Cool Out comes to Cayman

By Contributer

Last weekend, the Cayman Islands came one step closer to becoming the creative and financial hub for the Caribbean within the global music industry, with the success of Cool Out 2022, the first-ever music industry event in Grand Cayman. 

The event started off with a celebration of Cayman’s country musical heritage at Lone Star, where Cayman Brac musical legend Mr. Glenroy “Roy” Bodden performed and was recognized for his contributions. This was followed by the announcement of the winners of the songwriting contest sponsored by CUC. Nicholas George won first place, Kimora Henry won second place and Beneil Miller won third place. The contest required songwriters to remix Mr. Bodden’s original work “For the first time”. The winner was chosen by public vote using the locally created app Col+lab™.  Song submissions remain on the app and Col+lab™’s website at www.col-x-lab.com. Mr. Bodden heard the remixes for the first time during the presentation ceremony hosted by Matt Brown, and it was clear from his expression that he was pleased by what the local talent had done with his song. 

The weekend was jammed packed with events including live performances, songwriting camps, and a conference for legal, accounting and business professionals.

Jeff Liebenson, the President of the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers (IAEL) led the conference which also featured a presentation by leading intellectual property expert Michael Shortt of Faskens. 

Two songwriting camps took place at the LionFish Studio on North Church Street. Recent GRAMMY™ winner Andrae Alexander of the Songwriters of North America (SONA) led the camps which were well attended by local talent and musical icons Ricky Ducent (aka RikRok) and Jason JG Gilbert.   Also in attendance was SONA’s chief operating officer Kellie Brown. 

Highlighting the live performances across the two satellite stages at Cayman Cabana and LoneStar Bar & Grill were impromptu collaborations between local talent and visiting artists such as Rico Rolando and Alex J of Miami at Cayman Cabana, Barefoot Man and Paul Overstreet at Lone Star and many others. 

More collaborations took place on the main stages as well with Bob Moseley, Mark McTaggart, Chuck and Barrie Quappe, Olujimi “Jimmeh” La Pierre and Ben Hudson joining Paul Overstreet in front of a packed house at the Westin for Sunsets & Songs on Friday night. The following night, LionFish and Swanky Kitchen Band blew the roof off of the Harquail Theatre in performances that had attendees dancing in the aisles. Visiting BMI award winning singer-songwriter Tebey gave the audience a treat with a surprise performance with Olujimi “Jimmeh” La Pierre on steel pan and Ricky Ducent (Rik Rok) in a special arrangement of Red Red Wine.

“Some of the highlights of the Cool Out 2022 experience for me was watching eyes light up in the songwriting workshops as the clouds cleared and the impossible suddenly seemed reachable, seeing and hearing the mind blowing collaborations that I would never have thought of, getting to have a blast on stage (twice) for the first time in almost a decade… in front of my kids and being greeted with the warmest “welcome back” I could ever have hoped for”, said Ricky Ducent (aka RikRok), adding that “I have no doubt what Deep Roots Entertainment has invited us into is something that won’t merely be talked about for years to come. This is going to change lives, fortunes and entire economies.  The future of music in the Cayman Islands looks really bright.”

As the satellite stages wrapped up their packed lineups, Nash Overstreet, Carneyval and Jason JG Gilbert took the stage at Cayman Cabana alongside local and visiting DJs Nire Bird, Nicholas George, DJ Steven King and DJ Craig to close out Cool Out 2022 with a party that lit up downtown George Town. Jason JG Gilbert debuted a new song and RikRok gave another surprise performance alongside Nash. The Bloom Room hosted by Bloom Consulting added a special touch of elegance for sponsors and special guests at the event.

“Cool Out 2022 was a successful event”, said local singer-songwriter Vashti Bodden, adding that “in all my years of entertaining on island, I have never felt as wholeheartedly appreciated as an entertainer.  I’m already eagerly looking forward to Cool Out 2023”

Organizers have confirmed that BMI, IAEL and SONA are committed to the annual event which is scheduled to take place the first week of November 2023. 

Contact info@coolout.com  for further information.