– collaboration with Christopher Martin coming soon

By Gabriella Chapman

AFTER his nearly two-week stint in Jamaica, Mark Batson is back home and ready for new opportunities.
The Guyanese Reggae artiste said he had the time of his life in ‘Jamrock’, having been able to meet and perform with some of the leading Jamaican Reggae singers.

Batson was initially invited to perform at the Dennis Brown Tribute Concert at Waterfront Jamaica, but his impressive performance sparked other gigs in the ‘Land of Wood and Water’.

Just Tuesday night, he performed at the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) Awards, alongside D’Burn. The two artistes performed a medley of Buju Banton’s song, as the Award show this year paid homage to the formerly incarcerated
Reggae icon.

Batson told ‘The Buzz’ that the performance at the awards was well received, and many Jamaican artistes in attendance, including the young sensation ‘Koffee’, were all fascinated.

This exposure opened many more opportunities for the 34-year-old, who almost gave up on his singing career a few years ago.

“From this trip, I now have bookings for shows in Europe, and we are in the process of getting record deals with people in Jamaica. So I am expected to return to Jamaica sometime soon… The whole experience was magnificent. The people showed 100 per cent love, and I sold Guyana well,” Batson told ‘The Buzz’.

He also disclosed that a collaboration with Christopher Martin is in the pipeline, along with shows in Canada. Upon his return home, he also received confirmation that he will be the Reggae artiste to represent Guyana at Carifesta this year.

In fact, Batson is on his way to Mahdia with the Ministry of Social Cohesion to perform at the last of the Ministry’s ‘Mash’ activities.

Batson also said that these opportunities will continue to be used to promote his album, “Music without Borders”.

Amember of the Heatwave Band in Guyana, Batson expressed great appreciation to quite a number of persons who made this phenomenal experience a reality.

He said that Urvil Hall, a promoter in Jamaica, provided him with the opportunity to sing on stage the first night he was in Jamaica. It was from that night that the other opportunities kicked in, and Hall scheduled several interviews in the country for Batson to promote his music.

Batson also thanked the Ministry of Social Cohesion which sponsored his airfare to travel to the country, along with his management team, Vizion Sounds, and Harry Parker Promotions.

“This album,‘Music without Borders’, was a collaborative effort between my now management Vizion Sounds, and Vijay Deolall from Paradigm Audio Lab. It is from this masterpiece that I was able to have these new songs to perform, specifically ‘Second Chance’ and ‘Gimme some space’ that I released as singles. And I’m currently working on some new material to put out,” he said.