It’s been a big year for Joburg-based singer songwriter Roland Albertson since returning to SA from London towards the end of 2010. Most recently he has popped up on Red Bull’s radar when he was offered a sponsored trip to Cape Town for him and the band to record in the state-of-the-art Red Bull Studio for a week in December.
The trip to Cape Town on 3 December will also kick off of the Legends of the Sun summer tour and be the first time The Roland Albertson Band will be traveling together since Roland found his new band members to bring his songs to life on home soil. They will be playing three gigs in Cape Town, starting with a Sunday acoustic session at Sapphire in Camps Bay (4 December), followed by a midweek knees-up in Kalk Bay (7 December) and a fabulous Cape Town send off at the Assembly’s fourth birthday bash on Friday 9 December.
The Roland Albertson Band consists of Stu J on drums, Stu B on electric guitar, Mark on bass and Roland on acoustic guitar and vocals. In October, they performed at Tanz Café and a charity gig alongside Evolver One, Louise Carver, Dozi and Heinz Winkler.
Says Roland, “Its amazing to have found three talented band members who share my affinity for sun and sea, as well as my passion for simple, old school timeless songs!”
Roland is still just for the music and all about the songs. As part of his ongoing online project, Natural Selection, he has recently released the fourth song called Hurricane. Three songs off his debut EP, Legends of the Sun, will also be getting extra air – and wave – time, amongst the surfing community as Jason Hearn’s The Africa Project surf film premiers on Friday 25 November in Cape Town. The songs are White Wednesday, No Place Like Home and Find Your Own.
Roland is a busy man between the creative and business sides of his trade and is amped for what lies ahead in 2012. He is currently shooting a video for White Wednesday, a track off Legends of the Sun which has received much attention for its awareness raising contemplation on the future of our planet’s health. “What would you do when it’s all gone?” This song is particularly apt ahead of COP17, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which kicks off in SA for the first time in Durban on 28 November. The Roland Albertson Band is also working on securing gigs in Durban for the end of December as the next stop on the Legends of the Sun tour.
“It’s not easy being a four piece on a non-existent budget, but since we already feel like we’re flying, combined with Red Bull ‘giving us wings’, we’ll soon be taking the music to the rest of the South African tribe!”
The Roland Albertson Band, fronted by singer songwriter Roland Albertson on vocals and acoustic guitar, is kicking off their summer ‘Legends of the Sun tour’ in Cape Town in early December. Catch them around the peninsula, from a Sunday sundowner set at Sapphire in Camps Bay (4 Dec) to a midweek knees-up at The Brass Bell in Kalk Bay (7 Dec) and at the Assembly’s fourth birthday on Friday 9 Dec.
Looks like Cher
Image by Saxsbiker
Outside the Brass Bell Restaurant, Kalk Bay station
