I don’t think we will ever lose traditional parang. It will always be a part of TT’s musical landscape,” she says.