Bevon St Clair sets sights on Calypso Monarch crown

ELEVEN years ago, he touched the soul of a nation with Another Flambeau, a pore-raising lament for the country’s then escalating murder rate.

The calypso, which revisited the heinous killing of schoolgirl Keyanna Cumberbatch in Maloney in 2013, earned Bevon St Clair the Young Kings crown and $100,000 in 2014.

It also made audiences take notice of his penchant for highlighting the country’s social ills via the artform.

More than a decade later, crime still remains a critical social issue in Trinidad and Tobago.

But this year St Clair, 37, has opted not to focus on the scourge but the other issues confronting average citizens: the high cost of living; poor wages; the perceived apathy of politicians; and the feelings of despair and helplessness which many people are experiencing.

St Clair told Newsday his calypso, From Paycheck to Paycheck, written by Christophe Grant, would definitely resonate with citizens, many of whom, he believes, are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet.

“It is about how the country is going, the ups and downs, the ills the public faces every day,” St Clair said of the song on January 21.

“I wanted a song that captures how a normal person would feel compared to the well-to-do people in the society and how the country is being run because people are really living from paycheque to paycheque.”

I waiting for payday, cause tings dry.

Mouth open cyar even ketch ah fly,

Out de door, ah heading for de bus stop.

Imagine $7 for ah short drop;

How small man surviving

Lord ah want to know.

While dem big boys driving,

Porsche Cayenne fuh so,

Food price in the market,

Have to leave it on the shelf,

While we taking basket,

Dem big boys fixing they self!!!

Set to be released at the end of this month, St Clair is expected to perform the song at the opening of the Kalypso Revue, Arima Velodrome, on February 6. He has been a member of the legendary tent for the past 12 years.

Catchy, relatable and lyrically strong, St Clair is optimistic his 2025 offering, which has three verses, will not only take him to the Calypso Monarch semifinal at Skinner Park, San Fernando, but to the Dimanche Gras show in Port of Spain on March 2.

He said qualifying for the competition is his major focus this carnival season.

“I don’t really enter small competitions again after winning Young Kings. I don’t want to enter and then you are placed low and people who don’t even have the title beat you. I have entered regionals in the past but the standard I am at now, I am totally reluctant to do that.”

St Clair admitted he has been away from the local entertainment spotlight for some time.

After the success of Another Flambeau, he sang Awful, a socio-political commentary, in 2015, which gained some traction.

“After Awful, I started getting opportunities abroad, not with respect to calypso and I took a hiatus for a little bit.”

During that time, he travelled, got married, explored other musical genres, finetuned his craft and did some introspection.

Calypso, he realised, was his first love.

“I decided to jump back out hard and push my brand. Calypso is my forte, rather than soca, groovy, dancehall. Calypso is where I started from and I wanted to get back into it.”

The father of three said he contacted Grant, who mulled over his concept and put pen to paper.

Grant, he said, did not disappoint.

A passionate storyteller, St Clair exhibited a knack for calypso and showmanship at an early age. But his talent was recognised and encouraged at his alma mater Manzanilla Secondary School.

He recalled his former music teacher Melvin Craig Thomas, the late Shadow’s (Winston Bailey’s) ex-keyboard player, gave him some invaluable pointers.

His schoolmate, former Digicel Rising Star winner Erica Samuel, also benefitted from Thomas’ tutelage, St Clair said.

“I developed a different love for the artform but at that time, I still wasn’t taking it seriously.”

Nevertheless, he continued to showcase his talent at events and other informal gatherings in and around his community.

But St Clair’s big break came while he worked in the operating theatre as a medical orderly at in the Port of Spain General Hospital.

He auditioned for the Young Kings competition and, as fate would have it, qualified for the final and won.

He said that victory will always remain with him.

“I moved from just singing normal to singing on a big stage and it was different for me because I never got that opportunity before.’

St Clair said his association with Grant, who also wrote the late Singing Sandra’s winning tune, Voices From the Ghetto, in the 1999 calypso monarch competition, also gave him the acknowledgement and recognition he desired at that time.

“Christophe took me under his wing and I was watched differently and respected because of the material I would have come with.”

Another Flambeau, he said, touched him personally.

Six year-old Keyanna went missing in November 2013. Her decomposing body was later found stuffed in a barrel, near Building 5, Maloney Gardens, Maloney.

St Clair said, “Christophe wrote the song in one day’s time and I was so heartbroken because my daughter was only about a month old and to see a little girl in that situation was just too much.

"When Christophe presented me with the lyrics, it was literally easy for me to sing as a father."

He felt the audience at the National Academy for the Performing Arts in Port of Spain felt his emotions and connected with the message.

“I shared my emotions while singing the song and I think that was what captivated the crowd and got the attention of the judges.”

The calypsonian said Another Flambeau opened many doors for him professionally.

“As a Young King, my respect level changed and I started performing in places I would not normally perform in. You will be here, there and everywhere as an ambassador for Trinidad and Tobago.”

“So for me, it was everything I ever wanted because calypsonians in the tent who are my seniors, like Chalkdust (Dr Hollis Liverpool), Sugar Aloes (Michael Osuna), Baron (Timothy Watkins) and Pink Panther (Eric Taylor), I have been looking up to them but they probably did not win a major title at that age.

“I was one of the few who entered for the first time and won.”

St Clair regards himself as a “total entertainer.

“Calypso is just part of what I do. I am versatile. I am really into jazz, R&B, slows and reggae but calypso is my baby. It is my preferred genre and part of our culture.”

He also feels indebted to calypso having won the Young King crown, his first major title in the artform.

St Clair said he would not rest until he wins a calypso monarch title.

“The sky’s the limit. I am going to push. It is not every day you will win something but you have to be consistent.”

He said his fans can always expect a spectacular performance from him.

“I am always going to look good. I am always going to come good. I am always going to represent.”

St Clair said outside of his family and close friends, he has a strong support base.

He said veteran calypsonian Sugar Aloes, manager of the Revue, continues to be a father figure to him.

St Clair also shares a close bond with Karene Asche, whom he regards a mentor and one of the top female calypsonians in the country.

“Having Christophe, the best writer in the country and Karene at my side has changed by whole vibe and I definitely see myself winning a monarch soon.”