Festival director spotted Sereetsi at the inaugural Gaborone Book Festival
GOSEGO MOTSUMI
Contemporary folk act Sereetsi & the Natives is celebrating yet another milestone as they are slated to perform at Africa’s biggest Arts and Book Festival in Lagos, Nigeria. Billed for October 25th to the 28th, 2018 the Ake Arts and Book Festival is a cultural immersion that aims to showcase the very best of contemporary African literature, poetry, music, art, film and theatre.
“It’s a great feeling. It shows that I am growing the Sereetsi & The Natives footprint internationally. It’s a big deal for me because I set out on this career to play international stages and we are getting there one day at a time,” the visibly elated artist told Time Out.
The director of Ake Arts and Book Festival, Lola Shoneyin attended the inaugural Gaborone Book Festival (GBF) last month and Sereetsi shared that it was during his presentation on the Botswana four string guitar that he impressed the director. Apart from music Sereetsi is also considered a pioneer with his instructional book/CD on the local folk guitar tradition entitled, “The Solo Four String Guitar of Botswana.” During his presentation at the GBF Sereetsi said there was a growing interest in the Setswana sound from international audiences.
“The festival director was really impressed. She checked out my music and booked me for a performance and a speaking slot on music as a change agent, alongside other great Nigerian musicians,” he said, adding that this year’s festival theme is “Fantastical Futures” and conversations will focus largely on a re-imagined African future.
This year the multi-award winning band released their sophomore studio album entitled “Motoko” which followed up on 2015’s “Four String Confessions”. Sereetsi will be launching Motoko on 30th November 2018 at the Horizon View in Game City mall featuring Solly Sebotso, Western Tinto Lekgetho and Stiger Sola. Released in April, “Motoko” presents a multi-layered sound that blends traditional Botswana rhythms with Western influences like rock, pop and jazz, all built around the signature sound and unique tradition of the Tswana four string folk guitar.
On “Motoko”, which is named after his late father, Sereetsi weaves social and tragicomic stories ranging from the universal like love, relationships, the urgent need for economic independence to new social disruptors like the sex doll.