OUR COMPANY

Panyard, Inc. was formally incorporated in 1990. The roots of the company go back several years before that. Ron Kerns, Panyard’s CEO, founder and owner, spent years in Trinidad, honing his pan-playing skills and learning more about the history of culture of the area.

As he tells it, he was hooked from the moment he first heard a steel band.

Since then, Panyard has sold thousands of steel drums to customers all over the world. After initially outsourcing the production of the steel drums, they now manufacture them in Akron, Ohio.

With a passion for global music and a commitment to excellence, Panyard is ready to bring the sounds and culture of Trinidad to the rest of the world.

PRESERVING A TRINIDADIAN TRADITION

Here at Panyard, we honor and respect the culture that brought us this energetic, uplifting music.

The founders of Panyard, Ron Kerns and Shelly Irvine, spent years traveling back and forth to Trinidad to record pan music and transcribe it. That resulted in lots of learning, and lots of shared musical heritage.

In an effort to bring the joy of pan to a global audience, Panyard moved from selling sheet music and accessories to manufacturing and selling actual steel drums.

WHERE DID THE STEEL DRUM ORIGINATE?

The history of steel drums — also called steelpan, steel pan or just “pan” — is complex. They were invented in Trinidad in the 1930s as a response to Colonial regulations imposed by the British. Drawing on the centuries-old tradition of African drums, Trinidadians fashioned drums out of actual steel barrels, or drums, after the British government banned the playing of drums in the late 1800s.