Max Gousse, Sony/EMI, Capitol Records, Universal, Disney, DefJam, Epic Records, Columbia Records, Mosley Music Group, Madison Financial & Business Management. What do these music industry giants all have in common? Deanna Mussington. What was the concept behind the Deanna Showcase and how did it evolve? The Deanna Showcase was the brain child of none other than music industry icon, Ivan Berry who found his way to Anguilla through Davon Carty. Both of these music industry men through their love for Anguilla and Anguilla’s many talented artists, sat many months if not years pontificating over the many possibilities for Anguilla’s local talent and their desire to show the world her many voices much of which die in Anguilla un-noticed. The road to stardom is more than hard, it’s downright brutal. So what does it take to pierce the veil of this exclusive club? “Vision,” says Ivan, “You must have a lot of vision for what’s possible. You Have to believe that things can happen, good things, you have to have the confidence that you can make it and above all: you have to work, nobody’s going to give you anything cause you’re cute or can dance, a lot of people can do that, thousands. And no one’s going to give you a record contract cause you can sing, millions can do that and they’re still singing in the shower each morning.”
So why the Deanna Showcase and why now? Just ask Davon Carty who’s known Deanna for years, and assisted in the formation of her band, assisted with band rehearsals, helped arranged her songs for the live performances at Smokey’s at the Cove and allowed the band to use his house and instruments to get it all rolling: “She’s ready, it’s nothing more than that: and there’s a hole in the industry right now perfect for a vocalist such as Deanna. She’s got the package: looks, body and she can sing. So now is the time to get serious. The problem with so many young musicians is that they just aren’t serious, they don’t understand that you have to come to the industry, the industry doesn’t come to you.”
Or, you can ask Alan Gumbs who took the Deanna Project on with the help of Ivan Berry. Ivan was introduced to him by Davon Carty after Alan expressed an interest in trying to push Deanna’s career further along. Alan Gumbs, a staunch supporter of Deanna, continuous career mentor and past Chairman of the Anguilla Tourist Board from 1994-1998 understood very quickly what music tourism could mean to Anguilla in terms of tourism possibilities. So when Ivan suggested to Alan that they come together to push Deanna’s career forward, a series of events began to unfold. First, there would have to be songs created for Deanna, so Ivan brought Rupert Gayle, Candy Gloster and Rob Wells to Anguilla to write a number of songs for her to get started.
The next step was the videos, namely three, which were created and shot in Anguilla with parts overlapping in St. Martin. WEST END MISTAKES, TAMED JUNGLE AND FLAWS AND ATTRACTIONS, were created within the span of only one week, but with a production crew flown in from Canada, Barbados and St. Vincent. With the creation of the songs and now videos under her belt, Deanna was well on her way. But was it enough?
Soon a band was formed. With Courtney Williams on drums, Evan Brooks on piano and Patrick ?? on bass they learned Deanna’s songs as Deanna continued to refine her voice.
But now what? Ivan and Alan discussed the possibilities. “We’ve done the basic things that need to be done, but there’s a lot more that Deanna needs.” Ivan mentioned to Alan. “She’ll need a choreographer cause she needs to do more than just sing, she needs to perform.” Ivan knew what needed to get done and just the perfect person to get it done: choreographer Natalie Lyons from Los Angeles. Natalie transformed Deanna and her act. Deanna was fast on her way. But now what, Ivan and Alan asked themselves. How can we get Deanna to the next level, how do we make her a star?
Welcome to the Deanna Showcase. Ivan’s tenacity, not to mention brilliance in organizing the Deanna Showcase was no simple task. Firstly, the executives had to be contacted and “courted” to come to Anguilla and secondly, funds had to be raised in order to bring the music executives to Anguilla, so both Ivan and Alan turned to the two entities that they knew they could depend on: The Anguilla Tourist Board and Digicel.
