Nurse's song to share the spirit of Christmas

LYSTRA Nurse can be described as a wedding singer.

From an early age she has been lending her voice during the ceremony and at receptions, especially for the sticking of the cake and first dance by couples.

She is also known for her work as a promoter of fashion and queen shows. However, the passion of this Marabella woman is to leave her mark in the field of calypso.

She has entered and placed in many competitions and has even found a home with the Rainbow Calypso Tent of Chaguanas, but her breakthrough is yet to come.

In the interim, Nurse, who dabbles in a little bit of jazz, R&B and a lot of old-school music, is hoping to draw public attention to her versatility and push herself to stardom by branching off into another offshoot of calypso – parang soca.

For the 2019 Christmas season, Nurse has recorded her first parang soca tune, Spirit of Christmas.

The catchy number, which she wrote, was produced by Phillip Allard of the family parang band Los Dinamicos.

“I have been experimenting with different genres of music and this is a song I did over two years ago, with the intention to record it. However, I kept putting it off and putting it off and finally this year I made the decision to do it.”

She turned to Allard in order to draw from him “some real parang flavour,” because of his experience in this field, and got the desired result.

“It is a song you would want to dance to and hear over and over again,” she said.

Nurse, who works full-time with a security firm, said she also has in her “composition bag” a gospelypso song to be released in time for the 2020 Lenten season, plus a calypso she hopes will take her to Calypso Fiesta at Skinner Park in San Fernando and then to the big yard.

“My calypso offering for 2020 is about real issues which are breeding young criminals. The message, in part, is to parents, to pay more attention to their children who are not employed but are supporting the household. Parents need to pay more attention to where the money is coming from and the repercussion that could follow,” Nurse said.

Although she has in the past, tried and failed to make it to the calypso semi-finals at Skinner Park, Nurse said she is not daunted and will continue singing and composing until she achieves her goal.

“I am going to make it to Skinner Park one day. One of my dreams is to see a calypsonian from one of the less known and small community tents make it to the Savannah (Queen's Park, Port of Spain). I believe I can be one of those persons who can do that, so I am not giving up.”

With parang soca added to her repertoire, Nurse is looking for opportunities to show her versatility.