Xpress Band

The story so far.

Written and edited by Smokiller

Xpress Band, often billed as the World Famous Xpress Band, started in Brooklyn, New York, in 1987 and later moved its base to St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. According to a December 2025 report in The Virgin Islands Consortium, the founding members were Al Baptiste Sr., Patrick Edwards, Dean Baptiste, Toby Derima and Pat Ragguett, who had been backing the Mighty Sparrow when Third World drummer William Stewart urged them to form their own group. The same report credits the band with 32 albums and a run of singles, and describes the honour it received for almost four decades of cultural work as the Crucian Christmas Festival village opened. The St. Croix Source reported in January 2007 that Xpress Band had won the festival road march with Bandana. Later releases include Push Dat, posted as a 2021 soca release, while Toby Derima's channel holds live footage such as Wotless at Cane Bay.