Directed by Andrea E. Leland • Documentary • With James Brewster • 2006 • 71 minutes
Scratch band music, or Quelbe, is the grass-roots folk music from the U.S. Virgin Islands. The lyrics are a form of oral history relaying the day-to-day trials and tribulations of living on a small Caribbean island. Playing with some homemade instruments made from tin cans and gourds, the music has a crudeness to it that is intoxicating and rhythmic speaking to both the beauty and the hardship of the Crucian (of St. Croix) lifestyle. 79-year old James Brewster has performed and recorded throughout the Caribbean, Europe and the United States and is the legendary "King of Scratch".
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