Unplugged Mushrooms digital gig to feature top SA musicians

8 Dec 2020 - 11:31

Independent record label Mushroom Hour Half Hour will present a live music stream featuring some of South Africa’s most talked-about young musicians on 9 December.

Zoë Modiga.

The event, titled Unplugged Mushrooms, was recorded in late November at the newly refurbished Museum of African Design in the heritage-rich precinct of Maboneng in Johannesburg.

It features performances from vocalist and composer Zoë Modiga, guitar maestro Sibusile Xaba, influential band The Muffinz, boom bap songmaker Melo B Jones, jazzist Linda Sikhakhane and Q of Johnny Cradle fame – with support from their respective bands.

Packaged as an intimate live music film, the full show will premiere on the Nemesis Republik YouTube channel at 6pm CAT.

The production is supported by the Music In Africa Live (MIAL) project, which assists musicians and the industry at large to navigate the challenges and new realities introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Covering all African countries, MIAL offers financial support to operators, to enable them to create high-quality productions and promote, market and showcase their content to a wider global audience – primarily via digital means.

Unplugged Mushrooms takes inspiration from a YouTube video series called #katarasessions, and is designed specifically for acoustic renditions of the artist’s music. With #katarasessions’ established roster of acoustic performances from Msaki, Thandi Ntuli, Bongeziwe Mabandla, Madala Kunene and more, Unplugged Mushrooms will premiere officially as part of the series to join its preceding episodes. Past performances can be viewed here.

Unplugged Mushrooms’ behind-the-scenes journey will be documented on Mushroom Hour Half Hour’s Instagram page.

About Music In Africa Live

Thousands of African musicians have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has occasioned unprecedented lockdowns and restrictions across the continent. African musicians and professionals traditionally make a living from live performances, and now they find themselves in extreme difficulty.

The Music In Africa Live project is one of a number of new projects that the Music In Africa Foundation is introducing this year to support music professionals in Africa.

The project is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office, Siemens Stiftung and Goethe-Institut.

Visit the MIAL website here.

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