I started the Friday SA Music spotlight as a vehicle to share artists I have come across, most often on the web, that my readers may not yet know about. I hope to excite my readers as the discover talent on their doorstep that they have not yet experienced. And I am proud to say that most times I get feedback from new fans thanking me for the discovery and from the artist, appreciative of the extra exposure.However, I am acutely aware that many, many visitors are not South African residents. So very often, musicians that have become a household name here in sunny SA, have little exposure elsewhere in the world and there is space for my international readers to discover music we hear on our major radio station's playlists on a daily basis. Hence, the spotlight has fallen on Watershed, Louise Carver, The Parlotones and now it falls on Jesse Clegg.
To say he has burst onto the music scene is a bit of an understatement. Although he has been touring since 1988, it must be made clear that this was also the year of his birth, and the many performances he made on stage during his formative years were only enjoyed by a select few ... roadies. While having Johnny Clegg as a dad must have a massive influence on your musical career, there is no comparison's that can be made in style, something dad has made very clear. In fact in an interview he admits that the tracks his son presented to him, sounded great, but he had no idea how this would fit into a genre he new nothing about. Although, how cool must it be that you father goes and gets a second opinion from David Gresham!
Jesse's breakthrough single 'Today' debuted back on mid August, and literally took the charts by storm, however amazingly people are still discovering Jesse, and perhaps to his credit, are unaware of his pedigree. The rest of his album, "When I Wake Up" has a much more rock vibe than 'Today', but are all very listenable, middle of the road, yet classy rock tracks. I have made a habit of making comparisons so, how about Just Jinjer? All is that just the voice? That's probably to South African to assist non-Saffa's anyways. So take a listen to the sample on his website and you make you own comparisons (and feel free to share in the comments).
If I can just make one criticsm? Jesse, if you ore one of your people read this, please do something about your website! This is a vital portal for your fans, current and potential. Please add some other samples in to the auto media player on your site. As good as 'Today' is, a repeated sample can make it wear extremely thin.
Links
- www.jesseclegg.com
- Facebook fan page
- Buy Album
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