What can become repertoire for church steelbands?

For most congregations in the Caribbean featuring steelbands the contextual elements of where (church location and denomination) and when (worship services and events) is intimately tied to the repertoire performed in these moments. Repertoire in Caribbean church steelbands is, unsurprisingly, diverse and spans many styles, genres, denominations, and cultures (American, Western European, Caribbean, and African). As a general observation, it is clear that Caribbean churches tend to utilize a wider range of music styles in their worship services than their North American counterparts and this extends to church steelbands. Often run by missionaries, these geographically isolated church outposts adapted to local cultures, styles, and tastes.

Despite their affiliation with mainstream churches in the North America, worship services in the Caribbean often include music that is not considered commonplace compared to their North American counterparts. Across the Caribbean, one of the most common types of repertoire performed by church steelbands is contemporary gospel music. Regardless of whether the churches are Methodist, Seventh Day Adventist, Catholic, Moravian, Lutheran, or Pentecostal, the steelbands for these congregations lean heavily on the likes of Hillsong, Matt Redman, and Sinach to supplement their repertoire for worship service performance. The contemporary style of these gospel songs combines a globalized version of American popular, gospel, R & B, Latin, and Caribbean music styles to create a danceable, listenable music genre popular among Caribbean youth regardless of religious affiliation. “This is what my students listen to on their own time,” notes T.J. King of Princess Margaret School steelband. “We [PMS Steelband] keep five or six of these gospel songs in our repertoire at any given time and my students keep bringing me more they want to learn.” Affinity for this type of gospel music repertoire is another connection across generations in Caribbean steelbands. However, these supplemental gospel and contemporary Christian source materials are purely that, supplemental, and it is common to program gospel steelband arrangements and traditional Christian hymns (complete with organ or piano lead) during worship services in the Caribbean.