Songstress Meri Kenaz Releases Free Downloads For Grahamstown Fest
Captivating young singer-songwriter Meri Kenaz will be performing on the Fringe programme of the 2010 National Arts Festival, Grahamstown. As a special Festival offer, she is making selected tracks of her albums available for free download from www.merikenaz.com.
Her new single release Branches, as well as selected tracks from her debut album In a Moment will be available for download. In her upcoming Fringe festival show, also entitled In a Moment, she’ll be performing these and other tracks from her genre-bending repertoire of soul-touching acoustic music.
Kenaz explores life’s journey in philosophical and poetic terms, and expresses her musings through the thought-provoking and inspirational songs she creates on acoustic guitar. Her voice is simultaneously powerful and soothingly warm. Her music has been likened to Alanis Morissette, Ani DiFranco and Leslie Rae Dowling. Her on-stage performance is captivating and strong as she pours her entire being into each song, with a no-bars-held performance that is enthralling and highly impassioned.
Kenaz is currently based in Cape Town where she performs regularly. Among others, she has shared the stage with Cape Town’s EJ Von Lyrik, Albert Frost, as well as repeatedly touring with internationally acclaimed Blues musician, Dan Patlansky. On these tours she’s performed for sold out crowds at over 19 venues throughout South Africa.
Since finishing the recording of her debut album In a Moment (2008), Kenaz has spent the past 2 years touring and performing regularly around the country. In the short time she’s been on the performance circuit, she’s already rallied up some die-hard support for her music, and has received great reviews. Gisele Turner from Independent News and Media calls her a “... blindingly fascinating singer-songwriter” with “... well-constructed songs and strong dramatic capacity” and in an album review, EP Herald’s Leon Muston maintains she "... shows great diversity on her independently released album In a Moment”.
In addition to her shows at the National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, she will also be touring to Port Elizabeth and Jeffrey’s Bay shortly after the conclusion of the festival.
Performance dates for her shows at and after the festival are as follows:
21 June – 15:00 at PJ’s Basement, & 20:00 at Late@Cuervo (Cuervo Music Room)
22 June – 17:00 at Cuervo Music Room, & 20:00 at Late@Cuervo (Cuervo Music Room)
23 June – 17:00 at PJ’s Basement
24 June – 15:00 at Cuervo Music Room
25 June – 19:00 at PJ’s Basement
8 July – 20:00 at Potter’s Place, Jeffreys Bay
9 July – 20:00 at Toni’s Place, PE
Tickets for her Fringe shows are now available at Computicket, and sell for R40 for normal tickets, R30 for students, “Friends of the festival” and block tickets. Tickets to her first Fringe show on 21 June will also sell for a discounted R30.
For more information on Meri Kenaz, and to download the free tracks, visit her website at www.merikenaz.com.
