At just 36, she is the youngest & first female Captain of the world famous BP Renegades. Even at her young age, she already has 21 years with Renegades under her belt. Her status in the band has clearly been earned through commitment, determination & hard work.
As a child, Candice's grandmother's home was right next to the panyard on Charlotte Street (now an army base) and she very often played there. But her real introduction to playing a pan herself came at school, Woodbrook Government Secondary, where at age 15 she learned to play the national anthem on a steelpan. The accomplishment encouraged her, and that very year she officially joined Renegades.
In addition to playing, she also steadily worked her way up through the ranks of administration, first as a committee member, then Assistant Secretary, Secretary, Vice Captain and then Captain (now in her second term of office).
Despite coming from a broken home (her father, a talented music arranger, fell victim to drugs, leaving her mother to raise her & her sister since she was 2). She earned herself 5 O'levels and completed a course in typing to prepare her for the business world. However, she says that being a part of Renegades taught her more than any institute of learning ever did, & inspired her to take her music education further, attaining Grade 5 and a Music Diploma from UTT. She now fluently reads & teaches music, and was one of the music tutors involved with the Panyard Initiative Program in 2012 targeting youth in the surrounding communities of POS North.
She has also been accepted to study for her Bachelor of Arts degree at UTT.
She is quite an inspiration to her players, especially the younger female ones coming up, so I wanted to know who inspired the young Candice Andrews.
Her response surprised me. Despite the situation, it's her father. She sees beyond just his downfall to how talented an arranger he was for many bands locally and internationally, and instead of dwelling on the negative she instead resolved to never allow anything to impede her in fulfilling her own greatest potential.
Her vision is to see steelpan get the respect & support it deserves from the country of its birth. Elsewhere, it is valued and honoured with steelband academies, a prominent place in school musical programs, financial support and national exposure. People come to T&T to learn from our master pan players, arrangers and pan music writers, and their countries benefit from it. Sadly it is not so here, and she is keen to change that.
She has already begun within her own circle of influence - her band. She believes that one of the core elements in the process is changing how 'pan' is perceived here. Steelband’s history is as a 'Carnival thing', deeply rooted in the 'poor lower classes', and violent confrontations were the norm, and that image persists. Therefore she insists on a 'Code of Conduct' for her players. It is drilled into every one (they are given printed instructions!) that they are ambassadors, and must ALWAYS carry themselves in a manner befitting such. She says many of their international tours are a result of someone being impressed not just with their phenomenal musical performances but by the extremely high standard of class and professionalism they display.
She graciously allowed me to share their credo, penned by own hand:
'Renegades Values -
What We Believe & How We Live'
• We must always do the right thing, morally, legally, ethically and musically
• We are accountable for our actions
• We openly share ideas, even when we disagree
• We recognize each other for a job well done
• We must keep learning and growing
and, last but not definitely not least:
• We must have fun doing what we do.
As I said… a remarkable young lady.
