J.A.M.

Last weekend I attended a Song Writing Workshop in my favorite City in the whole world – Port Elizabeth. I left East London around lunch time on Friday by bus and arrived on Friday evening in PE. I stayed at The Chapman and enjoyed a room with a view of the ocean over the following 4 nights. It was a very enjoyable short break away from the demands of ‘normal’ life – whatever that is.

The Workshop had been advertised by Kyknet on DSTV. I have, for a long time now, felt that the Afrikaans Music Industry is much more alive and in many ways more creative than the English Music Industry, so jumped at the opportunity to attend a Song Writing Workshop aimed at introducing songwriters to an Afrikaans Song Writing Competition based on the concept of the Eurovision Song Contest. The ‘Afri-Visie’ Workshop was presented by Pierre Rossouw, well known South African Song Writer and Heidi Edeling, a sought after professional in the SA Music Industry. It was held at Cherry Place in Walmer in Port Elizabeth and was a most enjoyable day learning more about the South African Song Writing Community from those on the inside. Getting into the Industry really is more about ‘who you know’, which is sad as there is so much untapped talent out there, but this initiative is hoping to open that door to many more Song Writers. It was explained that there is a drastic shortage of Song Writers in the Industry and new talent is being looked for through this competition to grow the Song Writing pool. So – all very exciting!

The competition officially launches on 1 August this year and will run until 31 August. The best songs will be identified in the different regions of our Country and this will all culminate in a gala evening broadcast live on DSTV where the winner will be announced. There are large cash prizes up for grabs and a ‘foot in the door’. I have never written songs in Afrikaans but have been writing in English for a number of years now so am really excited at being faced with this new challenge.

More details can be found here http://kyknet.dstv.com/2014/04/14/afri-visie-skryf-n-treffer-kompetisie/