Cape Town - They busked on the street and on trains to feed their families but a chance recording of their performance on a train has shot them to fame.
Ocean View performers Morné Holland and Elton November, both 27, performed live on Heart 104.9 FM and subsequently landed a gig to perform with bass guitarist Jonathan Rubain in his show The Experience at the Baxter Theatre next month.
The duo brought music to Metrorail passengers’ ears when they decided to perform on a train about two weeks ago.
Armed with their borrowed instruments including a microphone, an amplifier and a keyboard, both have busked in Cape Town regularly, choosing Greenmarket Square as their preferred spot.
Train commuter, Roeshaan Baartman, 40, recorded the talented duo as they entertained the crowd with renditions of Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror and John Legend’s All of Me.
The assistant events manager posted the video on Facebook and, in the short space of two weeks, the video went viral, garnering over 1 million shares.
Baartman told the Cape Argus her cousin in Dubai and a friend in the UK had shared the video of the buskers.
Busking, or street performing, is not as easy as the two make it seem.
Holland said the journey cost them R100.
“The two of us haven’t been busking for that long, only about two months.
“We take the train and then we ask restaurants very nicely if we can use their electricity to plug in our amp and mic so we can perform”, he said.
On their skyrocket to local fame, the buskers said they cannot believe how “blessed they are”.
“Being on the radio and having all of those opportunities come the way they have, it’s truly by the grace of God,” November said.
After hearing Holland sing, Wesley Moolman of Big House Studios invited the two to record original compositions.
Fans will see the pair as they perform with Rubain from March 9 to 12.
Rubain said he would be going home to rework his show as he “simply has to incorporate them into the show”.
“I heard Morné sing on the radio and I felt his passion.