ANTIGUA CARNIVAL

Marian Mclaren, is a product of the Caribbean diversity in music and culture, blessed with a beautiful voice that has been in hiding for much too long, but no longer.

Trudy, her artiste name, released on Friday 3rd June, the first of two songs that signal her entry into the world of soca music. Both tunes are destined to capture the hearts, feet and waistlines of music lovers as they were infused with sweet melodies and the unmistakable driving and pulsating rhythms of the Caribbean.

Music fans’ first taste of the talents of Trudy will be a tune called ‘Behind ah Me’ which is a fun song that relays what the artiste misses about Antigua, the Carnival celebrations, the music, the revelry and the enjoyable time of the Caribbean’s most colourful summer festival.
Trudy now lives in New York but was born in Jamaica. She left for Antigua to join her mom while still very young, her musical roots still grounded in the signature tunes of her country of birth.

While in Antigua, she attended the Villa Primary school, and then later continued her secondary education at the Princess Margaret Secondary, surrounded by new friends and a new way of life that of course included Carnival.

It wasn’t long before the influences of the Burning Flames pulled her in and soca found a place in her heart. Already gifted with a beautiful voice, Trudy, began her experimentation with a new genre and was taken on a novel journey guided by the beaming lights of soca.

She left Antigua, not in search of a career in the music industry, even though she never relinquished the thought of hitting a soca stage, but to better herself for family. And so she entered the Kingsborough College in New York and then the City University of New York. She graduated with a Bachelors in Science and is now a qualified Physician Assistant in the State of New York. She is presently the Assistant Medical Director and Case Manager working at the JFK Airport and LaGuardia International Airports.

The professional and talented expertise of the Hia Grade Production studio in the British Virgin Islands worked on the two songs. The genius Marcus ‘Young Blood’ Mark, who has produced tracks for Buju Banton, Beenie Man and Machel Montano, Keith Gardener,  master engineer who has touched the music of many artistes across the region and talented singer songwriter, Martino ‘Tino’ Mark, no stranger to Antigua, represent the team who added the proficient complements to Trudy’s voice.

“To release my first soca track is a dream come true and to do it for Antigua, which has been there for me so many times, is a joy and a privilege,” Trudy stated. “There are so many people who have influenced my life in Antigua and across the region. I just hope I can do them proud,” Trudy stated.

“This is just my way of giving back my God given talents to a place that I still consider home.”