Welcome to March, home to InRadio 4.6: Moments In Movement. It's snowing in Minneapolis today so I thought I'd highlight a label whose home is experiencing very different, 86 degree weather.

About a mile from the Guatemalan border and five-minutes from the ancient Mayan ruins of Xunantunich is Benqe Viejo a small town in Belize that houses the Country's first recording studio and Stonetree Records. Stonetree is dedicated to actively promoting the region's unique musical styles and encouraging the preservation of Belize's tradition music: including that of the Garifuna, Creole, Maya, and Mestizo cultures.

Formerly the colony of British Honduras, Belize was fought over by Spain, Britain and Guatemala before it gained independence in 1981. One Stonetree artist, Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective, have just released 'Wátina', a stunning new album featuring an all-star, multigenerational lineup of Garifuna musicians from Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras.

The Garifuna people originated when two large Spanish ships, filled with a delivery of West African slaves, sunk off the coast of the Caribbean island of St. Vincent in 1635. Half of the Africans survived and intermingled with the indigenous Caribs of the region, creating a new hybrid culture. Fiercely independent, the Garifuna community resisted European colonization, and were forcibly exiled to the Caribbean coast of Central America.

Andy Palacio sites a visit to Nicaragua in the 80s as an important moment in shaping his desires to play Garifuna music. He was on his way to serve in a literacy campaign when a storm forced his boat to change direction and stop at a nearby village. It was here that he met a Garifuna man who could not believe that Palacio could speak Garifuna, for the old man believed that the language would perish with him. 'From that day I realized that what was happening in Nicaragua, the disappearance of Garifuna culture, foreshadowed what was going to happen in Belize less than a generation down the road,' recalls Palacio. 'I decided to follow my passion and focus more on performing Garifuna music as a way to keep the traditions alive long into the future.'





If you like what you hear help Stonetree and Andy continue with their mission and purchase a cd from their website. And don't be surprised if these voices sound familiar when listening to upcoming InRadio cd's, I have a hunch that at least Andy will make his way onto our compilations.