RG Steelpan - Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent!

Nov 2

Nov 2 RG Steelpan - Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent!

RG Steelpan are an acoustic pan duo from West Sussex who have been performing together for the last 3 years, after originally meeting through a local community band run by Sussex Steel. Although comparatively new to the Steelpan scene, Rebekah and Graham both possess a lifelong passion for music and each has a varied instrumental history.

Having been born into a family with a history of singing and instrument playing spanning generations, it is not surprising that it was early on in Primary school when Rebekah first developed a love of music. Aged 7, she became a member of the school recorder group, regularly playing descant, treble and tenor in assemblies and a year later, she also started to learn the clarinet and piano. These instruments continued to feature on and off throughout her primary, secondary and college education, but were sadly relinquished when she started university.

It was not until some 5 years later when fate would play an extraordinary role in introducing Rebekah to the Steel Pans. With her friends having all returned to their respective home towns after graduation, Rebekah was looking for an activity to fill her spare time, when a chance encounter on a shopping errand one Saturday morning led her to discover Sussex Steel. She signed up to join their community band just one week later and has never looked back. Over time, she experimented with various pans including guitar, bass, tenor and even double tenor, but it was in the double seconds that she found her heart truly lay.

Graham’s musical background is somewhat different to Rebekah’s, which they feel makes them the perfect partnership when it comes to arranging new material for their set. Like Rebekah, Graham’s love of music started at a very young age and his parents would often encourage him to develop his talent through strumming and bashing whatever instruments he could lay his hands on. It is perhaps unsurprising then, that aged 14 Graham found a real passion for bass guitar, which has since led him to perform in various rock bands at pubs and venues across the South.

It was his bass guitar playing that would eventually lead him to join Sussex Steel (or The Littlehampton Academy Steelband as they were originally known). When he heard through a drummer friend, that the steel band were looking for a bass player, he jumped at the opportunity and began performing with them at gigs across the county, even accompanying them on a tour to Barcelona. Following the continual success of the school bands, Lee Nelson, Sussex Steel’s Musical Director (also then a teacher at the academy) started up an adult band for members of the local community. As before, Graham signed up with great eagerness and soon became hooked on the tenor pan.

With their equal enthusiasm and passion for pans, Rebekah and Graham gradually became more involved with Sussex Steel, providing logistical and organisational support to the team of Trustees, in addition to performing at gigs and busks. It was through this that they discovered many other similarities, which led them to develop a close friendship and so the idea of becoming a musical duo was born. In the summer of 2018, Rebekah and Graham did their first gig as a duo and began busking wherever they could find a suitable space. Since then, they have performed at many local events, parties and weddings and continue to build both their online and offline portfolio. Whilst they play a few traditional tunes one might expect from a steelband, their set mainly consists of pop music spanning several decades as well as lots of Disney classics!

Like many musicians, this year has been challenging for the duo, with most performances postponed or cancelled; but despite this Rebekah and Graham have still found ways to share their music with the local community. As soon as it was announced in May that individuals from 2 households could meet, providing they socially distanced, Rebekah and Graham started performing in local parks. Their antics certainly sparked a lot of interest, with many passers-by curious to find out more about these remarkable instruments; from their origins and how they are crafted to how the pair came to learn them. The duo also received many compliments from people saying how the music lifted their spirits. For Rebekah and Graham, this will always be the greatest reward; as whilst they have no definitive plans for the future (apart from to keep playing as long as they are able) the pair love nothing more than to share the joy, fun and friendship they have found through learning steel pan with others.