Bamboushay: Where Art and Music Meet
“I grew up in a family of artisans and potters and developed a love for it from an early age,” says Eldred Williams, owner of Bamboushay Pottery in Road Town.
I have been observing Eldred develop his craft since he opened up his first workshop at Nanny Cay with former partner, David Archer in the early ‘90s. I remember full moon parties with mocko jumbies and pottery demonstrations that kindled an interest in the craft throughout the islands.
Today, the workshop is at Hannah’s Estate across from Nanny Cay. A retail store, filled with an array of ceramics fired with colors ranging from muted sand to rich shades of blue and green is on Main Street in Road Town.
Adjacent is Eldred’s other passion, Bamboushay Restaurant and Lounge. The open-air eatery and music venue is on the waterfront road, has a central bar and the dining area is sheltered beneath a large canopy roof. The Lounge’s busy entertainment schedule features local bands, DJ music and dart and quiz nights. It has hosted dance performances and many other local events. “I wanted a music venue with tapas where people would want to hang out,” Eldred says.
On busy nights, he pitches in waiting and bussing tables. But on other nights he can be found listening to the music from a bar stool, nodding his head or tapping his feet to the sounds flowing from the stage.
Among Bamboushay’s most popular artists is MJ Blues, whose virtuoso guitar playing and soulful blues, rock, and reggae renditions gets the audience up and dancing. MJ, who has a deep resonant voice, can channel artists from Louis Armstrong to Bob Marley and Eric Clapton. Charming with an infectious grin, MJ takes requests, and once when I was there, got the members of a birthday party (including the birthday girl who was at first hesitant) happily onto the dance floor.
Eldred, who is originally from Nevis, has lived in the BVI since 1979 where he initially worked in the Nanny Cay Boat Yard. He founded BVI Painters, a marine refinishing firm specializing in painting and fabrication, a few years later, but the painting business did not fill a creative need. “I like working with my hands. I had BVI Painters, but I was looking for a more artistic pursuit,” he says. Pottery was in his DNA and became the obvious choice.
Encouraging him were several mentors including Val and Mike Andrews, who counseled him to “follow his passion.” He also got to know Stephen Jepson, a visiting potter who set up the ceramics program at Florida State University. Eldred went to study with him in Florida, and later Stephen and Val were instrumental in helping him set up his first workshop. A potter from St. Thomas encouraged him to make sconces, which are now one of his mainstay items. “It all started to take off,” he declares.
He moved the retail outlet to Road Town around ten years ago and found that foot traffic increased with the more centralized location. But when Hurricane Irma hit the BVI in 2017, severely damaging his businesses, he grew discouraged and was considering “packing it up.”
His niece, Celeste Tyson, who had once lived in the BVI, encouraged him to keep going. “She helped me to put things back together”, he says, and even though she is now living in Canada, she helps him with marketing and business advice. Another integral part of his team is potter Ramon Herrera.
“Celeste says, ‘I have the ideas, and she makes it work,’” declares Eldred, adding that he and Celeste, who returns to the BVI two or three times a year make “a good team.”
The pandemic has also been a challenge that Eldred has had to navigate, but hard work and a positive and creative outlook has helped him move forward. As for the future, he says, “I’m tied to Bamboushay, I want it to be a landmark, somewhere that when people come to the BVI, they say, “’I want to go to Bamboushay.’”
For more information on Bamboushay Pottery go to:
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