Cherry Ripe Management - The 1st name in World Music & Jazz!
Our company is run by the husband and wife team of Paul & Helen Cherrie.
Paul has been performing with his steel band Solid Steel for over 30 years now and has represented other World Music & Jazz acts throughout his career.
His roots lie in Trinidad- the beautiful Caribbean island that is the home of steel pans, calypso and Carnival- and the artists he represents reflect the music and cultural diversity of that island!
So the identity of Cherry Ripe Management is truly authentic- but it is also professional. We run a full-time office so calls, emails and messages of all kinds are handled promptly and efficiently and clients are issued proper formal Booking Confirmations- a 'must have' for all Poptop clients!
We provide a wide range of performance and workshop options from a variety of our musical projects to better suit the size and nature of our clients’ events and play a wide variety of music from all different genres according to your tastes.
Our reviews on Poptop are excellent because we are committed to excellent service- and always with a smile!
Very good and would use again, highly recommend
This was the surprise element for guests at my daughters wedding, playing at the drinks reception before the meal. We were so lucky to have a wonderful sunny day and the band were definitely a fantastic addition to the day.
Fabulous! Highly recommended!
Celebrated Thelma’s 90th in style.
The band were great and really added to the atmosphere of our wedding reception. They played contemporary music and it sounded great; everyone loved them. Initially our music requests were denied but we were happily surprised to hear it played which meant a lot. The lads that came were not the band shown in the photo but it wasn’t a problem for us. They were very professional. I would recommend, thank you 🙏🏻
Top Top Band - Lovely people , Lovely sounds.. the only party we’ve had when the neighbours have asked us to keep the noise levels up !!
Solid Steele turned up in plenty of time to start when I’d asked them to. Everyone was extremely friendly and accommodating .The music was fantastic and my whole party of about 100 who had come to celebrate the life of my darling wife Pauline of nearly 50 years of marriage,and whom had died exactly 2 years to the day, really enjoyed it and saying what a great idea to have such music. It was my wife’s wish to have a steel band at her funeral if she went first,but we couldn’t have a wake afterwards because of Covid restrictions,so this was my first opportunity to put it right. Well done Solid Steele ,you were brilliant.
The band were amazing, they looked the part and the music sounded incredible. Thank you Paul & crew, we thoroughly enjoyed listening to the beautiful steel drum music!
Exactly what we were after very pleasant background music reminding us of great holidays in the Caribbean. Got the wife hooked , think she would quite like to get a melody drum and practise, really happy thanks
I hired these guys to play for my mum’s 80th birthday and we were all over the moon with them! They were helpful, friendly and professional. I highly recommend them. 😊
Paul &co were a great addition to my sisters wedding day. Paul even learnt my sisters favourite song for her to walk down the aisle to. Thank you so much for making the day so special. Would highly recommend!
Paul and his band did an amazing job of kicking off our wedding experience. I would highly recommend them.
A great experience from start to finish with a quick response from Paul and seamless communication via email and WhatsApp. I booked the guys as a surprise for my cousins 30th and she absolutely loved it!! Thanks again.
A very professional act & we enjoyed them immensely
Outstanding! Great vibe with a great pan player. Wish Id had the budget to book Mark all night!! Booking Solid steel again very soon
They were fantastic great music, very smiley and set up quickly with no problems
Definitely recommend!
The band was great all music was good .
Would use again I don’t know where time went
Great night
Richard
No problems whatsoever. Although only 2 turned up, music was great. Thank you for your help
Frank
Very professional, great music giving our event a fantastic atmosphere!
Really great job, set up quickly and played a lovely set!
They were absolutely brilliant in the freezing cold and never complained, and loved the music and they were absolutely charming . Thank you very much b. All the best the Cavendish family
Mark was great! He set up quickly, the music was perfect for our event and the sound was good. I will definitely book again. Thanks
They were great
Really nice guy, created a great atmosphere at the Xmas party and music choices were great.
The band were superb, and set the atmosphere brilliantly. I would recommend to everybody. Thanks
The Solid Steel band played at our Engagement BBQ this Summer - really brilliant entertainment! All the guests immediately got into the vibe when they started playing. Great selection of hits that everyone knew. A really nice way to add something a bit different to your event which is both laid back but professional. Paul was very speedy with communication and also accommodated last minute time changes (due to the start time of the football quarter-finals!). Would definitely use again!
