MTC PRESS RELEASE - LEGENDARY STIMELA TO TANTALIZE AT MTC CONCERT: Start// Windhoek – 05 April 2015 - The legendary South African Afro-fusion band called Stimela will be performing at the MTC Trey Songz Concert slated for the 30th May 2015. Stimela is part of a rich line up of performances which includes the yet to be announced Best Male and Female Artist of the Year at the NAMAs 2015. Stimela Biography: The formation of Stimela in the 1970s came about after a meeting of minds between two bands destined to be one. Ray Phiri, a self- taught guitarist from Nelspruit and Isaac Mtshali, drummer and son of a traditional healer had formed The Cannibals. The band started out as instrumentalists, but evolved when Mpharanyane Radebe joined them and laid vocals on songs like ‘My Maria’ and ‘Highland Drifter’ - which although number one for 18 weeks in Zimbabwe - was banned immediately in South Africa. Although Radebe passed on in 1978, the band soldiered on, and in 1980 went on tour with The Movers, led by Jabu Sibumbe and Lloyd Lelosa who had similarly grown up humbly and with music wafting through their homes and flowing through their veins. This landmark tour of the then Eastern Transvaal would see musical sparks fly and after a few name changes - Kumasi, Splash, Adaye - the band settled on Stimela after a life changing experience in Mozambique. Stranded in Maputo for three months, they eventually sold all their belongings and took a train back home - and it is that train that gave them their name. They developed quickly, welcoming Charlie Ndlovu that year. From an explosive launch at Turfloop, they went on to perform at Universities around the country and fast gained notoriety for cerebral, provocative and lyrical socially conscious content. The single “I Hate Telling a Lie” caught fire and raised the interest of Gallo Records who promptly signed them, leading to the recording of their debut album Fire, Passion and Ecstacy which contained the seminal hit “Where did we go Wrong?” The album went Gold in a month, followed soon by platinum status. By 1983’s Shadows Fear and Pain featuring “Highland Drifter “ - the dreamy, spiritual ode to the triumph of the human spirit above all hardship tangible and elusive, pointing to the hard road towards freedom – their value in our rich musical bounty was clearly reserved. With the addition of the powerhouse voice of Daniel Motjoane (Nana Coyote) from Sankomota and in 1985 the formidable Thapelo Khomo on keys, their momentum was unstoppable. Among many triumphs, they defied convention and recorded in English – and splashings of the Malawian language Chichewa - when musical recording were strictly monitored for adherence to draconian indigenous language classifications as part of the greater Apartheid divide and rule strategy. The year Coyote and Khomo joined, they recorded “Whispers in the Deep”, a subtle, yet deeply illuminating indictment of the silence, murmurs and whispers of those afraid to speak out against the injustices of the regime. Featuring Phiri’s tenderness and Coyote’s piercing thunder, there was an optimistic slant to this criticism, an acknowledgement of the inevitable victory and a concession at the collective responsibility towards our own liberation. Predictably, once the powers that be caught on to the song’s political undertones, the song, now popularly known as “Phinda Mzala”, was banned. The mid ‘80s heralded a moment in the band’s history that will forever be a contentious point of debate, the era of Paul Simon and the album Graceland. Simon met Stimela through Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse after hearing one of their tracks at a Soweto Shebeen. In his quest to revive his flagging career, Simon was in search of salvation in Southern Africa and picked Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela for the Graceland tour to Zimbabwe. The resultant collaborative album fused his western folk sensibilities with authentic African sounds with Phiri as arranger and guitarist, and Mtshali working extensively on the album in New York. This historic album afforded an opportunity for these musicians to shine a light on the atrocities committed on a daily basis back home. The album went on to win a Grammy for Album of the Year and the title track garnered the Record of the Year Award. This project was not without its controversy with Simon accused of ignoring the cultural boycott and Phiri’s song “Crazy Love” not credited to him. Despite this, Phiri – who was philosophical about Simon’s betrayal - and Mtshali toured internationally with Graceland between 1987 and 1990, returning periodically to record with the Stimela. In Phiri’s absence, Coyote took on the lead vocals and Ntokozo Zungu took on the mantle of guitarist in 1987. This era gave birth to the album the Unfinished Story, a phrase which till this day is a rallying cry for Stimela. The album featured “Singa jindi Majita” a rallying song in the vein of the struggle cry of Aluta Continua, at a time when the situation in the country seemed desperate. Resilience took on a new meaning that year, when a tragic accident on the way from Kimberly claimed the lives of seven of the band’s travelling party. Phiri was the sole survivor. It was never to be the same after that. While Mtshali concluded his tenure with the Graceland project and rejoined Stimela on a full time basis, Phiri committed to Simon for another album (Rhythm of the Saints) and left the band in 1991. The members which remained recorded Don’t ask Why their last album in 1994 on the eve of a new era in our country’s history, a work similarly laden with promise and caution. That album, however significant, could not serve as the necessary glue to keep them intact as a unit, and they were only to regroup in 2002 - touring the length and breadth of South Africa - when it became clear that what they had represented over the years was much bigger than them and the differences that had torn them apart for all those years. Eight years after reclaiming their considerable space on the performance circuit and after much cajoling and significant investment from Tumi Mokwena, a young professional with a musical heart and a colossal space in it for the iconic band, they reunited in Polokwane to record a new album, A Lifetime. This is their first offering since the dawn of democracy and features some illustrious guests in the shape of New York-based South African bassist Bakiti Khumalo, Thandiswa Mazwai, Puff Johnson and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Says Phiri of the project: “The songs chose who was going to play them, if there was a guitar player that was going to play it better than me then why not get them to play? So we called in other musicians.” The haunting, searing, tantalizingly gruff voice of Coyote on this album is a special blessing given his recent passing and complements a sound at once so familiar yet teeming with all that is raw and fresh about the young spirits which have lent their considerable talents to a project worthy of the legendary South African treasure that is Stimela. Tickets are available at Compu ticket outlets countrywide, VIP tickets sell for N$800, Golden circle N$ 400 and Standard tickets only N$150. End// .