In the midst of all the controversy that’s been going down about certain South African internet radio stations and their listenership figures, a new player has busted out onto the scene that your Tiger pal is gonna be keeping a close eye on.
More importantly though, the station’s mandate is to deliver programming content that is geared specifically toward music lovers instead of the drones who tune into commercial stations to listen to Carly Rae Jerksen.
South Africa needs stations like this. Nearly every internet radio station that has launched in this country has made promises about how edgy and different they’re going to be, but none of them have delivered on those promises.
Because of the close ties to the club, Assembly Radio will also feature a shiteload of artist interviews and live music content that other stations won’t have access to.
It’s time internet radio stepped up as the game-changing medium it has the potential to be instead of just being a way to shove rubbish content up our backsides in order to try and boost painfully low listenership figures so that advertisers are kept happy.
Here’s the dealy-o – at this very moment, there is a singer / songwriter in Cape Town that I had the privilege of hearing last night who is not only phenomenally talented, but is also a stand up guy on all counts.
His name is Foy Vance and he was flown out here from Northern Ireland to play a gig at a brand event we were working on yesterday.
I was standing not 2 meters from the stage while this man was performing and just the memory of that, I shit you not, is giving me goosebumps.
I’m not going to go into a description of his style, I’ll let the videos below speak for themselves, but what I will say is that Foy is a rare example of a musician who can not only bring the entire room to a standstill with just an acoustic guitar and the power of his voice, but can also plug in and rock loop and effects pedals to make it sound like he’s an entire fucking band.
It was amazing to watch this man live. For one track, he detuned his top string to play the bass parts and then deftly started layering the track he was playing, one riff at a time, adding harmonising vocals as he went and even singing into the pickups inside his guitar at one stage, which created a vocal sound like nothing I’ve ever heard before.
South African audiences might not know him but he’s toured Europe and the States, generally performing to smaller crowds and his music lends itself better to intimate clubs and bars than it does to gigantic, vapid spaces.
His father was a preacher in the Church Of Christ in Northern Ireland where the only accepted form of music was acapella singing, instruments of any variety were forbidden. Despite this, Foy’s father played the guitar and taught his son everything he knew starting, as you do, with House Of The Rising Son.
Foy speaks fondly of the man who taught him how to play and passed on his love of music and singing to Foy at a young age. Foy’s love of music is a bond forged in blood, something he feels more than he understands, a religion to which he has fully committed his life.
Being a brand event, the audience were receptive but distracted by the fine whiskey that was being served, which was what got me and my new partner in crime Texx thinking.
What if we could get Foy a gig in a venue slightly better suited to the whole singer / songwriter vibe where he could play to a crowd that would love him the same way we did?
Ten minutes later, Texx was on the phone with the Powers That Be at &Union and I am fucking excited to say the second they Googled him and heard his stuff they were like “BOOK HIMâ€.
So tonight, for the first time ever, Foy Vance is going to be playing at &Union, kicking off sometime between 7.30 and 8 so let’s show this man some fucking love people!
Dig this video of him playing “Hold Me In Your Armsâ€. I tried to find out if this is his song or if it’s a cover but couldn’t find out enough about it.
I don’t think it matters though. It’s a deeply moving, incredible song performed with a lot of heart, that’s what counts.
In the midst of all the controversy that’s been going down about certain South African internet radio stations and their listenership figures, a new player has busted out onto the scene that your Tiger pal is gonna be keeping a close eye on.