Not sure how the ranking numbers work but Elliott and his uncle from Solid Steel were excellent and I would thoroughly recommend them to anyone - they were so polite and made our party - so thank you so much Jackie
Fantastic experience dealing with Solid Steel. They created a wonderful atmosphere at 100th birthday party. They were easy to deal with. Professional and personable. Great Music.
We booked Solid Steel to play at our wedding which unfortunately we have had to cancel due to coronavirus. Solid Steel have been incredible throughout the booking and cancellation process - offering a free cancellation service. They have always been available to answer questions and have gone out of their way to help us find solutions. We would highly recommend them to everyone and we really hope to have them play at our wedding when it does eventually take place!
Seamless communication via WhatsApp with Paul and great professionalism from the band members! Booked as a surprise for my cousins 30th birthday, intimate and effective gig. Thanks again guys, you made her day.
We booked the Solid Steel Band as an end of term celebration for the children at the school. In such strange times it was fantastic to have them in school performing and giving children of all ages an opportunity to play the drums - all done safely and with much enjoyment! They were friendly, flexible and easy to work with. Thank you!
Paul and his band members were a great choice for our intimate birthday party in Cornwall. They were prompt, provided lots of energy and made the evening extremely fun for the birthday girl. Their set list was varied, with up to date tunes along with those all important classics. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a steel band and I am so grateful for their performance.
Mark played at our beach party on Saturday and was outstanding! Even though it was raining stair rods, a great night was had by all at The Dock Bar. Thanks again Mark & Paul. We will definitely be booking you again soon.
"Paul, Tom and Dennis came to our wedding and absolutely blew everyone away.
Fun and highly interactive entertainers, I can't recommend these fellas enough!"
Great night of music - everyone loved it! The guys were very flexible with their timings to suit us
Lovely people and great musicians. Arrived just on schedule.
Although music good,couldn't fault that but would have like more interaction with attendees. I understand the need for the timings but when they lent one of committee members the mike to call the raffle at end of evening as they were packing up it was just taken away as they were ready 3 - 5 minutes for her to finish would not have hurt surely.... We fed them well.. Jerk chicken salad, bread and a dessert
It was our 1st venture of a "caribbean" evening.......to expensive to repeat thank you.........not just my opinion had feedback from attendees
The guys that attended were not the guys posted in the above picture. we were really disappointed with what we paid for
I'm a professional singer and steel pan/drum player with over 30 years of experience in performing- mostly as bandleader of the UK's leading professional steel band 'Solid Steel'- and managing other Caribbean, African and Latin American acts. :)
Playing on stage with the Rolling Stones at 19. Being the first steel band to play on TV's 'The Generation Game'- if you're old enough to remember that show. :) Playing at private parties for Paul McCartney & the Beckhams. Recording & miming 'Under The Sea' in 2017 for a production at the eye-wateringly expensive wedding of Shipping heir Filippos Lemos attended by royal figures from across Europe and the Middle East (2 kings, 4 queens, 6 crown princes and princesses, lol) Numerous appearances on daytime tv- if you check my Youtube channel by searching 'Cherry Ripe Management' 2019 highlights include playing for a scene in Sir Steve McQueen's forthcoming BBC production, 'Small Axe'- and then being invited to play for his 50th birthday party & performing in a scene filmed at Warner Brothers for their upcoming live action 'Tom & Jerry' movie.
My 'musicality' is such that I always work with excellent musicians who like me really can play the music the client is expecting and who are also super-relaxed personalities that just happen to be very organised and super-reliable too!
In the main, private functions of which the majority are wedding receptions and corporate events.
Princes and paupers And a lot of high-end corporate clients. :) In the last 3 years I've played for events at Twitter, Google and Amazon.
In advance with VAT added or in cash to the bandleader on the day of the event.
For as long as you’d like us- or at least for as long as your budget will allow. ;)
Yes- when called upon. Which is rare where lighting is concerned.
Yes
A minimum of 1m2 per musician.
Probably! We always like to learn new songs that we’d like to include in our repertoire in the future.
Very flexible on this- according to our clients’ requirements.
Genres (in alphabetical order only):
Calypso
Jazz
MOR
Pop (Chart & standards)
Reggae
Soca
Soul & R&B