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Electric Kampot - pic: Brave Cactus Blog
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The Kampot Writers
and Readers Festival 2015 kicks off today (Thursday). Not
just a literary festival, the KWRF features several
great live music events. Check out Television Ted's special preview
wrap and visit the KWRF website for all the latest
information. Two of the highlights of the festival are scheduled to
take place this Friday. Master Kong Nay,
together with his son Kong
Boran and other contemporary
Cambodian guest artists,
will be performing a
selection of traditional Cambodian musical works. Later that evening,
a special one-off live concert performance will be given by
Australian Recording
Industry Association (ARIA)
Hall of Fame inductee Paul Kelly.
Tickets for this boutique show, at
KAMA in
Kampot, may now be harder to find than a Cambodian policeman after
5.30 in the evening but... it's worth a try. Tickets
in Kampot can be purchased from Ms. Soon at Ellie’s Cafe (during
the day)
or at
KAMA
(at
night-time)
-
SMS
096 367 2224 .
The first annual KWRF
is
inspired
by, and created in partnership with, the
Ubud Writers and Readers Festival
in Bali, Indonesia
(the 12th
annual UBUD festival took place last week). It
was at the UBUD festival that
KWRF
festival director Julien
Poulson,
of The Cambodian
Space Project and
Bokor Mountain
Magic Band fame,
met
and connected with
author
Jonathan Campbell. Jonathan is a music writer, musician, promoter and
agent based
in Beijing in the years between 2000 and 2010. He
will be at KAMA in Kampot on Sunday, talking about his new book The
Red Rock: The Long, Strange March of Chinese Rock & Roll.
Fans
of Cambodian Rock may find more than a few fascinating parallels
between the two histories. As Jonathan himself told Leng
Pleng
:
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Jon Campbell - pic: Henry Campbell |
“I
think that Cambodia and China's experience of rock and roll is
similar, and though I write a lot about how the stakes in China were
heavy (the choice to pursue rock music in the 80's
and 90's
was a choice to ostracise oneself), they weren't as heavy as what
happened in the 70's
in Cambodia. But I think what both situations show those of us in The
West is the thing that I discovered over the course of writing my
book: that rock and roll means something to people in a way that
we've forgotten about here. Rock and roll has become just something
you listen to, but it used to be a lot more than that in The
West. It used to be About Something -- saying something, being
something, choosing to be someone. We used to say that
rock and roll can change the world, and I've found that for a lot of
Chinese people, it did change the world. From what I gather, for many
Cambodians, too, rock and roll changed the world -- both before and
after the 70's.”
Alto Ace: Thomas Schelloeh, pic: Susi Brinkert |
Find out more about
Jonathan Campbell via his website. For all those making the journey
to Kampot this weekend, have a great time and enjoy. Meanwhile, in
Phnom Penh, things are looking up for the expat music scene. Over the
next two weeks we will see the arrival of at least three brand-new
bands and the return of no less than four local favourite groups. The
action is centred around Sharky Bar
this weekend, where Sangvar
Day
will
welcome
new bassist Ned
Kelly into
the fold at
their comeback
gig on Friday. Saturday
will see the debut of new rock trio Road
to Mandalay.
Leng Pleng
has not yet heard the new-comers Mandalay,
but the Sharky Bar
press
release promises 'one
of the most promising new alternative rock bands in Cambodia in
years!'. Also
on Saturday, Joe
Wrigley & The Jumping Jacks
will return to the scene with a new line-up including ace
alto-saxophonist Thomas
Schelloeh.
The
rockabilly quartet will, along with Miss
Sarawan,
be celebrating the 15th
Anniversary of Shanghai
Bar.
The
Barangutans
are a trio of international
musicians based in Sihanoukville. They will be travelling to Phnom
Penh on
Friday for a gig at Cabaret
Restaurant.
A
little internet research has revealed an accomplished acoustic covers
band with a Latin music feel and strong lead vocals.
Cambodian
singing stars will be in attendance on Sunday at the Melodies
of Change event
to be held at the Cambodia-Korea
Co-operation Center (CKCC) at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.
Melodies of Change
comprises of songwriting and performance workshops and seminars, as
well as featuring live competition and live performance. The event
has a very progressive and positive mission – seeking to encourage
new original music in Cambodia. For
more information: tel.
077
996 440. As
Australian singer-songwriter
Paul Kelly
said, "From
little things, big things grow".
Whatever
you're up to over the next few days... stay safe out there and... see
you around the traps!
Joe
Wrigley
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