The Soil brings SA a capella flava to East Africa

The trio will take part in Uganda's Bayimba Festival on Lunkulu Island before heading to J’s Fresh Bar & Kitchen in Nairobi. Bayimba opens today and will run until Sunday.

The Soil's manager, Velile Sithole, told Music In Africa that the group was delighted to connect with new audiences.

“We can’t wait to see how the rhythm in our music and the chords in our melodies will be interpreted by the people in Uganda and Kenya,” she said. “We’ve always loved the rich music that comes from East Africa. It’s our first time performing in Kenya and we are looking forward to experiencing Kenya’s colourful and vibrant culture and people while sharing our music with everyone.”

Sithole said the East African dates would open new doors for the group.

“We are fortunate and grateful to have been able to take our music to many countries around the world including our African continent. But we haven’t travelled and shared our music with as many African countries as we would like to, and we are definitely on a quest to turn that around,” she said, adding that The Soil is always open to new collaborations with artist from across the continent.

“African music shines even brighter when African artists mix their cultures through collaborations. We’ve seen that with legends that came before us and we cannot wait to carry that collaborative spirit forward. The Soil has collaborated with many artists in South Africa alone, and it’s about time we expand to the rest of the continent."

Asked to elaborate on the a capella scene in Africa, Sithole said: “We would describe it as a timeless gem that thrives even more when younger people continue to take a liking to it. It started with the globally recognised group, Lady Smith Black Mambazo, and it's growing. Look at us now and other groups like Complete and Beyond Vocal who have come after that.”

The Nairobi concert is organised by Roots International, whose boss Abdi Rashid Jibril said a capella music was part of Kenya's musical DNA.  

“Kenya needs to provide opportunities for a capella groups around the region because we already have space for a capella music, “he said. “We have choirs in the houses of worship. We also have national choirs with the most famous being the Kenyan Boys Choir.”

Meanwhile, The Soil will start its South African tour on 6 October alongside Afro-fusion band Freshlyground.

For more information about The Soil's Nairobi gig, click here.