Patrick "Johnny" Gomes, captain and lead tenor player in the band, is perhaps the most well known person in the Antiguan/Barbudan community in New York and is involved in many of the Antiguan/Barbudan activities around the tri-state area.  Johnny is an accomplished pan man whose experience with pan music dates back to his early teens when he apprenticed under the tutelage of the well known Antiguan pan man, Arthur "Bum" Jardine.  In those days between 1963 and 1968 Johnny played with Brute Force, South Side Symphony and Texaco Astronauts, which Bum formed when he left Brute Force in 1967.

But Johnny is far more than a pan man.  Johnny learned to play keyboards after he migrated to New York in 1968, and because he learned so quickly and did so well, he soon started playing as back up to the Mighty Sparrow (the World Calypso Monarch), first with the Jaguars, then with Sam and the Caribbean Express.  Johnny has toured the United States, Bermuda, Canada and the USVI, playing music with these groups and Sparrow.

Besides his musical involvement, Johnny is an active soccer player, playing for an Antiguan soccer team in the Eastern District Soccer League of New York.  Additionally, he was Musical Director and Talent Coordinator for the Caribbean Amateur Night competition which enjoyed a successful three year run at the world famous Apollo Theatre in Harlem. 

Johnny also teaches pan at Youth Theatre Interactions, Inc., a performing arts school and repertory company whose Instructional Program is designed to teach participants about their cultural heritage through a creative medium.  He has also held various positions of influence in a number of Antiguan and Barbudan social and cultural organizations in New York.  As testimony to his many achievements, Johnny received an award from the Antiguan Ambassador to the United Nations in an annual independence celebration for his numerous and outstanding contributions to the Antiguan and Barbudan community in New York.

As a solo pan artiste Johnny is always being called upon to play before a wide variety of audiences in universities, churches, concert halls and many other musical arenas.  In 1993, he was invited by the Ambassador of Antigua & Barbuda to play at the United Nations at a ceremony celebrating the life and work of Jamaican G. Arthur Brown, a distinguished Caribbean statesman and diplomat who served on the United Nations Development Project and as Governor of the Jamaican Central Bank. 

Johnny is one of the original founders of City South Steel orchestra and in the words of lead singer and tenor player Patricia Nicholas, Johnny is "musician, manager, public relations officer, captain; you name it, Johnny has done it or can do it."

Photo: Patrick Gomes

Earl Shaw is the most senior member of CSSO.  He has been playing pan since the early 1950s and was a member of the Brute Force Steel Band which the first Antiguan steelband to record an album.  Earl lends his expertise as well as maturity to CSSO.  Besides playing pan with the expertise of a grand master, Earl is a member of both his church choir and the Antigua and Barbuda Cultural Society Choir, based in Queens, New York.

Click for photo: Earl Shaw

O'Neill Mason is the son of the legendary, Antiguan musician, Oscar Mason, patriarch of Antigua's largest and most well-known musical family.  Music is, and has always been, O'Neill's life.  The bass guitar, which he plays in the band, is his instrument of choice although he also plays the trombone.  O'Neill has played with several bands both in Antigua and throughout New York City.  He is a deacon in his church and also a choir member.

Click for photo: O'Neil Mason

Rochelle Bailey is also from an extremely talented, musical family.  Rochelle has been a performer from early childhood who sings, dances, and plays the single tenor on the band's front line.  In addition to her theatrical experience, Rochelle has been the winner in a number of beauty pageants both in her native Antigua and in New York.  Rochelle is currently on leave from CSSO pursuing a career in medicine with the United States Armed Forces.

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Simone Gomes at age nine, was the first female to play pan with CSSO.  Since then she has developed musically.  Simone is a student at La Guardia School of Arts where she majors in vocals.  She also dances and has performed with her dance group at the world famous Lincoln Center.  Simone also plays the single tenor on the band's frontline.  Simone is an upcoming artist and is in the ideal environment to be nurtured with the CSSO family of artists.

Click for photo: Simone Gomes

Patricia Nicholas, simply known to all as Pat, has been formally trained as a pianist and organist, plays the tenor on the band's frontline and is CSSO's lead vocalist.  She was the organist for the St. James Anglican Church in Antigua, as well as a member of the senior choir and director of the youth choir of the church.  Pat has also enjoyed the distinction of being a member of the prestigious St. John's Cathedral Youth Choir.  In New York, Pat is the organist at St. Lukes Episcopal Church where she currently directs two choirs.  She has performed at the United Nations and was a winner in the Caribbean Amateur Night at the world famous Apollo Theatre.  Pat is currently completing studies in Accounting and intends to be a CPA with her own firm.  In addition to her many credits, Pat also handles all administrative matters for the band.

Click for Photo: Patricia Nicholas

Dayne Gomes has been playing pan since 1973.  He has arranged four different steel band groups in Antigua namely: Gemonites, Ebonites, Serenaders and the St. Joseph's Academy Steel Orchestra.  Each of these bands average 75 members with as many as eight different musical parts.  Dayne is CSSO's chief musical director and arranger.  Although not formally trained Dayne has written and composed several songs.  He was recently honored by the band for his outstanding contributions and is highly respected in the pan communities of New York and Antigua.  While his pan of choice is the double-second, Dayne plays all pans with equal skill.  Dayne is also a practicing CPA in New York.

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Roy Gomes is another pioneer of pan and has been playing since 1963.  He was another member of the now world-famous Brute Force Steelband from Antigua.  Roy's primary pan is the double tenor but he is fluent on the single tenor as well.  Roy orchestrates the harmony section of CSSO and is father to Simone, cousin to Rochelle, and brother to Johnny.

Click for photo: Roy Gomes

Carl Edwards is the drummer of the band and also hails from a another talented, Antiguan musical family.  Carl is one of two drummers in the family and had another brother, now deceased, who was a well-known and respected panman in Antigua as well as an arranger for the Super Stars Steel Orchestra on that island.  Carl has played drums as well as the single tenor in several bands in Antigua.

Click for photo: Carl Edwards