BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MANY people know her, but maybe not by name. Scores will stand for hours just to listen to her, while many who reside on sister isle Nevis and in the rural areas of St. Kitts dread the moment when they have to depart for their respective homes on a busy Friday afternoon.
She is Odessa Pemberton, lead singer of the popular 4Play Band that could be seen and heard every Friday dishing out many melodious tunes on the Bay Road outside the Shoreline Plaza from 4:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The 26 year-old Rastafarian officially joined the 13-year-old band on the first day of this year.
She is a Nevisian by birth but currently resides in Cayon and is the mother of a seven-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl.
The Accounts Clerk of TDC Shipping is the eldest of seven children (four girls and three boys) born to Nevisian parents, Norma and Kevin Pemberton, who are also experienced in the musical field.
Odessa’s father was a drummer in the defunct Shells All Stars Band (out of Nevis) and her mother, who is also a Rastafarian, currently plays the Clarinet in the Defence Force Band. Like her daughter, she is also a very good vocalist.
Notably, Odessa has a number of musically-talented relatives, including her aunt, a former calypsonian who went by the moniker Singing Vanny.
Asked what it is like being a band member, Odessa said: “It has been great! It has opened me to people. It opened my voice more because I had a baby (kind) of voice, but now it’s more powerful. I had a powerful voice and it wasn’t so open, but now I can express myself more using my voice”.
Odessa started singing in the St. John’s Primary School and was part of the school’s choir. She was also a part of the Gingerland High School choir as well as the Gingerland Methodist Church choir.
Her melodious voice had also brought her victory in an island-wide singing competition among the high schools in Nevis.
Today, she has matured and in addition to the Friday afternoons gigs, the band plays at the St. Kitts Marriott Hotel on Saturdays from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and sometimes on Thursdays which are on-call days.
On Sundays, the band has two gig - one at Shipwreck from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and the other at Pasty’s Bar and Grill (formerly Rainbow Bar) on the Frigate Bay strip 8:00 p.m. to 12 midnight.
The band also take bookings for weddings, parties and other many other functions.
Commenting on audience response to her singing, Odessa said with a chuckle, “It has been great. Sometimes the people crowd me and sometimes I have to run.”
She added: “I have been appreciated by everybody,” while explaining that the list of everybody includes veteran musicians and first-time patrons, who no doubt quickly become new fans.
“They ask me where I have been all this time, and those kind of stuff…lots of compliments”, Odessa said about persons who would have heard her sing for the first time.
Asked about her inspiration to be in the music industry, she said: “It’s something that I always wanted to do and I’m so happy and pleased that the 4Play Band asked me to become a part of it”.
SKNVibes inquired how the band found out about her.
“Well, I’m always singing. I’m usually singing in the office all the time and there is a coworker of mine who is friends with the band leader and he told him about me”.
In December 2011, Odessa had auditioned for the position of vocalist in the presence of the band’s leader and bass guitarist, Andy Smith, and his brother, Troy Smith, a keyboardist. The brothers had made it known that they wanted her immediately.
She was however unable to join the band at that time but subsequently did so on the break of the New Year.
Asked how she felt after being approved on her first and only audition, Odessa said: “I was like ‘okay then’…I know I can sing but for them to have taken me after the first audition was a ‘wow’ for me.”
Odessa competed in the 2007 Kittitian Superstar competition and although she did not place, she was given the opportunity to sing the National Anthem at the finals of that event.
Quite confident of the talent she possesses, Odessa believes she did not place in that particular competition because, as a Nevisian, television viewers in St. Kitts back then were not familiar with her, which affected her chances of getting the general public to vote for her via the texting platform.
Some of the artistes she admires include Etana, Queen Ifrica, Gramps Morgan, Jah Cure, John Legend, Destra and Allison Hinds.
Odessa highlighted that she likes the Morgan Heritage Band but really loves the singing style of its popular vocalist and keyboardist, Gramps Morgan.
“I just love his voice and I can sing like him too”, she said. “Oh, I can change my voice to sing like anybody. I sing all genres of music. I can sing anything”, she added.
Her favourites however are Reggae and Soca.
This reporter asked Odessa whether or not it is financially beneficial for her being in a band.
“For me, it’s beneficial both financially and experience wise. So I would say yes”, she informed.
As gathered, both of her children, especially her daughter, are showing signs that they would want to follow in her footsteps.
She declared that on some occasions she would take her daughter to the band’s practice sessions and gigs.
Asked if she would encourage her daughter to pursue a career in music, Odessa said: “I would, but it’s her choice. If I see positive things coming from it, yes I would be behind her one hundred percent.”
SKNVibes enquired if she has intensions to break out as a solo artiste in the future.
“Yes I do. Actually I wanted to enter into the Soca Monarch Competition this year.”
However, for being out regularly performing with the band, she has not really had the time to finish two songs she has been working on, so she is thinking about competing next year instead.
As gathered, Odessa has been receiving a lot of compliments from overseas guests staying at the St. Kitts Marriott after they would have seen her perform.
Many of these guests - as this media house was told – had constantly requested Odessa to accompany them home so that she could make the move to perform on popular national songs competitions like The Voice and Ex Factor.
Odessa shared that she is in frequent contact with a couple from the United States, who are showing much interest in inviting her to their country for music business opportunities.
As understood, the husband is a part of the Yankees baseball team. Furthermore, the couple was here earlier this year and just last month had returned for another visit to the island.
Odessa was asked to recall her first time experience performing before a large audience as a child.
“In the choir I used to do solo parts. I used to be afraid. Sometimes I would tell the choir teacher that ‘I don’t want to do it this time. Let somebody else do it’. And after they came asking me all the time, I said to myself, ‘Well, I guess I have to develop my confidence,’” she shared.
Upon further relating more of her solo act in front of an audience with other singers onstage, Odessa said: “I was like…wow oh my God. I wasn’t event scared. I was like…’This is how it is?’ because everyone else was there but I was doing the solo part. So I was like everybody is still there even though I’m doing the solo part so I shouldn’t be that scared.”
She also remembered her first rendition in school with no one else sharing the stage.
In a humorous mood, Odessa said she was not scared and figured it was because she did not look at the audience but through a door that was straight ahead.
She expressed thanks to her parents for encouraging her over the years “even though it took me this long”.
Odessa also thanked the 4Play Band for giving her the opportunity and praised its members for the exposure and experience she attained in the world of music, because there are certain aspects about the industry that “I didn’t know, but I know now”.
Some of things she has learnt pertaining to music include singing with keyboards and the bass as well as reading music.
“It’s been a great experience and I’m still experiencing more stuff”, she expressed.
Odessa concluded: “Thanks to the fans and all the positive people around. I am also giving thanks and praises to Almighty Jah for blessing me with this melodious voice and granting me the opportunity to be exposed to music through the 4Play Band. Blessed love! Also remember I keep it positive, that's just how I live.”
The other members of the 4Play Band are: Troy ‘Bif’ Mills (Manager); keyboardist Otis Harris; drummer Shabaka Ras Alfa; vocalists Virgil Hodge, Queen Kibie and Samantha.
