Kerri-Ann Lewis stepping out from the background

Leighton Levy, Gleaner Writer

For about a decade, Kerri-Ann Lewis honed her skills as a backup singer to people like Duane Stephenson, Ce'Cile, I-Octane and many others. She recently just completed work on a few songs for the legendary Jimmy Cliff on his upcoming album.

Kerri-Ann enjoyed the expe-rience of providing background vocals on three or four songs on the album. "It was easy because he knows what he is looking for," she said of the reggae icon. However, with that aside, the time has now come for her to venture out on her own; time to spread her wings. It's time to make her name.

So far so good; the twenty-something singer performed solo at the recent Jazz and Blues Festival in Trelawny and was heartened by the response. "I only performed two songs. It was a good response, people stood in the rain and listened," she recalled, adding that some of them told her afterwards that they enjoyed her set.

She hopes her songs - Falling, No Way and RIB - (all love songs), will evoke similar responses. "Falling is about basically about finding that person and coming to the realisation that you are falling in love," she said. "No Way is about being in love and knowing that no one is going to get in the way of that love."

But can love songs break through in a market that seems almost exclusively into hyped-up, raunchy lyrics and uptempo beats? Kerri-Ann definitely believes so. "Of course, there is. At the end of the day, we are all realising that we want to be in love so persons can really relate to it," she said of her love songs. She added that perseverance is what it will take for her to break through. "Every-thing has its challenges but if you keep at it, you will eventually attain your goals. You just have to be persistent."

Conscious songs

But love songs aren't the only genre that lights her fire as she reveals that she also plans to write conscious songs about "situations that are happening in the world today". As far as she is concerned, this kind of music is steadily making its way back to the mainstream. "I believe the world is craving good music. People are grasping for it, good lyrics, good music, positive songs," said the singer who won a gold medal at the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission Festival back in 2001.

Kerri-Ann also won gold medals while representing Jamaica at the World Championships of Performing Arts staged in Hollywood, California, in 2007 and 2008. Those experiences, she said, taught her how to be a professional. They taught her to be ready for now as she continues to step out on her own.