Digby and the Lullaby to woo the East Cape

[caption id="attachment_219647" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Digby and the Lullaby band members Rouchelle Hubsch and Darren Peens are performing in the Eastern Cape from next week[/caption]

For any Eastern Cape guy trying to impress his girl with the perfect date night, booking a seat for the Digby and the Lullaby show might just do the trick, reckons band member Darren Peens.

Peens said he and his musical partner and wife, Rouchelle Hubsch, would bring their best with them as they return to perform in their home province after a stage absence of about a year.

“We’re really excited to be playing in the Eastern Cape again. It’s our home [they live in St Francis Bay] and we haven’t been on a stage here for about a year now,” he said.

The Digby and the Lullaby Indie-folk band, consisting of Peens on guitar and backing vocals and Hubsch on piano and lead vocals, will play one-night only shows in the Eastern Cape, starting in Cape St Francis, followed by East London and then Port Elizabeth.

The Eastern Cape tour will be the band’s official comeback after taking a break from performing to focus on their baby boy, now aged six months, and write new material.

The pair won the Grahamstown National Arts Festival Standard Bank Ovation Award in 2014 and consider the achievement as one of their most memorable.

However, their proudest moment was having been invited to perform and record in Bahrain and work with the late Michael Jackson’s recording engineer.

“A friend of ours was called and asked if he could put forward a few names of South African artists to possibly come and film and record a few songs at a recording studio in Bahrain,” Peens said.

Among other things, the couple was mesmerised by the culture, the treatment they received while there and the studio in which they recorded.

“There was nothing lacking ... anything you could dream of was available in that studio. Seriously, we worked with an amazing crew,” Peens said.

Before forming a band, the couple met when Hubsch auditioned for a music competition in which Peens was one of the judges.

“She submitted a song for a competition I was judging and she won. One of her prizes was to come and work with me in my recording studio and a few years later, we got married,” he said.

The duo recorded their first album, The Somewhere Wind, in 2011 in New York. They have since released two EPs and will be performing some of the new material they wrote while on break, as well as some of their old music.

Digby and the Lullaby generally communicate a range of life experiences through their music, including relationships and anything that is inspirational enough to write and sing about.

“The audience can look forward to an intense performance because we will give it everything and produce a heartwarming show.”

The band will perform at the Rock Lily Music Bar Grill, Cape St Francis, on Wednesday August 30, followed by East London’s Legends Showcase on Friday September 1, and the Music Kitchen in Newton Park on Thursday September 7.

Tickets cost R250 (R220 for early bookings) for the Cape St Francis show, R120 for East London and R100 for Port Elizabeth. Bookings for these shows can be made on (042) 940-0174, (043) 721-2794 and 072-994-5096 respectively.

All shows start at 8pm.

For more information, contact Peens on 072-352-4591.