He speaks softly, moves quietly, and by his own admission is ?a very private person?. Yet Robert Symons has more than made his mark on the entertainment scene both as a bass guitarist and, in recent years, as a steel pan player.

He has worked with, and for, the rich and famous both here and in many countries abroad, and as a professional musician is both well respected and sought after. In fact, it could be said that ?Robert Symons is everywhere? because his ?Tropicana Steel Pan? CDs are regularly played on local radio stations, in public places, on the ferries and in the ferry terminal ? and that is in addition to his live performances. Outside Bermuda, his albums are heard on radio stations in the US, UK, the Far East, South Africa, and also on British Airways? in-flight entertainment.

So what is it that makes this man and his music so popular?

As always, the answer must be subjective, but certainly the fact that he is a quiet artist who lets his music speak for him; that it is beautifully performed, has universal appeal and sits gentle on the mind, are parts of it.

While both his mother and grandmother played piano, it was not until his grandmother gave him a guitar for Christmas at age nine that Mr. Symons? own interest in music began. In what was to become a lifetime pattern of diligence and dedication, the boy set about teaching himself the instrument. The more he tried the more he progressed and the better he became.

?It was just something that felt natural to me, so I picked away and it just took,? he says.

With his school days behind him, Mr. Symons entered the commercial world, working in the local banks, and for several liquor merchants as a salesman; but always music ran like a thread in the background.

?I played guitar in garage bands, and it was kind of cool because nights and weekends I would be with my friends playing music,? he says. ?Music was ever-present, but it hadn?t really surfaced.?

One day Mr. Symons decided to break out and form his own group, but it seemed that he always had trouble keeping bass guitarists, so he fixed that by becoming one himself.

?The E, A, G, D strings are the same on both a regular and bass guitar, so it wasn?t too difficult to switch because I didn?t have to worry about the two extra strings the regular guitar has,? he says. ?I was playing in a group with Ronnie Lopes and Kevin Fitzsimmons, and Jimmy O?Connor came by after his group disbanded and he was putting together a new band. So, in addition to Ronnie, Kevin and myself, he had Dennis Fox and Phil Flowers? former guitar player, Leyland Hicks, and we were came out as ?New Happening Bda? in 1976. I arranged all the music we did ? the vocal harmonies and everything. They just came naturally to me.?

The new band was a great success and fulfilled regular gigs in all of Bermuda?s top hotels. In time, however ? as he would do several times throughout his long career ? Mr. Symons left the Island to grow, both as an individual and artistically.

?I knew there was a world out there and Bermuda was a part of it, but it was not enough,? he says.

He settled in New York, and highlights of the years spent there included working in the orchestra of the Actors Conservatory Theatre, performing all over Westchester county in such productions as ?Godspell?, and ?Guys and Dolls?. Because he could not read music, he based his survival on his standard modus operandi: self-help. Spending hours in the public library, he listened to recordings of the music and memorised it perfectly.

Later, Mr. Symons played with a top 40 cover band, and then a road band whose circuit included St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, where he ultimately joined the pick-up band, Zanzibar, playing at the Frenchman?s Reef hotel. When this band went out on its own, the Bermudian joined them and returned to Baltimore, where 12-hour rehearsals filled their days for a month, until their first gig took them back to St. Thomas and the Frenchman?s Reef. For the next three years, Zanzibar?s circuit included not only St. Thomas but also most of the US southern states, and its east coast.

?It was new, different, and I was seeing a new town every day and meeting new people all the time,? Mr. Symons remembers.

In 1983, the Bermudian bassist decided it was time to come home. For a time he ?subbed? with Tino at the Hamilton Princess, became part of the Joe Wylie Trio, playing in the back-up band for Greg Thompson?s ?Follies?. Sunday nights found him playing rock ?n? roll first at the White Heron and then at the Ram?s Head and the Wharf Tavern.

After three years with Mr. Wylie, Mr. Symons struck out on his own, forming the trio Robert and Friends, with Milt Robinson and Peter Profit, and playing at the Bamboo Lounge. From time to time the line-up changed because its leader ?wanted to play with everybody, and wanted something fresh and new all the time?. Thus it was that many of Bermuda?s best-known musicians, and even some off the cruise ships, added to the mix.

In addition, Mr. Symons played dinner music in the trio ?Cantabile? at the Castle Harbour Hotel with Adrian Ridgeway and Shelton Bean, and also in another trio playing in the Windows on the Sound restaurant at the Southampton Princess Hotel with Howard Lee and Kenneth (Tokey) Dill. Occasionally, Mr. Wylie joined them.

?It was cool to wear all those different hats,? Mr. Symons recalls. ?I could fit in anywhere. I knew all the tunes and how to play them as they were supposed to be played.?

When in 1990 he got an invitation to play on the cruise ship he did not hesitate, spending half a year in the Caribbean.

