A JIMBOOMBA calypso band will perform three original songs at a steel drum music festival in Rocklea this month.
Babash Band will debut their songs at PANZfest, thanks to a grant from Logan City Council's Regional Arts Development Fund.
Trinidad-born steel drum player Aldwyn Rostant, who goes by the stage name Jahbutu, said each song would showcase a different style of calypso music - old-time calypso groove, the upbeat soca style and rapso, a fusion between calypso and hip hop.
"To be able to show people the different styles of calypso music is really great," Mr Rostant said.
"(People) hear a lot of the soca (which) you can find on the internet but the older calypso, unless you're actually looking for it you wouldn't stumble across it.
"The calypso style of singing used to be telling a story - they used to talk about what was going on in their country, in their neighbourhood, overseas. They sang about man on the moon, they sang about Sputnik, they sang about Kennedy being assassinated. All the stuff that's in the news, calypso was the thing that would bring it to the people.
"The soca music is more the modern rap style. You get a lot of the hook and not much story."
Mr Rostant hopes Babash's three songs - Pan in Meh Blood, Playing Devil and A Trini Life - will help to expose audiences at the festival to the genre of music that has shaped his life.
"I started playing...when I was 14 years old," he said.
"I've been trying for a long time to spread the music. (When I came to Australia) I thought what can I add to what's already here, and that was my steel drum.
"People really love (steel drum and calypso music). The hardest thing was to start bands here because we didn't have people to make the instruments."
Yarrabilba's Panable Steel Drum Band - led by Mr Rostant - also received a grant to play at PANZfest.
The festival will include performances from several bands from Australia and New Zealand, child-friendly workshops and classes, a parade and carnival party.
It will be held from September 20 to 22 at the Rocklea Showgrounds. For tickets, visit the PANZfest 2019 event page on Facebook.
