For guitar’s sake
Jazz export Eric Paliani will tomorrow give a pep talk to upcoming guitarists in Lilongwe on how to play the instrument that has made him a go-to artist in South Africa.
He will give inspirational titbits during The Guitar Talk at 1Five Entertainment in Area 15.
Paliani will also perform live to spice the event and exemplify what he knows best.
The guitar session has been organised by Play Guitar Malawi, a group of youthful guitar enthusiasts who came together to share their skills.
Cynthia Phiri, one of the organisers and lead guitarist of the Lilongwe-based all-girl band Krazy Colours, told The Nation that the event will serve as a platform for guitarists to share ideas and learn from Paliani who backed Hugh Masekera.
“Eric Paliani is big and it is great to have him on board, teaching us how to be the best guitarists that we can be,” she said.
The guitar club envisions making the guitar party a regular event, with more guitarists coming on board, improving their skills and changing the music industry that is slowly discarding the plucking instrument for computer-programmed instrumentations.
Play Guitar Malawi started as a WhatsApp group in 2015 by Blessings Chilunga.
When he started the group, Chilunga wanted to reach out to his clients and guitar owners.
The group has grown into a network of almost 200 members networking, meeting regularly and sharing guitar tips in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Zomba.
The guitar talk is open to all interested guitar enthusiasts.
Apart from Paliani and Cynthia, other performers include Mafilika Band’s Ernest I Kwanga, Jerome and four other guitarists yet to be unveiled.
“We will keep people guessing on the identities of these four other guitarists, but they are professional guitarists who will wow those who will attend the party,” said Cynthia.
Recently, a seemingly nostalgic Paliani told The Nation that he was planning to regularly visit Malawi for performances and interactions with emerging guitarists—for Malawi is the place where he started his career. n
