Local Helderberg Rodriguez Tribute Show on 4 September, at Dorpstreet Theatre - Stellenbosch

Local Helderberg Band, Acoustica, will be performing a tribute show on 4 September 2010  at Dorp Street Theatre.

Rodriguez and Graham Gillot

Rodriguez Tribute band.  Graham’s band Acoustica, was the backing band for Rodriguez during this SA tour in 2009.  Rodriguez and the Acoustica band performed 6 sold out Barnyard shows, performing in Cape Town, Joburg, Pretoria and the Garden Route.  During this time, the band got to know Rodriguez and came to understand his music at a deeper level.  Who better to perform a tribute show than the band that toured with him?  Rodriguez himself said, “I love the way the group interpret and play my music especially when they let go and open up.” The band consists of local Helderberg musicians, Graham Gillot, Duncan Combe, Keith de Kock and Jeane Combe.

Rodriguez – The Legend

Rodriguez is currently one of the world’s biggest cult musicians with fans all over the world from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, to UK and across the USA. However, it was not until 15 years ago, when he was rediscovered working on a building site by local journalist Stephen Segerman and Craig Bartholomew; did the songwriter and singer of “Sugar Man” and “I Wonder” realise that his defining album “Cold Fact” (1970) had become a cult classic and that he was a beacon of revolution for the people of South Africa.  Rodriguez had completely turned his back on the music industry after his albums “Cold Fact” and “Coming From Reality” (1972) were unsuccessful.

While his music career faded to little more than a memory in his life, Rodriguez lived an unobtrusive existence, unaware that his legend continued to grow in the Southern Hemisphere.  “Cold Fact” became a word of mouth success especially amongst the youth in the South African armed forces that identified with his counter-cultural bent. Many thought Rodriguez was dead and his album went platinum in South Africa without him ever earning one cent. Today Rodriguez is spoken of in the same reverent tones as The Doors and Jimi Hendrix.

Since 1994, when he was “rediscovered”, Rodriguez returned to South Africa and Namibia four times and his albums have been released on CD worldwide.  In 1998 Rodriguez featured in a television documentary “Dead Men Don’t Tour”. After more than 35 years it seems that the wheel of fortune is finally turning and Rodriguez’s fame is rapidly growing in his home town Detroit and throughout the USA.  His albums are being re-released and there is a documentary movie being made about the “Sugarman” himself.

To book and read more about the show, go to http://www.rodriguez.co.za/

Article by CyberAfrica - "Social Media for Social Good"