Jim Reeves, a playlist and a Sri Lankan boutique festival

My Dad loved Jim Reeves.

The living room of our small suburban terrace was filled with the velvety crooning of this country music legend.

For any Sri Lankan whose heyday straddled the 50s-60s, it could only be Jim. Of course, there was Sinatra, Elvis, and the Beatles but Gentleman Jim, who hailed from East Texas, was the most popular English language singer in Sri Lanka in the 60s.

This is why during my childhood in the 70s and 80s we were serenaded by Jim. 

We daren’t touch the old Pioneer stereo that sat proudly on the pine music console. The turntable was a beautiful piece of workmanship, with its accompanying receiver, that hypnotised me as I watched the dials bounce in time to the music. And the cassette tape deck with its clunky buttons you had to force down to push play.

This beautiful piece of craftsmanship was eventually traded in for a matt black Japanese sound tower with a remote control, CD player and fancy flashing lights, permanently tuned to Classic FM. 

The old stereo was retired to the attic. 

When my parents finally moved out of the family home, having agreed to downsize, the Japanese structure was a casualty of the resulting clearout.  My mother favoured her nimble Robert’s radio to keep her company in the kitchen, permanently set to Classic FM. 

What’s left of the Pioneer stereo doesn’t work. We’ve rescued the turntable and receiver, both are non-functional heirlooms in our living room, feeding me memories of Dad listening to Jim. 

Drop a comment if you’d like to share any memories of Jim Reeves, I’d love to hear them!

---

The Sri Lankan Culture Collective Playlist 

Bringing us bang up to date is our playlist - available on Spotify and ready to be streamed onto your phone. 

Indy Vidyalankara, a Sri Lankan, high-profile music PR with 25 years in the music industry, acclaimed in PR Week’s Top 10 three years in a row, has compiled this playlist that covers the whole of the Sri Lankan diaspora.

The playlist, it’s stunning. It’s bursting with beautiful songs, from more classic sounds to beats, bangers, pop, electronic, avant-garde and alt-soul, showcasing and celebrating the best talent from Sri Lanka to the world!

I’m so proud of it, and I want you to have it.

Download or stream it to your phone, and play it as you cook, on the commute to work, or in your car. Just play it.

---

Will you join us? For the Sri Lankan Culture Collective boutique festival

And if you join us on 22 September, on the Battersea Barge, you’ll be able to see  Arjun Nala and Toulip Wonder, who feature on the playlist, perform. They will be joined by Nush, and DJ AP Pistol - all are fantastically talented artists of Sri Lankan heritage.

Not only that, we’re going to help you master the craft of hopper making with Rosh from Hop & Roll, and eat your hoppers with Sri Lankan heritage recipes provided by Krish and Joey co-founders of the cult supper club MUVs ALL DAY and sambols by Ruci Foods.

Mehala Ford of the Friday Sari Project and Sri Lankan fashion pioneer will teach you the many ways to drape a sari.We’ll have a pop-up shop with gorgeous things brought back from Sri Lanka for you.

We also have comedy with Hari Kanth and friends (Hari was a finalist in the BBC New Comedy Awards).

Colombo Kitchen will be firing the kotthu roti station ready and waiting to feed our guests. 

You can come of all of it or just a part of it, all you have to do is snap up your ticket now! 

The Culture Drop playlist is part of the digital programme for South Asian Heritage Month, produced by the Sri Lankan Culture Collective which is supported by Hera Project X Sri Lanka and Wandsworth Council.