Well no not really a sorority, but I will say that I'm part of a new sisterhood and trust me when I say....We LIT! 

Honey Jazz Squad 2018

Honey Jam, that new sisterhood I've joined, is hosted by Ebonnie Rowe. Honey Jam is basically Ebonnie's baby. She's hosted it in Canada for years and brought it to Barbados' shores cause she has seen the plethora of female talent our little island has to offer and doesn't want it to be exploited. She's all about female education and empowerment in the music industry, whether it be local or abroad. Ebonnie basically chooses some of Barbados' most talented female artists and gives them an outlet to show what they've got.

Honey Jam Coordinator Ebonnie Rowe(centre) and my Gemini twin Ava (she's amazing TRUST)

There are workshops in performance, song writing and industry basics which are facilitated to hone these female powerhouses. At the end of it all, there's a huge talent showcase and the girls ALWAYS show up and show out! You gotta put everything you've learnt on display and its usually done with pride.

The Honey Jazz stage 2018

Trust and believe when I say that Ebonnie has had a fine crop of ladies pass across the stage, with all attendees of the shows saying these ladies are stars in their own right.

I feel truly lucky to have been a part of the journey even though it took quite a nudge to audition (Thanks friends!). But it really has been a  worthwhile experience for me. Not only has it been filled with lessons, but I've met amazingly beautiful people that inspire me.

Song writing workshop 2017 with Tika Simone, Simon Pipe, Lennox and Leigh Phillips and of course the Honey Jam Beauts in the back

In preparation for the Honey Jazz show, the girls received performance coaching with Shakura S'Aida who spoke on connectivity and grounding yourself onstage and gave us details to making sure we had a genuine engagement with our audience regardless of the song.

When we met Shakura for the first time at the Canadian High Commission reception

Shakura S'Aida and the girls

From the coaching I noticed my confidence, persona on stage and vocal ability has also grown leaps and bounds. I've been exploring genres trying to figure out which ones I love and feel connected with most when I perform. For my Honey Jam 2017 performance, I covered Love Galore by SZA because I loved the vibe plus the message. It was way too relate-able at that time. I was most surprised when Ebonnie invited me back for Honey Jazz 2018, considering I had never performed jazz in my life. In the end, I loved every moment of it.  I chose to perform Straighten Up and Fly Right By Natalie Cole and My Baby Just Cares For Me by Nina Simone. Practicing the performance and watching the band prepare opened up my eyes to the complexity of the genre and I've gained new found appreciation.

Honey Jazz 2018

Honey Jam 2017

This post is basically to highlight my Honey Jam and Honey Jazz journey so far and hopefully encourage more to take part. Honey Jam is like a family and not so much a competition like many think. We encourage and support each other, motivate each other and even pray together, in our pre-show huddles. As talented as each of us are, we understand the power of our uniqueness so there's noooo room for jealously.  Overall I'm definitely thankful to Ebonnie Rowe for the experience and my personal team for making me take the push. Hopefully I could encourage any young ladies who feel as passionate about music to take part too.

Honey Jam 2017 Huddle