Johannesburg - Acapella trio The Soil was the star of the show at the Picnic in the Park concert hosted by the Joburg Theatre on Sunday.
The group members, made up of Buhlebendalo “Soil Sister” Mda, Ntsika “Fana-tastic” Ngxanga and Luphindo “Master P” Ngxanga, will be releasing a new album come February to celebrate 10 years in the music industry.
Sunday’s event was the first of many picnic concerts to take place at the theatre gardens in Braamfontein.
“We are excited that we end what has been a difficult year with an event that brings together families and friends, enjoying good food and great music,” Joburg Theatre chief executive Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema said.
The Soil has been performing together at a number of gigs and events.
“Even when I had released my own album, we would still do gigs. I’m just happy that this one feels like the first official performance after our decision to release our fourth studio album. There is a lot of euphoria around that and we are recording some amazing songs,” Ngxanga said.
He added that the songs recorded by the group were already giving them headaches because there was so much to choose from.
“It will be dropping in February and we are excited about it. We sampled a few songs at the concert to the audience.
“This headache cannot be ours alone. We wanted to include our family and get them to choose which songs they would like on the album.”
Before the country went into lockdown in March, the trio had met at Kwa Mai Mai traditional market to discuss the album and its creative elements.
“We brainstormed and since The Soil has always been the custodians of acapella, when you talk about acapella you cannot leave us out, we asked ourselves, how do we then push the barrier with this coming album? The ideas that came forth were just genius. It excites me because we will be presenting two worlds in one album,” Ngxanga said.
He said the group would be showcasing things that they had never done before, owing to their individual growth.
“It’s going to be our 10th anniversary next year, so we are building up to that celebration, which will be nothing short of amazing.”
Ngxanga added that the concert was all about family and safety.
“It was a lovely environment and we did what we do best by performing for our family that has not seen us on stage in a long while. The euphoria that we feel when we are together in studio, there’s a magic there.”
Dr Sipho Sithole, of Afrocentric Agency, the producer of Picnic in the Park Concert Series, said the event was one of many planned with Joburg Theatre.
“We are already planning Orchestra in the Park for the first quarter of 2021, and other innovative events into the year,” he said.
The Star