Ellie’s Groove Steel Pan Band doesn’t just play music – they charm it out of steel and air.
The band is a two-man symphony of shimmer and swing, made up of Raymond Davis on steel pan and Dr. Tony McCutchen on vibraphone. Together, they turn retro radio gold into something fresh, unexpected, and utterly delightful.
They call themselves Ellie’s Groove as a double tribute – first to Ellie Mannette, the Trinidad-born pioneer who transformed steel drums from oil barrels into finely tuned instruments. And second, to the literal grooves hammered into each drum during its creation. It’s a name with history, humor, and a whole lot of rhythm baked in.
Their sound? Imagine Burt Bacharach wandering into a tropical speakeasy. Or Motown melodies refracted through the metallic chime of Caribbean sunlight. It’s smooth jazz with a wink, ’70s soft rock with a steel-pan twist. No vocals, no flash – just instrumental nostalgia with a heartbeat.
Raymond, a retired music teacher living in Sapphire, got his first steel pan in 1985 from Mannette himself – for $400, a steal considering today’s pans can fetch $4,000 or more.
“People still don’t really understand what this instrument can do,” he says. “It’s not just island party music – it can sing.”
Dr. McCutchen, who lives in Athens and taught percussion at the University of Georgia, fell in love with the vibraphone – a cousin of the xylophone with a dreamy, echoing sound somewhere between a harp and an electric piano.
“It’s an unusual pairing,” he says of their duo. “But the instruments play off each other in this beautiful, unexpected way.”
Their playlist is a love letter to their formative years: Seals and Crofts, Dionne Warwick, the Temptations. It’s comfort food for the ears – familiar tunes reimagined with silvery sparkle and groove. Occasionally, they throw in a curveball – a jazz standard here, a Beatles cover there – just enough to keep listeners on their toes. Their music evokes a kind of sun-drenched nostalgia, the soundtrack to a memory you didn’t know you had.
Ellie’s Groove Steel Pan Band has become a crowd favorite on the Plateau, with standout performances at the Cashiers Leaf Festival, Highlands PorchFest, and intimate local venues where diners stop mid-bite to listen.
“People come up after a set and say, ‘I had no idea steel drums could do that,’” says Davis. “That’s the best part—watching them light up.”
Their music doesn’t demand attention – it earns it, softly and irresistibly, one silvery note at a time.
Pictured | Ellie’s Groove
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