Music industry guru in Bay for music workshop, poetry event

MUSIC industry expert, David Chislett is taking the Nelson Mandela Bay by storm this year and is visiting the city for the second time, ending his South African tour here with three events – two business of music workshops in Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage and a poetry evening.
 
The third workshop series to be held in Nelson Mandela Bay sees the music community able to dictate the content. Chislett wants people to come with the burning questions they have about what structures they don’t understand, what quicksand they want to be guided through. Chislett will tailor his two-hour session around the most prominent of these queries.
 
 “The response from the last workshop I did here in May was so overwhelming, and the Q&A session so powerful, that I thought it makes sense to return and clear workshop space for really getting into the inner workings of the industry with Nelson Mandela Bay musicians and industry professionals,” said Chislett, who added that his last visit was the biggest workshop he has ever done in the country with 65 people in attendance.
 
“There is clearly a need for industry information in the city – and that’s why this workshop is specifically geared to catering for the questions people have and what they want to know about this crazy, strange, developing industry.
 
“I have decided to throw the floor open to the music community here. This time round, I will only talk about the actual issues that face the city’s artists right now:  What do they need? How can what I know help them? Not in general, but specifically. I hope this will make a very real contribution to local musicians making serious inroads into professional careers and sustainable lives.”
 
Chislett is the author of 1,2,1,2: A Step By Step Guide To The SA Music Industry which was published in 2010. “The book is an essential guide to the inner workings and behind the scenes elements of the music business. It is mandatory reading for anyone wanting to make a career out of music,” said Amy Shelver, co-founder of the n_mb city project, which has brought Chislett to the city.
Chislett will also use the visit to share his poetry. He will be presenting a live reading and story-telling performance with music from his poetry collection For You, Or Someone Like You in a separate event this Wednesday.
The collections comes with an accompanying CD, where some of South Africa’s top musicians collaborate with Chislett to put to music some of the poems from this unique poetry project. Chislett has been performing his live versions all around the country, including Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Johannesburg, Durban and now Nelson Mandela Bay December.
He will also be joined by local rising star PoeticSoul Mahambehlala who will perform some of her spoken word gems. He will present his work in a chatty and interactive format, inviting the audience to ask questions and join in the show, as well as playing musical version of many poems.
 
For You, Or Someone Like You is priced at only R100 including the CD compilation and 1,2,1,2: A Step By Step Guide To The SA Music Industry will be on sale for R200.
 
The Port Elizabeth workshop will be held at The Atheaneum from 7pm-9pm on Tuesday 12 December and the poetry evening on Wednesday 13 December from 7:30-9:30om, also in the Athenaeum. Both events are R20.
 
The Uitenhage workshop will take place in the Uitenhage Town Hall from 9am to midday and then moves through the Babs Madlakane Hall in KwaNobuhle from 1pm-6pm on Thursday 13 December.
 
For more information contact Amy Shelver at amy@numbcity.co.za or on 071 880 4831.