Features
Corey Connelly
WITH over 30 years in the field of music, education and eventology, John Arnold is one of Tobago’s most famous sons.
He was awarded the Hummingbird Medal (gold) for culture and the arts at the 2011 national awards and remains a leading figure in the island’s creative fraternity.
Now, Arnold’s work as a pioneer, lobbyist and visionary is contained in his memoir, A Tobago Son: A Memoir of Musician and Eventologist John Arnold, which will be launched on November 17, at Kariwak Village, Crown Point, from 5pm: 00.
Several keynote speakers are expected to address guests, and Arnold will also read excerpts from the memoir. There will be live entertainment from Lynette Louis.
On November 18, Arnold will promote the publication at the National Library in Port of Spain from 5:30 p.m.
A Tobago Son: A Memoir by Musician and Eventologist John Arnold is now available on Kindle and Amazon.
Written by acclaimed author and journalist Lisa Allen-Agostini, the ten-chapter memoir takes a deeply personal look at the experiences and influences that shaped Arnold’s life, dating from his difficult childhood in Bethel and culminating in his reputation as a from Tobago. luminaries of culture.
It is Arnold’s second edition. In 2007, he published a songbook, entitled Carry em go Long, containing 33 of Tobago’s popular songs.
In an interview with Newsday on Sunday, Arnold, 64, said: “It’s really a book that traces my childhood in the context of why I am the way I am now. He looks at the school’s influence on me as a musician and event person. When the reader goes through it, he will realize that my whole life has been influenced by these two main things.”
Several chapters, he said, are devoted to historical periods in his life:
For example, one reflects on his life as an A-level student at the Polytechnic Institute in Trinidad. Then there is his groundbreaking work as artistic director of the Signal Hill Alumni Choir, which has won numerous national and international awards.
Another deals with his battle with prostate cancer.
“It’s an interesting journey and it shows in the way I speak. It’s very conversational.”
Arnold, who is CEO of the Tobago Festivals Commission and chairman of MusicTT, said he had long wanted to create a publication where he could pass on some of the lessons he had learned as a musician and event administrator.
He said he originally wanted to call the publication Eventologist because there were some things he learned personally and professionally while coordinating shows over the years.
But Arnold said when he pitched the idea to Allen-Agostin, she convinced him to include other aspects of his life.
“She told me to dig deeper because I’ve had such a colorful life and I needed to trace how these things have affected me, allowing me to be who I am.”
He said they later came up with the concept of a Tobago boy and decided to make a memoir instead of a book. Memories began in earnest during the Covid19 pandemic.
Arnold, who attended Bishop High School as a teenager, lived the first seven years of his life in a large family in Bethel. He said life was hard in those early years.
“I know how to go down to the river and throw buckets of water on my head before I go to school, dance cocoa on my grandfather’s property, share a loaf of bread and eat a dessert for the whole week.”
When his mother, Jean Arnold, returned from studying nursing in England, she married his father and the family moved to Scarborough.
Arnold credits his love of music to his mother’s influence.
“She was a Christian and I remember she bought a piano for $5,000, which was like a million dollars at the time. But she was adamant that she wanted her children to play the piano.”
Arnold began music lessons at the age of eight. He said that although his mother insisted on only “church” music at home, he was drawn to the genres he heard on the radio.
“When I heard sounds on the radio, I tried to pick them up and she would turn off the piano. She didn’t want any secular music, but church music. But basically, I started playing in churches and at weddings and funerals.”
He said he played guitar and flute, but later decided to specialize in piano.
Although he was involved in music festivals during the latter part of the 1980s, Arnold’s talents as an administrator came to the fore when he was appointed chairman of the Tobago Heritage Festival in 1990.
Since then he has been a key player in several other cultural productions and events, including the Best Village Trophy Competition, Carifesta, the Tobago Jazz Experience and the Blue Food Festival.
Arnold said the memoirs not only chronicle important moments in the island’s culture, but also provide a glimpse into the intricacies of organizing large, high-profile events like the Jazz Experience.
“It’s full of tense moments, interesting things and serious decision-making in cases where you have to break the rules to make things happen. It gives you a little bit into the world of festival events in Tobago.”
Arnold, who is currently pursuing a PhD in cultural studies at UWI, St Augustine, said the memories encourage people to follow their dreams regardless of circumstances.
“It’s about staying focused on what you consider to be the important things you want to do in life. And you have to be so focused that no matter what trials and tribulations come your way, you’re able to keep going.
“Early on I made the decision that music will be for me. No matter what I’ve done, whether it’s events, academia, music comes first. So the key is to focus on what you want to do and stick to it.”
Regarding the current state of culture in Tobago, Arnold said there is a battle in reconciling rusticity and authenticity with modernity and contemporary technological approaches.
“Where is the marriage? That, to me, is the challenge with the culture in Tobago.”
He added that there is no consistent approach to culture on the island.
“Part of the problem with the heritage festival is that we’re not doing enough research. It doesn’t always have to be in the same period where we’re basically doing the same things over and over again. There must have been other periods.
“So research is definitely needed and more resources. We also need to use more of the older heads to help harness the knowledge they have. This is a serious thing.”
