While the astronauts flew to the moon, James the dog howled his unsolicited backing vocals to Tellinger and Fresk singing the blues at Stone Circle in Waterval Boven.
All of this is true! And if you know Boven, you will agree that the statement sounds like a stretch of the imagination. For one, we are quite isolated, and the moon is as far as any human might travel, but having Grammy-nominated artists here felt like those two worlds collided and in our small town, this was one night I wasn’t going to miss.
It was Niel Fishwick who was James’ inspiration. A man of great power sitting in the recesses of the limited stage space on a square drum I now know is a cajon drum. He was tapping it with the flat palm of his right hand while his feet worked a small bass drum pedal and a single cymbal while his hands shook different shakers periodically. All of that plus he would play the mouth organ, harmonica, harp? Without breaking a sweat! His body seemed to be the central tapestry of rhythm in the whole performance but it was the harmonica that moved James to be taken away with the music!
He brought the house down when he did, though, because the audience (a mix of guests from out of town and their children and some locals evenly mixed) laughed out loud and it was a spark of excitement that made a connection between the stage and them tangible. It spawned an intimate closeness you can’t expect. Looking back at the audience from my seat, my vision was filled with smiling faces and wide eyed wonder.
Tellinger’s voice was a deep velvety warmth over the keys of Fresk’s agile piano parts with the electric guitar of Mike Slavin giving their charm the crisp sting of the blues he’s mastered. This was all held up with a foundation of the deep big bass of Viwe Mkizwana. Together they were the full force of art in motion, rhythm and syncopation that I’m only used to on a screen, with performers a million miles away!
It was a uniquely special evening that made our small town seem like a hidden gem. In the red and blue stage lights, under the big full moon with the Artimes II space capsule flying towards it, surrounded by beautiful people, remote from any of the problems of the world, I was there!
But with Tellinger and Fresk in town, I suspect there will be more to come!
Waterval Boven has a tourism information centre opening later this year. Check in at the Emgwenya Heritage and Tourism Information Centre to stay in touch with what’s happening in Waterval Boven, Emgwenya!
