Zimfest 2008! (part 2)

Zolani of Freshly Ground

Freshly Ground stirs it up

Zimfest 2008 was an extraordinary event. The music was incredible, and the cause was inspirational. We previously described one of our favorite musical acts, and now we want to highlight our other favorite. That was Freshly Ground.

Freshly Ground is a band made up people from Southern Africa, primarily South Africa. It’s in eclectic group, with guitars and percussion, as well as horns and a violin. There are 7 people in the group, and when they’re performing all eyes are on them. Their sound is African pop, although, it is not easily labeled. Their songs touched on issues we can all relate to, like the pressures to compare ourselves physically to a perceived ideal of beauty and jealous feelings when your partner is away from home. They also mix in that African rhythm and even a few Xhosa clicks. It was a fantastic show.

After the show we had a chance to speak to the lead singer, Zolani, about Zimfest and living in Cape Town. It was a pleasure to talk to her, and to see Freshly Ground. We definitely recommend checking them out when they come to your town. (We apologize for the poor audio quality.)

Zimfest 2008! (part 1)

In the lobby

Zimfest rocks!

Necklaces from Zimbabwe

Nomfusi is super cool.

On Saturday, the 6th, we went to Zimfest. Zimfest is a fundraiser concert to raise money and awareness for the people of Zimbabwe. We learned that there are many people from Zimbabwe living here in South Africa, to escape the difficult conditions in their own country. The event highlighted the wonderful arts that come from Zimbabwe, and the plight of many Zimbabweans around the world.

First and foremost it was a music festival though. We saw many bands that we liked a lot, but we’re using our site to highlight two of our absolute favorites. One of those is Nomfusi. Nomfusi (backed by two vocalists) dazzled with her amazing voice. We felt ourselves swept away by their incredible vocals, as did the crowd around us.

We had a chance to talk to Nomfusi backstage after the concert, and ask about why this event was important to her. She explained that there was much that we know, and much that we don’t know, and hopefully events like this will build support for important causes. She wants to support all the good causes like this one, to raise awareness for Zimbabwe.