Returning home for the summer, he decided it was time, once more, to spread his wings, so he returned to St. Thomas, ostensibly for six months, but wound up staying seven years, playing in Blackbeard?s nightclub with such ?really, really good? headliners as jazz vocalists Ronnie Wells and Rebecca Parris, and Giacomo Gates, among other highlights. In addition, he was the bass player with a steel pan duo.

?There were many of these in St. Thomas and St. John, where I also lived, and there were four gentlemen who really inspired me,? he says. ?I figured it was time to make a change. If you want to stay in music you should know at least two instruments, one of which should be the lead instrument. That way you will never be out of work.?

With this reasoning the talented Bermudian borrowed a steel pan from a friend, took it home, and started to ?find his way around it?. Just as he had done all those years ago with his first guitar, Mr. Symons set to with a will and for the next six months practised for hours on end.

?I approached it as a job. I would hop on that pan at 8 a.m., break for lunch, play all afternoon, break for dinner, and then practice again until 11 p.m. at night,? he remembers. ?There was one guy in particular that fascinated me. He played pop music whereas most guys played calypso. He played tunes I knew so I said, ? Maybe I can sequence background music on a sequencer (a machine that music is programmed into). My concept was to have a pan and sequenced music tracks which included all the instruments.?

An unexpected gig on a cruise ship gave Mr. Symons more time to practice with a sequencer, and by the time he came ashore he felt ready to ?go public? with his newly-developed talent. Soon he was hired by the Caf? Sito restaurant in St. Thomas, where his lunchtime music also filtered out into the streets.

One day it attracted a familiar face from Bermuda: his old kindergarten teacher, Frances Taylor.

To be sure it was her, Mr. Symons played ?Bermuda is Another World? and sure enough it got her attention.

?I went over to her and we talked. It was so nice to touch somebody from home that you hadn?t seen for a very long time in that way,? he says. ?After that, it was time to come home because I had played in just about every venue possible in St. Thomas and St. John and had made a good name for myself. I had played with a host of people, and I realised that I had a product which I could bring back to Bermuda and launch.?

Hardly had he returned in 1997 than Mr. Symons was hired by Toby Dillas of the Department of Tourism to play on promotional tours. From there his success as a solo steel pan artist has grown by leaps and bounds, and he is a popular favourite with both private clients and the corporate sector, performing both here and abroad at private functions and conferences. He has also travelled extensively playing on cruise ships.

Talented as he is, however, Mr. Symons does not sit at home waiting for the phone to ring. Instead, he believes in self-promotion.

?Like anywhere else in the world, you have to market yourself. I still have to get up in the morning and make it happen. The advantage here is that it is a small island and people get to know you.?

In addition to word-of-mouth, the steel pan player?s two CDs, ?Tropicana Steel Pan Bermuda?, Vols. I and II, also boost his busy career because they are played in public places and on local radio. He has also been a volunteer performer at the Bermuda Airport since 1997, first in the arrivals lounge, and now in the departure lounge, where naturally the albums are also on sale (as they are in about 14 locations around the Island).

?Thinking outside the box, it is not always about money, the benefits are numerous,? he says. ?I have been paid in so many other ways, the absolute highlight of which was being invited to participate in last year?s Edinburgh Military Tattoo.?

Even now, Mr. Symons still pinches himself to believe that he really was in Scotland, in the spotlight as a solo artist, proudly representing the Island he loves, and seen by millions around the world on television.

Nor will he ever forget the special welcome Bermuda laid on for himself, the Bermuda Regiment Band and the gombeys, after their aircraft landed.

?Everybody went out of their way to show us just how appreciative they were, and how proud they were that we went out there and did something so special.?

A letter from Brigadier Jameson, chief executive and producer of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, is also cherished. He described the solo an player?s performance over three weeks as ?faultless?, and commended him for his ?professionalism and commitment as a ?main player? at the most successful 2003 Tattoo?.

Certainly, Mr. Symons will never forget his birthday on August 16 in Edinburgh. His fellow Bermudians surprised him with a cake and sang and played ?Happy Birthday? to him before the night?s performance, and as it ended, with the fireworks going off behind Edinburgh Castle, he thought with wonder, ?This is my birthday and I am in Scotland for the very first time, and in this international mix.?

As for the future, Robert Symons is thinking of moving abroad again for a while, hopefully to fulfil his dream of becoming a headliner act himself.

?The only limits we have are the ones we put on ourselves, so I guess the sky is the limit,? he says.

Before that, however, he plans to complete two more albums: one of island music and one of gospel.

Asked what advice he would give to aspiring young musicians, he says: ?Find your own base. When you can say, ?I know?, people pick up on that. When you play with conviction people pick up on that. Don?t let anybody push you around or take advantage of you. You learn that as you go along. It?s not for anybody else, it?s for you. Don?t give up.?

Mr. Symons website is www.tropicanasteelpan.com