On the St Elizabeth Trail
DUBBED Jamaica’s “food basket”, St Elizabeth is renowned for its agricultural produce and eco-tourism. The parish has also produced a number of entertainers including former Digicel Rising Stars runner-up Noddy Virtue, deejay Laden and singer Terry Linen.
Music producer and label owner Billy Trail plans to create more musical stars from ‘Sainty’. Since he established Dunrich Muzik in March 2018, he has been on a mission to discover and develop new talent.
“The overall objective of the Dunrich Muzik label is to use music as a vehicle to unite the world by spreading love and also to ensure the continuation of talent discovery and spreading the culture of reggae and dancehall worldwide. We also aim to promote and nurture new artistes to ensure the industry is replenished with new talent, new sounds and a new outlook,” Trail, 40, explained in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.
Dunrich Muzik is located in Waterloo, in the town of Santa Cruz. Five artistes are signed to the label— Ashari (Mandeville, Manchester), Kush Gaad (Myersville, St Elizabeth), Fya Flexx (Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth), Snapsis (Red Bank, St Elizabeth) and Pengadon (Common Pen, St Elizabeth). They were discovered through a social media competition.
Said Trail, “The competition was on Facebook, where a 45-second video featuring our Breadbasket riddim playing in the background was posted with instructions on how to enter. Over 20 persons came to the studio to record and it was then narrowed down to 12 persons. We then chose five. The judging was not just based on their talent but I also looked at their attitude and behaviour as well.”
He added that,
“These artistes are young, fresh, unique and talented. They also bring a new sound and their attitudes have been adjusted to fit the new narrative of what entertainment should be, which is to let art imitate life and not life imitating art.” In recent years, a number of top dancehall entertainers have emerged from rural parishes including Daddy1, Squash, Chronic Law, Skillibeng and Jahvillani. Before achieving national success, they were identified with their communities.
Trail has been involved in music for the past five years. A former student of St Elizabeth Technical
High School, he holds degrees in business and law, having studied at Northern Caribbean University, The University of the West
Indies and University of the Commonwealth Caribbean. He also studied at the Jamaica German Automotive School.
“My experience in the music business has been great and I love to see these young artistes grow into stars. I can remember them from embryonic stages and to see where they are now is fantastic. The business of music is very selfish and most artistes never remember the good. But my joy comes from enacting change, be it people or place and that’s the fuel I use to keep my energy level on a high,” he said.