The Honorable Hayden Hughes was immediately on board and quickly The Honorable Chief Minister; Mr. Hubert Hughes also came onboard and cleared the way for funds to be allocated to the Deanna Showcase through the Anguilla Tourist Board. Thereafter, Rochus Shreiber of Digicel Anguilla threw in additional funds. Things were fast taking shape, but there was more work to be done: where would these music industry giants stay? “We wanted to not only make sure that the music executives were well housed, we can do that at any number of accommodations throughout the island. What we wanted was to allow the music executives the opportunity to experience Anguilla. Thanks to both Stephane Zaharia and Richard Alexander, Both Cuisinart Resort & Spa and Viceroy Resorts and Villas agreed to host the super VIPP music executives during their stay.
Industry partners: Dolce Vita, Laurie from The Pumphouse, Bankie Banx of the Dune Preserve, Sandy Island, Smokey’s at the Cove, and The Place @Rendezvous Bay all agreed to provide meals for the executives. Calypso Charters, Funtime, Billy’s Taxi and Triple K also pitched in on the transportation side.
But where to have this tremendous and unique event? “I want to do it out on the sand, right out on someplace beautiful, that they can’t get anywhere else.” Ivan had made up his mind. “I want them to experience something they have never seen before.” With its ultra wide beach and beautiful shoreline, Rendezvous Bay was selected as the venue with The Place Restaurant as its anchor.
Once the venue was solidified, Gaff was contacted for staging and Fitzroy Tomlinson was contacted for seating and décor lighting for the event. They quickly understood they couldn’t out Hollywood these people who come from the land of glitz and bling; so there was no point trying to do that. What they could do, was to transform the mood of The Place. “I wanted the building to pop!” Lisa Gumbs said. “I wanted search lights crisscrossed above to create anticipation for the event by adding the spot light overhead and Gaff was brilliant with his placement of the lights, which created an “X” over the stage that you saw when walking up the walkway into the restaurant: just brilliant.”
Fristroy Tomlinson, better known as “Briggy” also had a hand in things working his magic with colored lighting throughout the venue to bring Lisa Gumbs’ vision for the event into reality with magenta lights inside the building and colored lights highlighting the building and tenting.
There were a variety of invited guests, among which was Her Excellency the Governor, Ms. Christina Scott who had an opportunity to meet the music executives first-hand prior to Deanna’s performance.
Final touches of wardrobe and make up were done and Deanna waited patiently to begin her walk to the stage. She was outfitted in a black bustier with an ultra-cool see-through fishnet top that floated downward over her waistline. But the coup d’etat was her oversized sneakers so tall you needed a rope to climb up on them. They accentuated her moves as she hi-stepped around the stage. Deanna’s hair had shades of tinted red and they looked like tracer-fire as she bounced around the stage during her performance. Her performance was electrifying.
The entire set began with a Roman-like musical introduction and Deanna began with her original song FLAWS AND ATTRACTIONS. She then moved into “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys, another original song entitled “Tamed Jungle, then “Bed Peace” by Jhene Aiko and thereafter finishing with her smash original WEST END MISTAKES. The audience demanded an encore which Deanna provided.
After the show, Collin “Bulby” York a native of Jamaica and renouned music producer, mix engineer and sound master lit The Place up with a barrage of Hip-Hop tunes that rocked the beach, while guests danced, talked and mingled till 1:00 a.m.
So where does Deanna go from here? “We just have to wait and see,” says Ivan Berry. “You have to be patient but the first indications out on social media are extremely positive. The Executives loved Deanna and they loved Anguilla.” The executives all mentioned she is an amazing vocalist and has a great look and would like to see her in Los Angeles for various other initiatives.
All of them not only said they will be back, but will be back in numbers. They want to come back for New Years and a couple of them said they would even cancel existing trips to come back for a New Year’s Concert with family and friends. They absolutely loved Anguilla. One Executive’s wife who is a stylist in Beverly Hills has even offered to have Deanna come to Los Angeles in order to assist Deanna with styling which she does for her husband’s performers.
“I can’t believe this is all happening,” said Deanna. “I am so grateful to everyone that believed in me and helped to make this happen.”
– Contributed
