The Virgin Islands are partially controlled by the United Kingdom and the United States, and have had long-standing cultural ties to the island nations to the south as well as to various European colonialists. From its neighbors, the Virgin Islands has imported various pan-Caribbean genres of music, including calypso from Trinidad and reggae from Jamaica. The major indigenous form of music are scratch bands (also called fungi bands), which use improvised instruments like gourds and washboards. A Virgin Island variety of calypso called cariso is also popular, as well as St. Thomas' bamboula sound. The quadrille is the traditional folk dance of the islands, and include varieties like St. Croix's Imperial Quadrille and St. Thomas' Flat German Quadrille .

Scratch bands

Scratch bands, also known as fungi bands, are a distinctive form of ensemble. The name scratch band derives from the sound produced by scraping the guiro, a musical instrument. They feature a triangle, gourd, tambourine, conga and ukulele banjo as a rhythm section, and a brass section in front. Other ensembles consist only of a single melody instrument a vocalist. These bands typically perform for quadrilles. Top scratch bands include Blinky & the Roadmasters , Ten Sleepless Knights and Stanley .

Scratch bands are a type of folk music that date back to the days of slavery. The slaves on the islands used found objects to fashion instruments, such as by making strings out of twine salvaged from old sacks. Lyrics traditionally function as oral history, spreading news and gossip.

Calypso

Main article: Calypso music

The first calypso star from the Virgin Islands was Lloyd "Prince" Thomas" , who moved to New York City in the mid-1940s and continued performing for some twenty years. Other bands and artists include Archie Thomas , The Fabulous McClevertys , Irvin "Brownie" Brown and Bill Lamotta .