In a phone interview with Newsday (TT) on June 17, US singer/songwriter Lane Steinberg, one of the co-founders of the Mighty Sparrow Rum Co, said that she hopes to share more and inform the public that Sparrow is one of the rum’s co-founders and owners.
Apart from launching the rum, Steinberg hopes this venture will spark renewed interest in a potential biopic about the artist’s life.
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Detailing the journey of how the rum came to be, Steinberg shared his long-standing admiration for Sparrow’s music. Although his own background is in rock and roll, he has always appreciated various genres. Living in Queens, New York, where Sparrow also resided, Steinberg often wanted to meet him but never mustered the courage.
“I let the opportunity slip by, and then he fell ill around 2012,” Steinberg recalled. In 2013, media reports surfaced about Sparrow being hospitalized and in a coma.
“I felt awful. I kept thinking, ‘I never took that chance to knock on his door,'” he said. Once Sparrow recovered, Steinberg finally introduced himself. Demonstrating his knowledge of calypso music, he mentioned legends like Kitchener and Lord Invader. This encounter led to a friendship where Steinberg frequently visited Sparrow to discuss music.
Lenard Dorfman, a co-founder of the Mighty Sparrow Rum Co., recounted how the friendship blossomed. “One day, I brought my guitar over because Sparrow hadn’t been active musically for a while. At that time, people admired and respected him but didn’t expect new music from him,” Dorfman said.
Steinberg’s background in the spirits industry intersected with his admiration for Sparrow when the developers of St. Lucia’s Bounty Rum hosted an event. Seizing the moment, he arranged for Sparrow to perform in Harlem, an event that re-energized Sparrow.
“We found a core group of musicians, including Sparrow, and started playing shows at notable venues like the Public Theatre in Manhattan and Lincoln Center, right before COVID hit,” Steinberg said. They also performed at the 2018 Windrush Festival at London’s Barbican Centre.
The idea for a biopic emerged as Steinberg and his business manager, Irwin Chusid, worked on remastering Sparrow’s recordings. Despite interest from Broadway and Hollywood producers, the pandemic stalled funding for the project.
“We were deflated by that,” Steinberg admitted. The concept of the rum emerged from a conversation with childhood friend Dorfman, who suggested that producing a rum would be like “bottling Sparrow’s history.”
The idea took off, and Steinberg consulted industry partners who embraced it, leading to the creation of the Mighty Sparrow Rum Co. Dorfman emphasized the meticulous process of developing the rum, ensuring it met ultra-premium standards befitting Sparrow’s name.
“It was a long and exhaustive process, but we’ve created a high-quality, delicious-tasting rum,” Dorfman said. The packaging is finalized, and production is imminent, with the aim to launch globally during Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago, ideally with Sparrow performing if he is well enough to travel.
Steinberg and Dorfman, members of the TT Manufacturers’ Association, added a QR code on the rum’s bottle, linking to Sparrow’s music. This allows consumers to enjoy the rum while listening to Sparrow’s songs.
Sparrow is slated to be honored at this year’s Caribbean Music Awards on August 29 at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York.
Steinberg and Dorfman hope the interest in the rum will reignite the biopic project. “Sparrow’s story, from humble beginnings to being an international ambassador for calypso, is compelling. He broke boundaries, established his own recording label, and elevated calypso to an international genre. His contributions are immense, and we believe his story deserves to be told,” Steinberg said. “The essence of Trinidad is Sparrow, and sharing that with the world is a great endeavor.”
