Guyanese musician Sach Persaud returns home, debuts new album

Famous musician of the 70s, Sach Persaud, has returned to Guyana to debut his upcoming album, titled “Love Songs for Guyana”, for 2024.
Sixty-six-year-old Sach Persaud, who hails from Bartica, rose to fame in the 1970s with hit songs such as “My Love is not Retail”; “Love Me Now and Ever”, and “End of the Rainbow”, and has re-emerged on the local music scene with what he hopes to be an electrifying comeback.
Starting the engine of the car, he carried Guyana Times down memory lane.
No stranger to exercising his vocal cords at a young age, Persaud spoke about his Hindu-cultured family background, and recounted persons telling his mother, “Betty, this bai hay could sing.”
With a unique voice no one in his village had ever heard before, Persaud did not know that he would be a well-rounded musician who knows how to play the guitar.
He recalled that, during his youthful days, his older brother, who played the guitar, gave it to him to try out, and when he played the C chord, it came out as “plain.” According to him, in those days, guitars would not come out plain by a first-time player; rather, they would normally have a distorted sound. But when he had his first try to play it, he played a song they liked.
In the historical scene, where he brought rivers of notes flooding the eardrums of listeners interested in what he was doing, a man who was listening threatened Persaud, who wanted to play cricket, that if he didn’t continue playing, he would beat him with a broomstick.
Held hostage to fear, Persaud had no choice but to continue playing, amusing the little audience he gathered through his naturality.
Persaud stated, “I wanted to go outside and play cricket, but a man next to me said, ‘Continue playing! If yuh stop, I gon lash you with a broomstick!”
Following this experience, he began experimenting with the instrument, and he developed a passion for music. From climbing over new hurdles in his dynamic natural musical reach, he began watching various bands perform in Guyana. With this variety of experience, he finally moved from playing cricket to playing music.
The young guitarist was, at the age of 17, contacted by Guyanese singing sensation Eddy Grant and his team, in 1975, and was given the offer to open five of their shows.
Popularity was then attributed to him, as he was among persons nowhere in his musical league, age and talent.
“I was amongst monsters of musicians in the music industry. I was just 17, performing alongside musicians who were 28, 30 and 32,” he explained.
As the years flew by, the musical arena made him charter new waters, as he was blessed with a fruitful career in Brazil, and even worked more with the likes of Eddy Grant. He recounted his journey of travelling around the world, creating music while crossing different lands and making a living. Through his travelling, a realization sprung within Persaud of the difference between Guyana and countries such as Brazil, where artists had abundance of opportunities to make a living out of their craft, unlike what obtained in Guyana.
“To this day, artists can’t make a living in Guyana,” he sadly expressed.
Contrasting his experience against what other singers are forced to accept in Guyana, he said that while travelling on a plane to New York, the happiness of the nature of his birth land that he had the privilege to experience as a youngster revisited him. According to Persaud, it was understood that no other country around the world had captivated him as much as his homeland Guyana, which prompted him to make a brand-new album titled “Love Songs for Guyana.”
“I realized that I travelled and travelled, but I realized Guyana is home. One time, while on a plane to New York, I started thinking that I am going to create a project called Love Songs for Guyana,” he explained.
Quickly realizing the change in his perspective, he returned to Guyana, where the icon now wishes to paint pictures of the number of beautiful sites in Guyana.
Intending to create 10 songs aimed at resurfacing the love for Guyana, “Good Morning, Guyana” is the first to be produced.
Persaud foresees that upon the completion of ten songs, foreigners will have a different outlook on how they view Guyana. He nevertheless called on sponsors to support the idea and assist in the production of the other nine songs.
“I believe this is a good vision. This vision brings out the love in the country, and foreigners will get to know about Guyana,” he said.
Anyone who would like to support Sach can easily contact him by calling him at +592 688 0405