IN his quest to preserve Guyanese folk music, Gavin Mendonca will be heading to Brooklyn to again record a handful of one-of-a-kind 7” vinyl singles with Leesta Vall Sound Recordings as part of their Direct-To-Vinyl Live Sessions project.

“You choose the song, and I will perform it live as the record’s cut in real time – making you the only owner of that particular performance. This is literally as personalised as it gets,” the local folk/rock musician explained recently.

This is just another way, he pointed out, of ensuring that Guyanese folk music gets preserved.

“And how cool is it that it will be recording on vinyl in the year 2023. You’ll get the record by December, making it the perfect Christmas present.”

The songs to choose from include Itanami, Timba Bruk Meh Back, Norah Dahlin, Mahnin Neighba and Sly Mongoose, and limited pre-sales are available now.

“Support this project and I’ll be extremely grateful for your contribution to the overall efforts of preserving Guyanese folk songs and our culture and heritage through music,” he told Buzz.

Meanwhile, Gavin, along with Marlon ‘Chucky’ Adams are grateful for being recognised by the Guyana Cultural Association of New York Inc. at their annual award ceremony.

“We each received the GCA Award for our ‘outstanding contributions to Guyanese culture and heritage,’ as well as the Derry Etkins Memorial Prize for ‘service and commitment to music education in Guyana.’ We also each received proclamations in our honour from Senator Kevin S. Parker,” Gavin shared.

Folk It Up Vol. 3 – Live in the Iwokrama Rainforest – was released last Sunday at the GCA’s annual family fun day.

With Guyana’s folk songs gradually becoming a thing of the past, Gavin had said he harbours the fear that soon enough, Guyanese could possibly lose interest altogether. It is for this reason that he and ‘Chucky’ decided to team up to reverse the perceived disinterest, and to provide opportunities for more folk songs to be played; they are hopeful that this would nurture an appreciation and respect for what they mean.

In the meantime, Gavin has been traveling the world to perform, even serenading the people of China and Dubai, among several other countries.

Being able to perform Guyanese folk songs is something he considers to be one of his greatest accomplishments yet.