A Bit About Me
Hi! Thanks for stopping by. My name is Mark Cherrie and I am a professional steel pan player. I have been playing professionally for over 30 years and in that time, I have traveled all over the world, playing for many different types of audience, from stadiums to cosy living rooms. I have played music for pretty much any kind of event that you can imagine. From corporate events to weddings, funerals to parties, concerts, just about anything! My job is always to play songs that are always appropriate for the event, in my own unique style.
My Background
I began my musical journey playing the cello and the piano as a youngster. My father ran a steel band and from the age of 14, he taught me the steel pan and I quickly found myself touring with him. He arrived in the uk in the 1950's from Trinidad, where the instrument was born and I found myself working with many of the leading players of the day. I also have 2 other parallel musical careers. I also work as a keyboard player and have toured with many artists, such as Edwin Starr, Jimmy Ruffin, Odyssey, Ronnie Laws and so many others. I also work as a TV composer and have written 100s of pieces of music used worldwide, in 100s of TV shows. Shows you may have heard of, like Friends, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ER, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and many, many more. Oh and I do session recording work too, for clients like Disney (major motion picture but super hush-hush for now!), Gary Barlow and the occasional Japanese pop star. Not many other steel pan players can say the same thing!
Why Book Me?
So you would like some Caribbean flavour for your next event, so a logical choice would seem to be to book a steel band. A steel band is a wonderful thing in itself and I have played in many of them. And three or four people must make a bigger sound than just one player, right? Well, not necessarily. I perform with my own backing tracks, recorded by me in my own studio and play these through two very high quality Bose S1 speakers. These can make a huge sound, if that is required, with crystal clear clarity. They are also surprisingly small, so my total footprint is really not very big. Every song that I play has the perfect instrumentation for that song. so you will hear a full carnival calypso band for calypso music, or a reggae band for my reggae songs. Classical music? Well, that would require beautiful strings and you will definitely hear those. Pop? Synthesizers and drum machines are the order of the day here and they jump out of my system. You see, every song is treated individually, with just the right sounds to make it sound amazing! If you like the sound of my songs on here, rest assured that they will sound exactly the same when you book me. That's the advantage of booking a solo performer like myself, who has a world of experience in producing commercial music.
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So your party's still going and you've only booked me for a given amount of time? No problem, I am always happy to extend my playing time if you are happy to pay me a little more on a pro-rata basis. Or I can put my DJ hat on and play you a tantalizing mix of songs from the 60's, 70's, 80's & beyond. I love to see people enjoying themselves! Don't worry, it will all sound incredible through my Bose system.
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If you've booked me for your wedding and you would like to add some of my music to your wedding video, I am happy to supply you with an MP3 of one of my tunes here, free of charge! Trust me, it will sound better than your videographer's onboard microphone.
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