South Africa’s Jesse Clegg to play SXSW

SXSW is one of the biggest and most influential global music events of the year.

Born to Johnny Clegg, the famous South African musician and anthropologist, Jesse has made inroads in his home country. He boasts three successful studio albums – When I Wake Up, Life on Mars and Things Unseen.

The South African Music Awards nominee is expected to raise the South African flag high in America. This will not be the first time he has performed at a major event; the musician has played at US festivals such as the CMJ Music Marathon, New Music Seminar and the CBGB Festival. In June 2014, he performed at the Isle of Wight Festival in the UK.

Back home, Clegg has toured throughout the country earning him important roles, chief among them being named as an official ambassador for the Nelson Mandela 46664 Foundation. This saw him invited to play at the annual Mandela Day concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

Asked by Channel24 yesterday whether he was excited to play SXSW, Clegg said, “Absolutely! It's a great opportunity and I really enjoy playing in the States. I'm psyched to be going back to play more shows there and SXSW is an awesome festival with an amazing history.”

Founded in 1987, SXSW hosts a variety of new, upcoming, international and legendary artists. Not limited in genre, audiences can enjoy a vast variety of musical styles at the arts festival.

Jesse Clegg will not be the only South African musician at the festival. Last month, indie band Diamond Thug were announced to play SXSW. The Cape Town-based band has since launched a crowd-funding campaign to get them to the US.

“Just $805 left to our target of $2500! That's 68%! Thank you to everyone who's contributed and for those of you still wanting to, we have 14 days left to do this! Any contribution, from $1 to $100 goes a long way,” the band wrote on their Facebook page on Tuesday.

Last year, 67 countries were represented at SXSW. The event is attended by different professionals on behalf of record labels, booking agencies, management companies, PR firms, export offices, publishers, media outlets, lifestyle brands and other festivals.