Big Shots Helping Honey Jam

The event that our readers have been waiting for is finally approaching! The first annual Honey Jam showcase will be at The Plantation Theatre on Saturday, November 12th. Doors open at 7 pm and the show starts at 8, and we have been assured that there are no and, ifs, or buts about it! At the press conference on Tuesday, the finalists were officially announced and introduced, as were the host of the workshops that were being provided for the girls.

Elaine Overholt kicks things off for the girls with her vocal and performance workshop on Sunday, November 6th. This is a great opportunity for the girls to improve themselves before the show with this vocal wizard who has worked with names such as John Travolta and Michelle Pfeiffer for ‘Hairspray’ the movie along with Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, and Queen Latifah for the Oscar-winning ‘Chicago’.

Then, on November 11th, two very influential men will be hosting the Industry Session Workshop - "Big Ives" Evidente, the Director of A&R & Lifestyle Marketing at Universal Music Canada, and Paul Russell, who is one of the current co-founders of  the R2M Music catalogue, and has also been Senior Vice President, Sony Music Entertainment Inc, and Chairman of Sony ATV, the company’s Music Publishing Division.

None of this could have been possible without Ebonnie Rowe herself, and the girls should be truly honoured that such persons are coming to host the workshops. Because Ebonnie was not able to acquire enough funding, all three of the workshop hosts are coming on their own accord, which just goes to show that the girls must all have talent worth investing in. 

Producer Ebonnie Rowe with Rochelle, one of the performers to be featured at Honey Jam Barbados

Ebonnie also gave some great advice to the girls at the press conference. She stressed the need for hard work, to educate themselves about the industry, to choose the right songs, to have a website and/or a demo, and to be able to take constructive criticism. This last factor she find very important because it seems that some Barbadians are “too soft”. She stresses the need of the willingness to learn, to be humble and to create their own opportunities from the show.

Nexcyx’s lead singer Mahalia, and last year’s participant Malissa Alanna also gave the girls some encouragement and words of advice. Mahalia will be closing the show with Nexcyx’s hit “Queen”, which is a song she wrote to help empower women.

Kurama Magazine journalist Mikey Rap with artistes Malissa Alanna and Mahalia of the band Nexcyx

Advanced tickets for the show are available at Jeans Inc. and Ticket Central and are $20 before the show and $25 at the door. Honey Jam is also a proud supporter of Leah Marville’s Love Campaign and is accepting food donations for the Barbados Food Bank.

For more information on the showcase and the participants of the show, please visit Honey Jam Barbados’ Facebook Page and website.