Banx, Bankie (1953-Present)

He is a singer-songwriter and musician born Clement Ashley Banks on the island of Anguilla.

When he was young his brother showed him how to play some chords on the guitar and then when he was 9 years old he built his own. This was enough for him to progress into a career in music as the years went on and by the time he was 14 he was performing with local bands and a decade later in 1977 he saw his first success when his “Prince of Darkeness” became a hit.

In 1983 he appeared at the Reggae Sunsplash and would repeat that again nine years later in 1992. Following his first performance there he toured the Caribbean with his band The Roots & Herbs and then after a change in the line-up they travelled to Europe, where they spent the next three years.

The group split up in 1987 and, following the untimely death of his younger sister, he returned to Anguilla. Not staying on the island too long, he was soon in New York appearing as Bankie Banx & The New York Connection, but still returned yearly and created the annual Moonsplash Music Festival held there since 1991.

His name is now internationally known with him performing with and/or playing host at his beach bar with artists such as Black Uhuru, Jimmy Buffett, Peter Cetera, Jimmy Cliff, Bob Dylan, Gloria Estefan, Ritchie Havens, Paul Simon , Third World and Toots and the Maytals to name a few.

Albums he has appeared on include his own such as Island Boy, Roots & Herbs/Chariots of Steel and Still in Paradise as well as Live in Anguilla by Jimmy Buffett and the award-winning soundtrack of the movie Southie.

Very involved in charitable and educational projects he founded the music and art educational program Project Stingray in 2005 and has also raised over $100,000 for his local charities, hurricane relief and victims of the volcano in Montserrat.

Sources:

Banx, Bankie (1953-Present)

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