Despite loss, 'Mighty Voter' still aiming for calypso crown
Stabroek News
February 26, 2003
He was one of the two visually-impaired calypsonians in the line-up this year competing for the Mash Calypso crown. Martin Bryne, also known as the `The Mighty Voter', lost his sight in 1992 to glaucoma but instead of giving up he turned to calypso and found his calling.
In an interview with Stabroek News Bryne recalled that the glaucoma was discovered in its advanced stage and there was nothing that could have been done to save his vision. One immediate setback was that he had to quit his job as an electrical rewinder at the then Guyana Electricity Corporation (GEC).
Blind, desperate and unemployed, Bryne took to calypso. He confessed that the type of music was never to his liking but surprisingly he found he had a talent for it. He burst onto the scene in 2001 with a piece called "On your mark, get set and vote" and placed third in the competition. He also took the sobriquet `The Mighty Voter'.
Bryne who placed fifth this year conceded defeat but asserted that he is going to win the calypso monarchy in the not-too-distant future. He said the competition this year was good since most of the calypsonians had excellent pieces. He singled out Calypso Monarch `VJ', `Lady Tempest', `Black Hat' and `Professor Clem' among others.
Commenting on his piece `Corruption works', Bryne said many persons misunderstood what the song was about.
He said some people mistakenly thought that the song was attacking specific government officials and was promoting corruption.
Instead, Bryne pointed out, the song was saying that corruption was prevalent and while everything else is failing, graft seems to be thriving. In essence he was doing a double-entendre piece in the footsteps of calypso icons like the Mighty Sparrow and Chalkdust.
Bryne who is qualified to read in braille admitted it was difficult to obtain sponsorship. After searching for some time, he finally received assistance from Guyana Power & Light (GPL), Wireless Connections and New Era Bookshop.
He describes himself not as a calypsonian but as someone who is trying to be one. "A calypsonian is born," he says. According to him a calypsonian must have the ability to sing about serious issues in an entertaining way.
Besides singing and writing songs, Bryne makes his living doing advertisements for various companies. He also submitted the winning theme for this year's Mashramani celebrations, "United Are We In Mash 2003". (Iana Seales)
