Two weeks after a conversation with a childhood friend in which Jamaican reggae artiste Duane Stephenson spoke to the young man about right living and keeping away from trouble, the man was gunned down while Stephenson was in Miami performing.

In the midst of mourning came the inspiration for ’August Town,’ a song of lamentation that encourages one to turn away from the gangsta lifestyle and instead walk in the counsel of God.

That song and its accompanying video are a big hit here and there is also an interesting story that goes with its popularity. Several weeks ago a radio DJ played the song as a premiere track on his programme claiming it was done by calypsonian, Gypsy. The vocals on ’August Town’ do sound like Gypsy’s and so people accepted that it was his song.

When Gypsy was asked about the song he responded, ’Everybody asking me about this new reggae song they say I did. I do have a couple of reggae albums, but I have not recently recorded any reggae songs. I have not even heard the song myself, but maybe it’s one of my old reggae songs that they found.’ Later when Gypsy was informed that the song was actually done by a young reggae artiste from Jamaica he said, ’I will find the song and listen to it because It’s interesting to learn that someone sounds so much like you.’

Stephenson was heartened when he was told that people thought he sounded like Gypsy, although he maintained that he has his own unique vocal style. He told the Express that he grew up listening to the music of Gypsy and other calypsonians and that he still listens to calypso regularly especially on the weekends in Jamaica when the music is played on radio and on other platforms across the island.

’I heard that ’August Town’ was doing well in Trinidad. Really? People thought it was Gypsy? That is good because he is a big, big international artiste and I really love his music. I grew up listening to Gypsy, Singing Sandra, Merchant and other calypsonians

because that was our music on the weekends. I grew up with music around me because members of the family especially on my mother’s side were into music,’ Stephenson said.

Stephenson told the Express that because of the theme in ’August Town’ people have been asking him if the song is about him and whether he was involved in gun violence. Having explained about his friend who was killed, the artiste added that the song is a very personal expression of actual events that took place in August Town where he grew up and still lives today. Stephenson said that all of his songs are about his life experiences and towards getting people to walk away from illicit lifestyles and live in accordance to God’s teachings.

’I internalise things a lot and I do not write about fiction, but of what I live and see happening around me. My album, August Town is sort of like pages of my diary accounting my life. For example the song ’Ghetto Pain’ was written since I was 14-years-old and spoke of what I saw people having to live through.’

’We are still struggling like that today, so the song maintains its relevance. It is easy to get into violence when you are young because you are vibrant and seeking after what you perceive to be the good things of life. I began singing professionally about two years after leaving school and after being a part of two groups decided that I wanted to go into a certain direction with my music and so am now on my own,’ Stephenson said.

Born in Kingston on April 22, 1976, Stephenson’s family moved to August Town during his childhood. The small community in the eastern region of Jamaica is also the hometown of Sizzla Kolongi. Stephenson was exposed to music composition and performance from an early age as his uncle, Michael Rutherford was the lead vocalist of a band known as Sunny Bradshaw and the Big Band and later on the Rhythms Kings, which toured with Gregory Isaacs.

Stephenson attended New Providence All-Age and Tivoli Gardens High School where he was a member of the choir. In 1993 he entered the Cathy Levy’s Little People & Team Players Club, a performing arts school based in Kingston. As a member of this group Stephenson toured the Caribbean and the United States performing before President Bill Clinton.

Several members of the club formed a band called To-Isis in 1997 and with Stephenson as a lead singer they became a popular and respected group throughout Jamaica. As a skilled songwriter, Stephenson has penned songs for Luciano, Morgan Heritage and Jah Cure as well as produced tracks for Taurus Riley.

His debut CD collection, August Town was released last October and he is presently working on his sophomore collection due for release before year’s end. Stephenson said he has not yet performed in Trinidad and he is looking forward to finally coming here. He said he has a tentative booking for August 16, which will hopefully come to fruition. Other popular tracks from the August Town CD include, ’Ghetto Pain,’ ’Cottage In Negril,’ ’Exhale’ with Taurus Riley and ’Dream Weaver.’