A brief conclusion to a remarkable tour. With Covid lockdown I was eight months in Africa. For the first time in my adult life I didn't know where I was going to be in three, six, twelve months time. As lockdown persisted my North American and Australian tours vanished, and I settled in for a long stay in the cane fields of KwaZulu-Natal. When I did get my travel permits to go to Cape Town, I'd had plenty of time to consider my next moves: back into Sharp Street Studios to work on tracks and figure out the shape of the next album.
By the time I had to fly out in August, I'd completed scratch tracks for the album, and moved ahead with a finished track. Yeah, a single! I haven't released a single since I used to make 7 inch, 45 rpm records in the 1980s. This one is called "Africa Blues," and it's going to drop in late September of this year- in just a few weeks time. No, it won't be vinyl! Digital release.
Hanging out in Muizenburg- a surf suburb of Cape Town- I had time to catch up with my pal Robin Auld. It’s official. I’ve joined Shoreline Songs. Robin's Cape Town, South Africa based company features a raster of high achieving, well established African singer-songwriters, and is best known for it’s international film and television placements. With Shoreline, I’ll have increased opportunity to reach broader global audiences and markets.
Photo credit: Olga Calligé captured the moment with Robin Auld at one of my shows in Kalk Bay. There are a handful of photographers that work hard to document the South African music scene, and she's one of the very best.
I wrote and produced “Africa Blues” during the N'ganga Blues Tour. Recorded at Sharp Street Studios, Cape Town. Willem Moller, engineer. Mixed at Pinhead Studios, Nashville, by one of my dearest friends and longest musical associates- Grammy winning co-producer and mix engineer, Colin Linden. Mastered at Zen Studios, Nashville, by another pal, Grammy winning mastering engineer, Ray Kennedy.
