Zim Éire music

Mary and I had a day to rehearse and work out some material with the amazing Queen of Mbira, Chiwoniso, from Zimbabwe. No one knew if it would work at all. We picked 3 songs each to collaborate on. Chi let me write some extra verses for a few. Her lyrical content is razor sharp and political and beautiful and strong. I normally find it really hard to share vocal ideas and sing other peoples lyrics , but this was just like finding a page of my own from an old notebook.

Out voices were perfect together and it was amazing to hear her sing the verse on Apple tree ( i wish she was around for the recording) and play mbira on Throw your arms around me. Mary’s cello was spot on as usual and after a first few song jitters we all enjoyed ourselves and Chi had the entire audience singing along.

It was an honour to share the stage with her and i can’t wait for the next show. A very special night.