After unearthing six of South Africa’s best unsigned vocalists live on radio, the Castle Milk Stout Unplugged Talent Search will embark on a three-city tour of Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.
Run in association with Metro FM, the tour will see semi-finalists – Nani, Martin Pk, Itu, Obakeng, Thuli and Dikelo – take to the stage. The vocalists will perform alongside Mi Casa, one of South Africa’s hottest musical acts.
During the radio show, each contestant had to cover Mi Casa’s Heavenly Sent as well as singing their own compositions.
Nani, better known to folks back in Bhisho as Nandipha Dubula, has a passion for fusing African folk and ethnic elements with a touch of contemporary soul music.
Music is Cape Town-born gospel artist’s Martin PK heartbeat, and he recently released a single entitled Superman.
Itu Tshabane has been planning his music industry take-over since he started singing in church in Saulsville, Pretoria, aged 12. He plans to release an EP before the end of 2014.
Gauteng Soul singer Obakeng Ramaboa hopes to revive the category in South Africa and add some home- grown classics of his own.
Soweto-born vocalist Thuli Mataboge loves rock ‘n roll, but aspires to be like her favourite artist, neo-soul singer Jill Scott.
Dikelo Mamiala, born in Atteridgeville in the north of Pretoria, grew up imitating people she heard on the radio and started writing her own music five years ago.
Two of the unsigned vocalists will perform at each show, enjoying the opportunity to be mentored by Mi Casa.
“In this, the third year of Unplugged, we wanted to evolve it into something fresh, so the Castle Milk Stout Unplugged Talent Search was born,” said Castle Milk Stout General Manager Julian Rema. “We identified this as an opportunity to have our unsigned artists perform alongside the greats and learn under their tutelage of these established artists.”
And with more than 2 000 entries, the Castle Milk Stout team believe they have unearthed some of the best talent representing the soul and RNB genres.
The three-concert series kicks off in Cape Town on 12 November 2014, followed by Durban on 19 November 2014 and Johannesburg on 26 November 2014.
The performances are by invite-only and tickets can be won on the Castle Milk Stout Facebook page.