New Longridge Samba Drum classes will be a first of its kind for the area

The new Samba band will debut at Barnacre Rd Primary School in Longridge starting on Wednesday 7 September from 7.15 - 8.15pm introducing attendees of all ages to a new style of the loud, vibrant music of the Brazilian carnival and Samba reggae from Salvador.

Steven said: “My new samba drumming class is open to all adults, you don't need any previous experience and all instruments are provided. Samba is all about community, funky grooves and great fun. I've always found it's an opportunity to meet other like-minded people and there'll also be opportunities to play in public in future.

"I've had a great response so far and am looking forward to meeting those who have already signed up!”

The local musician describes his past career in music as he studied music composition at Royal Birmingham Conservatoir and described catching the ‘Samba bug’ in his first week there.

He said: "I joined the samba band and took over the leadership of the group after 4 years when my teacher moved away. With Samba Central we did a whole host of gigs, festivals and parades throughout the country. During this time I was composing classical music with the Brodsky Quartet and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, afrobeat inspired music with Grammy award winning artist Lekan Babalola and also travelled to Rio de Janeiro to study samba drumming at Maracatu Brasil.”

But Mr Brown made the move to Lancashire in 2005 to become a freelance musician practicioner and running a variety of music projects, workshops and developing music curricula in schools as well as releasing a couple of albums under the name This Is Progress.

Lockdown wasn’t enough to stop this music man tapping his feet as he said: “During the lockdowns I created a resource for children to continue learning about music from home. It was called Making Music and consisted of short videos which taught music in a practical, fun way without the need for instruments. The films were a success and today has over 15,000 followers on social media and tales of the videos being used all over the world by children, schools and scout groups. To say I was surprised was an understatement.

Currently Steven delivers music for the children of Barnacre Road Primary School in Longridge, Spring Hill Primary School in Accrington and delivers guitar lessons and recording sessions in his recording studio. As well as kickstarting the Samba group he said: “my next project is writing folk inspired songs about alternative Lancashire histories and people - so far I've got songs about Tootle Green Racetrack, the Button Pit Murder and local highwayman Ned King. It's tonnes of fun researching and composing these songs and I hope to turn them into a show in the future.”

The Samba class is £30 across six weeks of sessions where instruments are provided to learners and no experience is necessary. You can get involved by contacting Steven at [email protected] to book your place.