After Chibuku Road to Fame success

LESS than three years after its formation, Bulawayo-based outfit The DAB Band is preparing for one of the biggest moments of its young career after securing a place at the renowned Lake of Stars Malawi Arts Festival.

The invitation is the latest milestone for a group whose rise has been steady and impressive. After reaching the national finals of last year’s Chibuku Road to Fame competition and releasing its ambitious 20-track debut album, Umthandazo, the band is now taking its music onto a regional stage.

The DAB Band will perform at the Lake of Stars Malawi Arts Festival from October 2 to 4 at Fish Eagle Bay Lodge in Nkhotakota, Malawi. The appearance will mark the band’s first performance outside Zimbabwe at a festival widely regarded as one of Africa’s leading arts and culture events.

Founded in 2004, Lake of Stars has grown into a major platform for African and international artists, bringing together music, theatre, dance, film and visual arts. The festival is known for celebrating African creativity while encouraging cultural exchange and collaboration among artists from different countries.

This year’s edition will be held under the theme, “Inspire — Connect —Invest — Celebrate”, with organisers promising a programme that blends traditional Malawian culture with contemporary African and international artistic expression.

For The DAB Band, the invitation is more than a chance to perform before a new audience. It is a sign that the group’s music is beginning to gain recognition beyond Zimbabwe’s borders.

Composer, producer and one of the band’s directors, Mgcini Nyoni, views the opportunity as an important step in the band’s growth.

“A live band that does live music can only survive if it does the festival circuit and eventually tours regionally and internationally and being invited to a huge platform like Lake of Stars is a huge showcase opportunity and hopefully a gateway to many other platforms. We are also looking forward to the many collaborative opportunities that the festival presents,” said Nyoni.

The Malawi appearance caps what has been a productive period for the Bulawayo ensemble.

Following its success at Chibuku Road to Fame, the group turned its attention to recording Umthandazo, a project that sets it apart from many contemporary acts by placing live instrumentation at the centre of its sound.

Rather than building songs around programmed beats, the band recorded using live instruments throughout the creative process.

“The song creation was done using a live band instead of starting off with a beat. Every bit of sound is from a live instrument,” Nyoni previously explained.

That approach has become one of the group’s defining characteristics.

The album moves across Afro-fusion, reggae, Afro-jazz, gospel and pop while tackling themes that include spirituality, hope, identity, environmental awareness and social justice.

Tracks such as Sometimes God, The Earth Song, Impilo, Ngwalongwalo and Zulu showcase the band’s focus on meaningful storytelling.

“The main objective is the messaging before the sound. We Are Human’ came in to console and give hope.

Ngwalongwalo is about identity; we might be pursuing globalisation, but we must remain grounded,” Nyoni said.

The band’s emphasis on authentic storytelling could resonate well with audiences at Lake of Stars, a festival that has long celebrated African culture and original artistic expression.

Nyoni believes the trip to Malawi will also provide an invaluable learning experience.

“A man who does not travel thinks his mother is the best and similarly, artistes who don’t travel think they are the best.

“The festival presents an opportunity to see how others do it at an international stage and surely improve and gain significant big stage experience.”

The performance may also help the group further define its musical identity.

“This is an opportunity for us to pin down our sound as our debut album experiments with different sounds. We are hoping to present the ever elusive ‘Bulawayo Sound’,” he said.

For years, musicians and arts practitioners have spoken about the search for a distinctive Bulawayo sound. The city has produced some of Zimbabwe’s most influential artists, and The DAB Band hopes to contribute to that legacy by developing a style rooted in its local identity while remaining accessible to wider audiences.

The invitation comes at an exciting time for the group.

On August 15, The DAB Band will officially launch Umthandazo at the Bulawayo Theatre, bringing together months of promotion and live performances that have introduced audiences to the project.

The album launch and subsequent appearance at Lake of Stars will give the group a strong platform to continue building its reputation.

Nyoni believes the band’s recent achievements are only the beginning.

“No artiste sets out with a failure mindset and we are similarly positive our album launch on the 15th of August at Bulawayo Theatre and our performances at Lake of Stars is beginning of great things for the band,” he said.

Since its formation under the DAB Three Events stable, the group has remained committed to creating original music at a time when cover performances often dominate local entertainment venues.

By backing its own material, embracing live instrumentation and focusing on substance in its songwriting, The DAB Band has steadily carved out a unique place in Zimbabwe’s music landscape.

Its journey from local stages in Bulawayo to the national finals of Chibuku Road to Fame and now to one of Africa’s premier arts festivals is a reminder that home-grown talent can still find recognition beyond Zimbabwe’s borders.

For Zimbabwean music, The DAB Band’s inclusion on the Lake of Stars programme is more than a personal achievement.

It reflects the growing visibility of local artists on regional platforms and reinforces the fact that Zimbabwean creativity continues to resonate with audiences across the continent.