Clint Watson and Shaback are ready to rock the house during the group's 20th anniversary album release concert, a free event to be staged at Golden Gates World Outreach Ministries, Carmichael Road. (Photo: Clint Watson)
It was two decades ago on Father's Day weekend 1996 that the ensemble that is now known for having one of the "tightest" three-part harmony blends in the country was formed. Today Shaback is celebrating 20 years, and the group is doing so in true Shaback style with a 20th anniversary and album release concert.
A 14-song double CD the group recorded in 2014 will be dropped.
"We're excited about this project," said Shaback Director Clint Watson. "It's 14 songs written by Bahamians. It's an exciting collaboration of great gospel music that will be released. It really is a testament of really the entire life of Shaback -- a gospel group that has been around from youth age to now adulthood."
Shaback, under Watson's direction, will be looking to bring down the gates to the Golden Gates World Outreach Ministries, Carmichael Road on Friday, July 1 with its free concert that will also feature performances from Simeon Outten, out of Grand Bahama; Caribbean gospel artist Nigel Lewis; singing sensation Joann Callender, who will bring the classical touch to the evening, performing the opening song with Shaback; Singing Prophet Lawrence Rolle; The Rahming Brothers; Christian Massive, and Monique Curry who is also releasing a new song "Revival in the City".
"We're excited to bring together all of these gospel artists, who at some point in time have been instrumental in the life of Shaback and have worked with us, and we want to share the stage with them," said Watson of the event, which starts at 7:30 pm.
"It's going to be a great time. It's going to be a celebration of two decades of work and a true representation of great gospel music in the country, bringing together some of the greatest gospel artists in The Bahamas to join in celebration with Shaback. And it will be free, because this is our gift on our 20th anniversary to the Bahamian community for supporting us over the years. We thought it important to do a free concert just to say thank you to the Bahamian people.
Shaback is known for presenting music that people listen to for inspiration.
Evangelism is one of the group's main goals, and it has made leaps and bounds in the gospel music industry with a unique style of delivering soul-stirring songs with a variety of sounds and rhythms including Caribbean, Junkanoo, Latin, Pop, Soca, Contemporary, Traditional and Praise and Worship.
"All of us at some point in time in our life need to be encouraged, need to be uplifted, need to be motivated, and it's always our focus that, whenever we give our music to people, that it's something that uplifts them, motivates them, encourages them and helps them through a difficult period, or just puts a smile on their face," said Watson. And so we thank God that we've been able to do just that -- inspire through our music."
The choir director said he was also grateful to attain the 20-year milestone.
The Friday CD release is special to the group, as it is their first project release since 2008 when they released their third full-length project "This Is It". It is also their first project since losing all of their production staff in a plane crash in 2014 in Grand Bahama, in which Bahamas Faith Ministries International (BFMI) President and Founder Dr. Myles Munroe and his wife Ruth were killed along with assistant senior pastor Richard Pinder; youth pastors Lavard Parks and wife Radel; pilots Stanly Thurston and Frakhan Cooper; and American Diego de Santiago.
"It was difficult for us to move on because we lost a musician and three of our production members, and so this project is really a dedication to them, their life and commitment to seeing Shaback move forward and move on, so we're really excited about that," said Watson.
Shaback's first project was in 1999.
How Shaback came to be Watson describes the story of Shaback coming together as "phenomenal".
"I was directing the children's choir at my church, Trinity City of Praise, and we were preparing for Father's Day, which would have been the following day, and I was teaching songs to the choir. I wanted the children's choir to be able to sing three-part harmony -- but those little children could not get three-part harmony for [anything]."
Watson called practice and told the children to go home and that he would see them the following week. He asked a few of the children between the ages of nine and 12 to remain behind to see if he could teach them three-part harmony to see if they could get it. They got it right. They sang on Father's Day. Shaback was birthed out of that group of children from the choir.
Watson has watched those children transition through every stage of their development from adolescence to young adults, into adulthood, with many of them marrying fellow group members and having children 20 years on.
"Shaback is really a testament of the journey of their lives. And it's been exciting to see over the years folks come and go, but nonetheless we've had a core group that remained from the very beginning, so it's really a story and testimony of developing from really nothing, to some level of proficiency and using gospel music as cultural ambassadors."
Shaback has approximately 25 members, inclusive of three categories -- the vocalists who sing and are usually in the foreground; the musicians who play in the band; and the support staff who do all the behind-the-scenes work from dealing with products to booking events and travel and social media, along with sound and stage engineers.
At any given performance, and depending on the season, there are about 15 vocalists on stage. Sometimes there are more, sometimes there are less. Of the original group, Watson said about five have remained, but everyone else still sports longevity with the ministry with tenures of 18 of the 20 years to 15 of the 20 years.
A Shaback celebration
As the group geared up for the 20th anniversary concert, Watson dubbed the week leading up as Shaback Week which they kicked off with a church service on Sunday, and brought together current and former members at a mix and mingle social on Tuesday night. There, old stories were shared, pictures of the group at various stages over the decades were viewed and new photos taken to add to the collection. About 50 people attended the social.
"That was pretty exciting to see that come together," said Watson.
And for those who did not know, the group's name Shaback is from the Hebrew word "shabach" that means to laud, praise and commend as well as to soothe and boast. It's a word Watson said he thought was fitting because Shaback is an aggressive and exciting bunch, and the word was a perfect fit for the group that would focus on praise and worship, but do it in a hilarious and exciting way.
Shavaughn Moss, Guardian Lifestyles Editor
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