12/04/2021
One cold Monday night in the winter of 2016 the Odd Dogs (Mk2) played at the Barleycorn Music Club in Cape Town. After the fun and successful set we drove back to Stellenbosch and felt the need to celebrate at the legendary De Akker pub. At the bar counter, in a discussion with Louis Awerbuck, I decided Stellenbosch needs a regular 'Barleycorn-type' open-mic session. The inimitable Simon Matthysen immediately agreed and time and date for the first session was arranged. At the first session the audience was asked to suggest a name for the sessions. Ingrid Blumer provided the inspirational trigger and the 'Acorn Acoustic Sessions' was born.
Since then there has been more than 130 regular sessions and numerous other related mellow- , sunday- and jam-sessions. Various bands were formed after jams at these sessions and lotsa great, live music was heard. Venues changed from De Akker, Olive or Twist, Courtyard and Aandklas. We even had an outing to Karoo Saloon near Barrydale. We were graced by numerous stellar artists, including the late, great Steve Fataar, who played there twice.
The last session was on 4 March 2020, because after that Covid19 and the resultant lockdowns, stalled AAS in its tracks. We held quite a few 'Meanwhile Sessions' in the interim, but a proper Acorn Acoustic Session is still waiting for the restart.
In the meantime, apart from the Covid19 curse, my life also changed quite a bit and I am very busy with renovations here right next to the Pienk Palace :)
This seems, therefore, like the perfect time to hand the project over to someone with the passion and gumption to get AAS going again. That person is the very talented musician and singer-songwriter Duke. Thanks Duke!
I want to thank Simon Matthysen for that initial willingness to gamble and Marcus Oosthuizen, of course, who supported the AAS for many years. I also want to thank the soundmen (especially Alex, Justin and Pieter) for putting up with my nagging. Then, of course, all the amazing musicians who graced our stages all these years. It sure was special!
Now give your support to Duke and help him continue this great opportunity to hone your live music skills!
Duke can be contacted at [email protected] if you are interested in the sessions.
Last session we had was 4 March 2020:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNU4gZjwFbrOLn3Xr4_Ik15hPDBWUOsS8JqLQdF9aKFaV0ee1-4AsVSi3uyOjPgfw?key=WTFXR240QU4yaHpVQmtmRXBLLWROSk0tS3VrWVh3
May there be many more!
Love
Gustav
109 new photos · Album by Gustav Franzsen
