Shontelle Layne rolled on to the music scene (okay, this is the last time CiRCUIT makes that ‘roll’ pun, we swear!) back in 2K5, the hot young singer/songwriter hit Barbados with a ‘1-2’ combo punch –responsible in part for not one, but two of that year’s hottest Crop-Over tracks. The first track, Roll, the blockbuster hit sung by Alison Hinds was written by Shontelle, described back then by many as ‘that chick from U.W.I.’ that no one had ever heard of in musical circles.

“I’ve learned to love sore abs and studio sessions that end at 7:00 a.m.”, this ineffable young woman says with eyes shining bright. If you haven’t yet heard of Livvi Franc, you will very soon. Livvi is destined for stardom! When she isn’t struggling through a gruelling training session with her fitness trainer, Ray Armstrong, or allowing her vocal coach, Marissa Lindsay, to further train her vocals she is working on tracks with her local producers, Classic Soul Productions.

A quick glance at Barbadian reggae artist David Kirton seems to paint him outside the mold of a typical reggae artist. First off, there’s his music. Instead of a lock, stock and barrel approach of replicating Jamaica’s reggae artform, Kirton has merged varying degrees of rock, pop and other genres into his music. The result is a musical discourse with a solid foundation in conventional reggae music and sprinklings of reggae innovation.

Women are behaving strangely in the presence of Hal Linton. “It seems they are star- struck,” he remarks politely, “I don’t know why, because it’s Barbados. I ain’t gone nowhere yet.” For those of us on the receiving end of his soulful melodies it’s not where Hal has gone (though a summer tour throughout the US as part of the soulicious Heineken Red Star Tour line-up has recently manifested). On the contrary, it’s where Hal has taken us that has left stardust in stargazers’ view.