Mini-Features – Buhlebendalo Mda

While checking if any of my favourite local ladies had released anything new over the past month I came across a name that I wasn’t familiar with, Buhlebendalo Mda (aka Buhle). Although she has been a part of the local music scene for that last ten years with the award-winning acapella group ‘The Soil’, she has now taken the big step and released her debut album, ‘Chosi’.

Mini-Features – Joe Bonamassa

I have often shared clips from Joe Bonamassa; after all, he has been one of the leading names in the Guitar Blues world for the last two decades. Including his live recordings, collaborations and solo studio work, Joe has released 45 albums in this time, a remarkable body of work. I received the heads-up that he released a new album, ‘Royal Tea’, earlier this month. I took a listen and have chosen three tracks for the guitar blues fans among us.

Mini-Feature – Local TV Theme Songs

I’m visiting South African entertainment history today with some of the classic TV theme songs and the programs they were written for. This has been a lot of fun to research and compile and brought back a load of memories.

Mini-Features: Dave Matthews Band

27th October 2020: I would like to tag this mini-feature as local music but although Dave Matthews was born in Johannesburg he frequently moved back and forth between the States, England and South Africa throughout his childhood. When his father, a physicist for IBM, passed away in 1977 his family moved back to Johannesburg. On

Loving the Music: One-Hit-Wonders

25th October 2020 I’ve visited this theme before and, although the definition of one-hit-wonder is a debatable topic, It always surprises me at the songs on the various lists that are out there. Today’s batch contains one song that you may not have heard of, but the other two are very well known. When last,

Loving the Music – Freedom’s Children

24th October 2020 One of our members requested that I feature some of the local bands from the past, and today seems a very good day to head back to the psychedelic sixties and spend some time with a band that some claim are the best rock band the world never heard, Freedom’s Children. Where

Loving the Music – Brown Bird

22nd October 2020: In the very early days of the Loving the Music page a friend sent me a link to a group that he thought I would enjoy. The group was Brown Bird, and thank you Jandre for introducing me to them. Unfortunately, Brown Bird is no longer with us due to the founder,

Loving the Music – Rising Appalachia

21st October 2020: Rising Appalachia has been on my radar for a while and today seems like a good day to appreciate their thoughtful style of Folk. The band represents more than just music and the founding siblings, Leah Song and Chloe Smith, have used their talents and time to support some good causes. Sisters

Loving the Music – Selwyn Birchwood

20th October 2020 I first heard about Selwyn Birchwood thanks to Chris Prior’s excellent weekly podcast of boogie-worthy tunes. For the uninitiated, Selwyn is a Blues guitarist, singer/songwriter who has been making major waves since winning the Albert King Guitarist of the Year Award in 2013. Born and raised in Orlando, Florida, he started playing

Loving the Music – Ard Matthews

There are very few South Africans who won’t recognise the name Ard Matthews. Not only has he become a local music legend with his band Just Jinger who have continued to win hearts and fans over the years, but he is also known as a solid solo performer. I featured a song from his 2019

Loving the Music – The Amblers

Today we are going local with a band I only recently came across after hearing a radio interview with them. The Amblers can be more Rock / Blues than Blues / Rock on occasions, and have a definite late sixties / early seventies influence in their sound, which after a bit of research, I found is carefully planned.