"As she started to play, I instantly pictured her on a dark stage, lit by a single spotlight in an auditorium filled with thousands of fans..." Fiona Gordon, Cue, National Arts Festival Review, June 2010.

Critically-acclaimed Pianist and Vocal Artist, Shannon Hope has been tugging on South African heart strings since the release of her debut solo album in 2009, with her intriguingly powerful heart songs. 

Hope’s extensive musical journey over the past decade through various musical incarnations has seen her grace the esteemed stages of The Barnyard Theatre, Splashy Fen Festival, Woodstock SA, White Mountain Festival, Oppikoppi, Music at the Lake, as well as The Metro Theatre in Chicago. Her brief sojourns in America in the early days of her music career earned her the opportunity of recording a five track EP in 2004, with Chicago’s high profile producer, Bjorn Thorsrud (of Smashing Pumpkins & Zwan fame).

In only the first six months of launching her solo career, Shannon Hope had independently recorded and released her debut solo album entitled S T I L L, gained play listing on campus and regional radio stations, and embarked on national promotional tours, performing on some of the country’s premier music platforms with some of its most revered artists. 

“With a sound charged with emotional intensity, Shannon Hope’s performance brought goose bumps to my skin. The powerful combination of her singing and song-writing is sure to leave any audience captured.” Isabel Rawlins, Cue, National Arts Festival Review, June 2010.
 
Having recently secured a full endorsement from world-renowned Japanese piano manufacturer Kawai Pianos, Hope returned to the studio in January 2011 to record the much-anticipated follow-up to her debut album, due for release later this year.

With appearances at nearly every major festival around the country, including the National Arts Festival, The Hilton Arts Festival, KKNK and Aardklop, to name a few, and a furious countrywide touring schedule, she has earned a reputation, amongst industry professionals and audiences alike, as one of the hardest-touring, self-managed solo artists on the national circuit, delivering an intensely honest personal commentary in a vocal epic that has mesmerised audiences countrywide.

“Shannon is iemand wat ‘n kamer se dak van sy mure af kan wegsing. Klein botteltjie, groot gif – in die ware sin. Dis iemand wie se musikale omvang ‘n antie soos Tori Amos onder die tafel kan insing, so jy is gewaarsku. Dit is onbestrede: Hope is Aardklop 2010 se nuwe stem van die jaar.” Angola Badprop, Spat, Beeld, September 2010.

“What am I to build, if my hands are broken, if I’m not the chosen one?” sings Steven McKellar of Civil Twilight on “Story of An Immigrant”, over a lush, dynamic beat that evokes the sounds of his native South Africa while steeped in the band’s everevolving present. The foursome (Steven, his brother and guitarist Andrew, drummer Richard Wouters and Kevin Dailey on keys and guitar) are living proof of what happens when you stop worrying about being the chosen one and make music built on both the roots that grew you and the love that keeps you thriving every day. Civil Twilight’s songs embrace every corner of human emotion, balancing delicate, poetic lyrics with sweeping arrangements that touch all the senses: a phrase to make you think; a rolling drumbeat you can feel in your bones; a guitar vamp as illustrative as a picture; a shimmer of keys whose light can nearly be seen and heard. Produced by Ben H. Allen (Gnarls Barkley, Bombay Bicycle Club, Cut Copy), their third record on Wind-Up is built on this vibrancy, on the permanent dust of a Cape Town youth; on the connection that unites them all as brothers beyond blood and on their new home in America where they pull from the innate, thriving musicianship of Nashville, where they live. When you listen to Civil Twilight, from their self-titled debut, to 2012’s widely lauded Holy Weather to now, it’s easy to understand why the band has topped five million YouTube views and reached historic success with film and television syncs – because it’s music you can’t shake, that translates experience into moments and creates melodies that become imbedded deep under the skin. We’re all immigrants, in some way, and Civil Twilight’s singing our national anthem.

MOUSE is a high energy, fuzzy, noise rock two piece band who hail from the heat city. Formed back in 2015, the band consists of Damon Miles on guitar, pedals and vocals and Christopher Chay on Drums and vocals with a sound that can only be described as cosmic voltage. Follow us on Facebook  & Instagram (@mousetheband)

New live album Wheels Turn Beneath My Feet II out now! https://finkmusic.net/collections/music

I'm Martin Evans. Ex-comedian/actor/do anything for cash kind of man.  Working from my studios in Bree Street. Producing audio and video content for myself and a number of clients.

Raised on a steady diet of grunge and power pop with a smattering of metal and acoustic flourishes, from South Africa to England and beyond.

Thunderous drums, planet sized basslines, haunting ambience. Loitering in London. Listen to us on Spotify, now: http://smarturl.it/SuzerainSpotify 

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