This Soca Star Not Rudderless In The Pandemic

So what is King David up to at home?

By Stephen Weir

Need quarantine relief? Here's what the Soca King is doing at home

Congratulations dear Caribbean Camera reader. You've made it through another week of Ontario’s virtual virus prison.

You're seen every movie on your Netflix hit list. You're somewhere between finally doing you taxes or buying yourself a dog so that you have an excuse to be out walking the streets.

Don’t get cross. The Caribbean Camera’s Stephen Weir has got your back.  This week he talked to David Michael Rudder, aka King David, about how the Soca star and his family are handling the shutdown.

David Rudder has been singing about the Caribbean experience for over four decades now. At the age of 67 he shows no signs of slowing down. In fact while he isn’t performing live right now, he is very active on the Internet producing a must read Facebook account that is newsworthy, thought provocative and entertaining.

Earlier this week we conducted a Q&A  conversation via FaceBook Messenger. Weir was in downtown Toronto and Rudder in his family kitchen in Ajax.

Here is the best of that conversation edited for length:

Question: What are you doing during the shutdown? Are you being creative? Is there new music coming?  Are you eating too much like the rest of us?

Answer:  (We are) watching lots of movies. (Writing) a song or two.  And, I’ve finally started my autobiography! The good news is, the children are learning to cook. As to being in shape, the jury’s out on that one.

Question: Are your kids at home with you and is the family homeschooling?

Answer: The two elder children go to UofT so they’re having their assignments with their professors completely online. My youngest is also working online but it’s not as intense.

Question: Did you have to cancel gigs because of the shutdown ? What are your plans for touring and concerts when the world gets back to near-normal?

Answer: All my gigs up to June are cancelled. However, they’ll be rescheduled for the latter part of the year. Knock on wood things will be ok by then.

Question:  What is your opinion about this historic pandemic? Is it retribution? Is it a chance to start again?

Answer:  I don’t know about retribution, or if it’s man-made. But (I do know) it does give us a chance to retool and start back armed with a sense of grace.

Question:  I notice that some of your postings in Social Media are political in nature. When we come out of this, do you see a change in how things are done?

Answer: I would hope so, but judging from what’s happening politically next door (in the United States), one can only hope.

Final Question – Earlier this week you paid tribute to the passing of cultural icon Tony Hall in Tobago on your Facebook site. What was the importance of Tony to Caribbean culture. What was your relationship to him

Answer: He was friend, a brother in the arts. Tony was a pioneer in the idea of a face for Caribbean television and theatre.

Caribbean Camera – stay safe King David, stay safe.