By Marley
It’s dirty and it’s blues. It’s sexy and it’s magic. It’s the two sentences I can use to describe the gig on 26 October 2018 which Basson and his gang provided to get Nelsparta to testify to some good darn music.
With a warm evening licking the atmosphere that was pretty much the eve of Halloween parties in the air. However, Jock Pub and Grill decided to provide their clients with their annual Jocktober Fest which is a like a beer festival minus the Oompa band (dankie tog) and the girls in the German gear. I’ve known Basson for years now from his days with the band Zinkplaat and I had the honour to see his solo shows at Ace & Spade Bar in Cape Town and on the beach during STRAB. I knew then already it would be amazing to bring him to the Lowveld region. When the opportunity struck I was there like a bear. Wearing a song – “Devil in a red dress” – which is a lyric taken from Basson’s song “She’s Bad” that featured on his first EP, “Shakedown”.
I’ve been telling everyone that they couldn’t miss the show and to encourage most of them who came to stand in front of the stage because I also knew that Basson’s guitar skills will blow their minds. Supported by keys, bass and drums you couldn’t go wrong listening to blues-rock quite so unique on a Friday night. It transported me for moments (if not the whole show) to Bourbon Street in New Orleans or Tennessee as the music glided into the wooden deck underneath our feet and the trees around us. It was magic, to say the least.
(photo by Small Town Music Blog)
Basson’s latest album “Testify” is a real testimony to this. It’s rare to find an artist that is both good on both the album and even better live on stage. For days on end “Testify” have been spinning in the office and I can’t get enough of it. “Bonny and Clyde” is one my top favourites on the album. To me, it expresses Basson’s sense of road travels and stories we all have experienced at some stage. “Testify” is where the deep South of Louisiana comes out for me and yet he is a man living near Cape Town. Something you would never expect once you hear this. “Rattlesnake” should have been used in a cowboy movie or game. “Animal” is another gem that should be awarded. This album inspired my whole Halloween costume this year, a voodoo priestess. And that was a good thing!
“Testify” along with the event in Nelspruit at Jock was received well and if you still don’t have this album then better get your sexy fingers on it. If you are a Black Cat Bones fan this you are going to love as well. I would love to see Basson play a gig at a whiskey-stained, firewood smell with the old man at the bar venue where you think this type of music was written. Yet Basson takes his favourite type of music and plays it his own way. This is the type of music that the real side of the country’s music scene should have more of.
Get “Testify” on iTunes, Google Music or order it from the man himself directly from his website. I highly suggest you follow him on Facebook and Instagram because he records videos of him playing that funky guitar of his.
