By Vanessa C Rolle, Lifestyles Editor

vanessa@nasguard.com

She is more than just a pretty face. Be prepared to shake, wine, go down to the floor and wave her rag!

Soca, junkanoo, reggae, calypso, whatever it is that you want, Lady E's got it on her debut album, 'Da Feelin.' It's scalding hot and filled with non-stop action that will keep you moving and grooving all night long. A former singer with The Bahamas National Youth Choir, this singer shows off the power, strength, and beauty of her vocals. Trust me, she is not singing opera. She said that being a part of that world-renowned choir under the direction of the Cleophas Adderley, groomed her for becoming a professional artist.

There is song that really caught my attention and I swear Lady E stole that line from me. "Too Much Woman For You" makes it unequivocally clear that "you're talkin' to a lady," and even though you might see her "wine, shake and tremble and cause an earthquake, don't think that you can just come up to her and disrespect her.

Lady E is the Soca Queen who wants to take you for a wild party time on the Soca Plane by day, but when morning light appears, she turns into the charming, mild-mannered Erica Symonette, 26 - an air traffic controller at The Lynden Pindling International Airport.

She didn't just do an album for fame or glory, but she really wanted to make a contribution to the Bahamian culture and music. In fact, she even created a musical genre of her own called 'Marajun,' which is an amalgamation of the Marching band sound, Rake and scrape and Junkanoo sounds. "Our culture needs to grow. It remained too stagnant. I am not knocking on people who have set the foundation but when you set the foundation, you have to grow up and you can't block that. Eventually, that is going to happen. We are not losing our culture.

We are evolving," said Lady E in an interview with The Guardian on Thursday. "I created the concept of MARAJUN but Colyn McDonald put them all together. I can't stop talking about him because other studios charge an arm and a leg whereas, Colyn is working with people. I am very appreciative of him. He works very hard and he could be charging people more, but he does so because he loves working with young people. But God is going to bless him and he will get his reward."

Colyn McDonald of Visage fame produced the album with the exception of the song If You Feel It, which was produced by BAHAMEN's own Patrick Carey.

Lady also formed the entertainment company called Phoenix Media Group, which she wants to be encompassed with talented musicians with the potential to make their presence felt on the world market.

"People need to extend themselves more to young people and not just restrict Bahamian music to just one genre. There are so many talented kids out there who are doing rap and reggae who need help, man. I wanted to contribute to the music industry in the Bahamas. My goal right now, is to encourage young people who many be thinking that music is so far fetched to them that they can't do it, or single mothers who have given up on their dream because they living in a practical world to just take a chance and be all that they can be," said Lady E.

"I wanted people to know that yeah, this girl might sound good, but she is God fearing. Many nights I was home I didn't know what my next step was or what was going to happen for me. But I would wake up the next day with a clear head and a song. All of that was from God. I can't take any credit for it. I think Soca music and Bahamian music invoke happiness and I am hoping that when people hear this album, it would invoke a good," she said.

Lady E is a part of the new band called High Tide and performs at the Sky Box on Friday nights, and at The Buzz, east Bay Street on Saturday nights. For more information on this artist e-mail emonnette@yahoo.com.