CT: Catch Simon Van Gend & Nick Turner
Back in Editorista’s more crusty hippy days, amongst other dubious activities she was an ardent groupie of the vibrant Cape Town based band Sons of Trout. Grooving to their every funked up note and lyric at packed out live performances from dodgy Middleburg, to sweaty Warner Beach all the way through to chockablock venues in Knysna and Bloem- Ed and her friends just couldn’t get enough of the boys oozing lusciousness (lipstick lady still her favourite!). Founding members Nick Turner and Mike Rennie have been seducing fans in New York for the last few years with their breakaway band Mikanic, growing a strong fanbase in the US and flying SA’s flag high. As Cape Town’s luck would have it, Nick is in town and will be performing next Thursday night at the Alliance Francais with local resident Simon Van Gend – if you love dope acoustic guitar and vocals, don’t miss it!
Simon Van Gend & Nick Turner
Thursday 28 May
20h / R40
@ Alliance Française
155 Loop Street
Nick Turner : Just coming off a country-wide tour of South Africa with his New York City-based band Mikanic, guitarist and singer/songwriter, Nick Turner will bring his distinctive and infectious guitar style, voice and lyrics to solo performances throughout Cape Town before rejoining his band for a line-up of summer concerts back in America.
Nick Turner is widely known in South Africa as a founding band member to Sons of Trout, one of the country’s top selling bands. With Sons of Trout, Nick headlined major music festivals in the country and toured extensively, releasing four albums, top single hits still played on the radio today. Although Nick has maintained a reputation for being an infectious singer-songwriter, his true talent lies in his innovative guitar style. Nick’s acoustic guitar playing is truly what makes him a musical genius and earns him the highest respect from his peers and worldwide audiences.
Now based in New York City, USA, Nick collaborates with ex-Trout violinist and vocalist Mike Rennie in his band Mikanic formed in 2003. A modern-day Simon and Garfunkel, Mikanic’s energy and unpredictable collaborations and moments during live performances have captured a loyal following in the USA and abroad (touring Japan) and have quickly become one of New York City’s most sought after live acts. Mikanic recently finished a run of concerts in New York City with Zolani Mahola of Freshly Ground.
Simon van Gend is a guitarist and singer-songwriter from Cape Town. In 2001, he released his first album, Unhinged, as self-produced, home recorded collection of 15 songs. His introspective lyrics and melancholic melodies found favour amongst a small but growing fan base in Cape Town. In 2005 he released a second independent album, Pocketsongs, this time with Ross Campbell (-ex Benguela) on drums and again with Eric Michot on bass, the trio that has stuck together since. 2006 saw the band on tour throughout South Africa, playing small towns and big festivals with great response. The band quickly wrote new material and signed to 2 Feet Music, Sheer Sound’s new acoustic music label later that same year. 2007 and the band were back in studio to record their first album for the record label with producer Joe Arthur who had great success with Freshlyground’s album Nomvula.
In the year and a half that it took for the album to finally be wrapped up, Simon continued writing songs, coming up with enough new tunes for the next album.
