After a successful two-year tour of the UK, I arrived back in Knysna in March ’08. I had been impressed with the music scene there, where finding venues to play original material to captive audiences was easy and I was determined to do something about recreating those opportunities here.

There are so many talented musicians who are resigned to playing other people’s songs night-in-night-out and it can be quite soul-destroying to anyone who considers music to be more than just a hobby. My idea is to give these musicians the chance to play their own songs to people who will listen.

Ricky Rocha – manager of the Mugg & Bean restaurant in Woodmill Lane – was keen to get involved, and the Mugg & Bean was decided as a suitable venue. Mugg & Bean has a long-standing reputation for excellent customer service and fantastic food and Ricky’s “Mugg” is no exception.

New Music Night kicked off on the 29th of August with UK singer-songwriter Elliott Paterson and what a show that was. I was fortunate enough to play guitar in his band, which consisted of local drummer, Jonno Sweetman, bassist, Paul Gibbings and the gorgeous voice of Malianna Madden on backing vocals. (Malianna also performed the opening slot, treating the audience to her delicate brand of folk-tinged acoustic rock.) Sound reinforcement was taken care of by Theo van Niekerk who did an admirable job. All in all it was an incredible experience to be so enthusiastically supported by a home crowd.

The next Mugg & Bean New Music Night will be held on Friday – October 3rd and it will feature an AMAZING artist, the likes of which the world has never seen before (hahahaha). Can you guess who this artist is? LOL! But seriously, it’s me. I’ll be performing with a band (which is a first since “going solo”) and I promise to perform my hardest. So please come along and join us in celebrating original music and scrumptious food.

Hope to see you there!

Peace,

Q

Elliott Paterson Band (photo by Tamara Smith)