Swazi Observer

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DUSTY AND STONES SCOOP BUSHFIRE SLOT AGAIN

By Ayanda Dlamini | 2018-02-23

THE country’s finest country music duo has yet again made the cut into the world acclaimed MTN Bushfire Festival.

After years of performing at the various stages of the festival, this year Dusty and Stones will make an appearance on the most coveted main stage.

This comes after the group won a prestigious award in Texas last year at the Texas Sounds International Country Music Awards.

Speaking to Dusty, he said they cannot wait to showcase their well crafted art to the nation after Texas.

“Performing at Bushfire main stage is such an achievement and we are very excited to make a comeback this year. We really cannot wait to perform at the festival as it is one of the biggest arts and music events the country has to offer,” Dusty said.

This country music duo is made up of Gazi ‘Dusty’ Simelane and Linda ‘Stones’ Msibi. They are cousins who hail from Mooihoek, Hlathikulu, in the Shiselweni region. The two grew up listening to the music of Don Williams and Kenny Rogers, never knowing that one day they would become country music artists in their own right.

The country music duo will be sharing the stage with international stars such as Timila Muzimba from Mozambique, The Grammers from Finland, Sibusile Xaba from South Africa, Rebirth of Cool from South Africa as well, Oki Dub Ainu Band from Japan, NonkuPhiri and DJ Lag, both from South Africa and KapaDech from Mozambique. All these artists will be serenading music fanatics between May 25 to 27.

Some of the artists added

DJ Lag (South Africa)

History will remember DJ Lag as a pioneer who propelled the quintessentially Durban Gqom sound beyond the confines of the coastal city, straight into the capitals of the international electronic music industry. DJ Lag’s superb production skills have played a big part in transforming a sub-genre of house – one that began by sound tracking taxi trips around Durban – to an enviably innovative participant in the global scene. Since he first surfaced several years ago, DJ Lag has played at several major South African events, including the 2015 Johannesburg-leg of Boiler Room, and the 2016 Cape Town Electronic Music Festival.

5k-HD (Austria)

5K HD is an Austrian avante-garde jazz super group made up of Schmied's pulse front woman Mira Lu Kovacs and the four guys from Kompost 3. The improvisational jazz / funk / groove band is one of the most expressive voices in Austria. With partly acoustic, partly electronic sounds, one moves fluently through jazz, dubstep, break-beat, funk, and even into a prog rock escalation, effortlessly and seamlessly, but without ever losing sight of a pop sensibility.

Derek Gripper (South Africa)

Derek Gripper is a unique South African guitarist who explores many ranges and styles of music. It took Derek Gripper untold hours of painstaking work to transcribe note-for-note the complex compositions of Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté and find a way of playing them on classical six-string guitar. The results appeared on his ninth album, ‘One Night on Earth’, marking a meeting point of the written tradition of Western classical music and the oral tradition of the West African griots.

Derek continues his inspired interpretations of West African composers on his latest album, ‘Libraries on Fire’ which won a Songlines Award for Best African and Middle Eastern Album for 2017. Derek's next release is a recording of Bach's solo violin works, transcribed for guitar, expected to be released this month.

Georgetown (South Africa)

Georgetown is a multi-instrumental Bluegrass Folk band from Pretoria. Formed in January 2014, the band consists of four permanent members Michael de Villiers, Renaldo van Dyk, RynierPrins and Tiaan Erasmus. They use a variety of musical instruments during their performance including acoustic guitar, piano, ukulele, upright bass, mandolin, harmonica, clarinet, saxophone, a washboard and a 1935 suitcase, promising a unique and creative sound to contemporary and original folk music.

KapaDech (Mozambique)

Formed in Mozambique in 1996, KapaDech have performed all over the world, bringing the sounds of Mozambique to festivals across Europe.

(Read more about the other artists’ profiles in tomorrow’s publication in the Lifestyle and Entertainment Section).

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