Musician Masauko Chipembere Jr, who is based in United States of America has managed to get himself a grant that will get him on a tour which includes performing at MTN Bushire Festival in eSwatini next year.
The artist, son to the country’s nationalists Masauko and Catherine, earlier this year released his new album titled Masauko.
“The grant will allow me to play at the Igoda Circuit in South Africa and Swaziland. It is a group of festivals throughout the region that happen the last week of May,” Masauko said yesterday.
He said he will tour with a band featuring members such as Kyle, Sam Mjura Mkandawire, Chambota Chirwa and Mongezi Ntaka, a Malawian, who he said was the original guitarist of South Africa’s reggae maestro Lucky Dube Band but now lives in USA.
“There is also Hasan Bakr who is from USA. Mongezi is on a USA Passport now. So, the band is half Malawian and half American. This was required as part of the grant. We were also supposed to have Ernest Ikwanga but he won’t be with me on this tour but he remains a central part of the collective of musicians I work with from Malawi. His work on my album was amazing,” Masauko said.
Ikwanga, who recently performed in the country is now based in Switzerland.
Asked if the grant will take him to Malawi as regards the tour, Masauko said:
“We got the grant for the tour but South Africa. I will wait and see if they organise correctly”.
Masauko is the recipient of the Mid Atlantic Arts Grant for 2020.
“I will be headed to Swaziland to perform at Bushfire Festival in May and returning to South Africa for more shows,” he wrote on Facebook.
