Anguilla’s rising star, Deanna Mussington, who appeared on stage with leading singers and musicians, across the world, will entertain her growing number of local fans on Saturday night, September 19. The event will be held at LIT Lounge, at Road Bay, Sandy Ground, in the vicinity of the disbanded salt company’s premises.
The 25-year-old singer made a name for herself since appearing on stage, from age two, with her father, Darwin Musington, a popular singer and musician. She has now gone a step further in life – owning a number of ventures in Anguilla and maturing as a famed entertainer with world-wide connections.
Deanna has two persons working closely with her and promoting her performances. One of them is Davon Carty, a facilitator and entrepreneur – and the other is her manager, Ivan Berry, a promoter with international experience and achievement. “LIT Lounge is our new venture,” she told The Angullian newspaper in detailing her projects. “My other business venture is Aqua Lounge, Anguilla. We are launching that sometime this year after the hurricane season. These have a lot to do with music. I am a creative person and it is very important for us to showcase the talent of Anguilla, as well as intertwining the talents of international artistes such as myself from Anguilla. My newest venture is House of Roots. It is basically a spiritual house where people come for spiritual healing. I sell organic soaps, organic herbs and organic spiritual baths. I am also an Nganga and Njuzu Priestess. This is an African spirituality that I am into. We are a house that takes pride in knowing our roots – going back to how our ancestors did things. That also intertwines with LIT Lounge where we recently had our salt-picking fest.”
Returning to her entertainment career, and her upcoming event, Deanna said: “I started singing at the age of two. There is a very deep story to that. It all began with my late uncle, Dexter. He was phenomenal at music and played every instrument – and my dad, of course. My dad was my number one inspiration. He was always around teaching me how to sing – and so I said I wanted to be a singer.
“I was twelve years old when I first went abroad to Talent Rock in Orlando where I sang opera. People said if I didn’t sing opera I would have won. Thank goodness I didn’t win because it just turned out to be something else. The next time I went abroad was six years ago with Ivan Berry…He came from St. Maarten and auditioned me in 2016 and, at the time, I was working at Viceroy. I passed the audition and began singing and preparing for our showcase. I went to Los Angeles (LA) to do different records with multi-platinum award winning producers and songwriters. I also went to Miami and Toronto, etc.”
Deanna has not performed in Anguilla for a very long time, and so she is eagerly looking forward to performing at the LIT Lounge at the coming weekend. “It is refreshing to see people being so excited about this performance,” she stated. “I recently did a recorded performance – live-streaming to the world via Anguilla Music Academy’s Facebook – and that was a success. I was so happy that everybody got to hear my unreleased songs for the first time, and they loved them.
“I will be performing my unreleased songs, and other songs, on September 19 at a place that Davon, Ivan and I developed. LIT Lounge is not just a bar on the beach. It is a place that caters to the music industry more than anything else. So I am very excited to be back on stage on September 19 singing. It brings back a lot of memories for me as a child growing up in Anguilla – and going around singing with my dad at different venues.
“It is a very eye-opening time for me because I am performing in a place [Anguilla] where Covid is basically destroying the outside world, but we are safe and I am getting to perform in a safe environment. That makes it even more worthwhile.” She will be performing with her eight-piece band.
About her future exploits, Deanna revealed: “I definitely plan to go back to LA to meet with my music friends again. Some of them want to come to Anguilla; others were here and they love the island so much that they want to buy property …As for me, I would love to tap into the UK’s music industry. I find the music there to be very diverse and not only pop. That’s one of my next steps.”
Part of her advice to other Anguillian young people with musical talent and ambition is: “There are going to be times when you feel like giving up, but don’t. Always come back to why you are doing this and figure out the how. Ask for help. Don’t be afraid to reach out to me, Ivan or Davon, and be humble.”
