N'ganga Roads

Blues skies over this African summer, and the Tour has had a relatively uneventful run across the Western Cape. Indeed, I'm settling in to this place. Neither Africa nor I are as exotic as we once were, but we still laugh and thrill each other as new lovers do.
Communication has been a major problem. Facebook has refused all links to this site as it "violates" their "community standards." And you can't contact a real person to fix it. Both my public email addresses have stopped working. International banking remains impossible. Most posts to this Blog vanish. They say you can do it by phone, but you can't get away with more than one picture, and a scrabble of text.

Sharp Street Studios, Cape Town

I had a great day yesterday at Cape Town's Sharp Street Studios. Owner-engineer Willem Moller has produced and recorded a who's who of the South African music scene. The tracks will tell the tale! I'm excited about moving forward with this project. Definitely, some cool stuff! I recorded nine songs that I'd never heard before. My own songs- I've just never had a chance to hear what they sounded like from the other side of the mic. Tonight I'm on Long St., at Sgt. Peppers...

Doc MacLean

Taking Wings in Cape Town



I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends; Welcoming Paul Bothner Music to the Tour

I'm pleased to announce that Paul Bothner Music will be returning as a Nganga tour partner. We've done a couple of comprehensive, southern African tours in the past, and it has always been a pleasure to work with them. Here, Bothner's new promo manager, Wayne Shelver, runs down production gear with me at the company's Cape Town warehouse. It's a family business, much like North America's Long & McQuade, and it works with most of South Africa's top tier artists. I'm grateful to be in such good company.

Doc MacLean

Home to Africa

I know the spirits are with me as I test my still not so pale skin in the sun. This time the Tour hit the ground running: three shows in the first three days. Down the coast from Cape Town for a night at Plankies, Pringle Bay. A great night, with plenty of friends coming out for the show. A giant, full moon. Shooting stars over the crash of the ocean. Baboons in the bushes.

Count Down: Blues Highway

The Blues. And the Blues Highway. If guitars were lovers, I'd be pretty true. If the miles were dollars, I'd buy this joint. As it is, I'll park outside and take my chances under the neon lights. It's a dark ride under a bloody moon, sometimes. Sometimes: the smoke and the dust part beneath the glare, and I can see straight ahead through these drifting dreams.

My N'ganga Blues Tour launches in Cape Town in early January. Sixty shows, self driving across Africa. All but a couple dates now sold. Faithful Toyota: fuelled and waiting. Bitter streets forgotten to the sweetness of the air. I'm tossing the bones, I'm floating as the notes and stories carry me. Soon. Soon. The Blues Highway, rippling in the heat. Cheap wine. Blue Mandelas.

N'ganga Blues Dates Moving Quickly: Half Sold

Well, here we are. N'ganga Blues. A few weeks into booking. Just over half the shows now sold. Thirty-five shows. That's enough to start the motor. The Western Cape is all but sold out. And there's some hustle-back now that I'm all but local. One of the things I like about playing Africa is that to me it remains very "old school" in terms of the music business- the dance around the edges. I was going to tell you some stories about the hustle, but I won't. Let's just say sometimes I swallow it- and sometimes I just walk away. The cool thing about working a territory with so many venues is that you can do that. Especially when you are putting bums in seats. It's a big street. And mostly it's a pleasure to play. I can't wait to strike the first note of the first show of the Tour!

Behind the scenes I've been busy looking up ground transportation, getting sound gear organized, and trying to set aside some time to write and record with some of my South African friends. The plan is to do a "made in Africa" project. I've been scouting some studios, and getting some ideas laid out. It's a big talent pool to draw from. South African's may guess who is likely to be working with me!

So, you buyers, three dates left for the Western Cape... And I'm going to charge into KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape in short order! Let's fill all these dates so Plug Music can get to work!

Back in North America: for upcoming spring and summer 2020 bookings I'll be working with Bruce Morel, of Music Marketing International (MMI). I've known Bruce for over thirty years, and I'm very excited to join his raster of Artists. For the first time since 1979 I won't need to send a statement of availability to the Winnipeg Folk Festival!