By Adrian Frater, News Editor
Ramcharan: "It has been a lot of hard work but it is paying off."
WESTERN BUREAU:
TWO YEARS after coming to the fore at the 2001 ceremony to mark the 1963 Coral Gardens Riot, at the Montego Bay Amphitheatre, female dub poet Melva 'Sister Melva' Ramcharan is now holding her own on the entertainment circuit in Kingston.
The dreadlocked Ramcharan, who left her Montego Bay home a year ago to seek greater opportunities in Kingston, now has three CDs under her belt, a book of poetry, weekly gigs at established entertainment centres such as the Village Café and Redbones, and three separate programmes on the expanding community radio station, Roots FM.
"It has been a lot of hard work but it is paying off," said the Montego Bay High School graduate, who grew up between Montego Bay and Brooklyn, in New York. "It is not easy to be away from my two children but my parents have volunteered to take care of them and that makes it a lot easier for me.
"After her Montego Bay Amphi-theatre performance, Ramcharan got some additional exposure when famed dub poet Mutabaruka, who witnessed the performance, invited her to be a guest on his radio programme 'The Cutting Edge', which is aired on the popular Irie FM. Shortly after, she began making numerous appearances on other radio stations, as well as on TVJ and CVM television.
"The media exposure led to numerous invitations to perform in Kingston," said 'Sister Melva', who stated that it was the attention, which influenced her decision to put out her first collection of poetry (Inna Dis Ya Judgment) and relocate to Kingston. "In Kingston, I started performing all over the place until I started co-ordinating my own shows at both the Redbones and the Village Café."
RADIO ROVING
It was primarily on account of her success on the entertainment circuit why she got into radio, at Roots FM. Today she hosts the programme 'Kunoos Treasure', a look at world history from an African perspective, on Saturdays from 6:00 p.m.-7.00 p.m.; 'the Children's Power Hour' from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Sundays; and 'Selectors Choice' with Dudley Thompson from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday nights."
"It is all good because some doors are now being opened," said Ramcharan. "I am currently in negotiation with Kingston Publishers to put out a second book of poetry and I have just released my third CD, which is entitled No Limits. It feature pieces such as 'It Hard', 'Revelation' and 'Justice Served'."
Ramcharan is slated to perform in Trelawny at a show dubbed 'Poet's Picnic Party - Words in Motion' on May 31, at Paradise Island, a small island off Martha Brae, near Falmouth. The event will showcase poetry and live band music.
