Historic Caribbean Bar Lives !

Aug. 13, 2014 - PRLog -- Little Bay Preservation News

August 10,2014

Contact: 703-549-7537

socacabana@gmail.com

Keeping A Legacy Safe – From Montserrat's Volcano

It seemed a shame.

The Air Studio had rocked for ten years on a lush Caribbean hillside, rolling out hits for big-name artists like Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Buffett, and Elton John.

That is, until Hurricane Hugo delivered a knockout punch to Montserrat in 1989.

As if that wasn't tragic enough, Montserrat's Soufriere Hills volcano rumbled to life in 1995, dangerously close to the Air Studio site. Now, nearly twenty years later, the original studio is a ruin—taken over by volcanic ash and the other ravages of time and Mother Nature.

But at least one part of the studio has been salvaged and preserved in a much safer part of the island. Locals and visitors to the island can rest their elbows where many a rock star satisfied a thirst for island rum.

The owners of Soca Cabana, a nightspot that sits on the beach at Montserrat's Little Bay, sought

permission from Air Studios founder Sir George Martin to relocate the bar which stood in

the lobby of the studio. It now proudly stands at the sea side of the well-known entertainment venue with a killer view of each day's sunset.

The bar's owners, Tom and Mary Ann Walker, were ecstatic about the chance to display such an

important relic from Montserrat's rich musical past.

“I really worried that as more time went by, this part of the island's legacy would become lost,”

says Walker, himself a musician.

The Walkers attached brass plates at each bar stool, with the names of several famous artists including Arrow – a favorite son who put Montserrat on the map with his mega-hit “Hot Hot Hot”.

It has now been renamed the “Bar of the Stars”, and has won Soca Cabana mention in travel guides and

news outlets including the Boston Globe.

The reggae and soca bands that now play at the beachside venue can add their music to Montserrat's history—just a few feet from the bar that made it's own contribution decades ago.

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