By: The Times – Chivimbiso Gava
It is Sunday, the streets are quiet. After driving around in circles for 40 minutes, Paige MacMahon’s enigmatic voice leads us to an exclusive Studio 7 session. The acoustic performance is an intimate affair held at the Sea Point, Cape Town home of Studio 7 founder, music agent and consultant Patrick Craig. The Paige Mac band has clearly mesmerised the audience. MacMahon on vocals, Garry van Vuuren on bass, and Giovanni Serci on drums create a mesh of soul, folk and subtle reggae tunes. Paige’s voice is rich and soulful and her lyrics unpretentious. She has been compared to the likes of Adele and Tracy Chapman. After the show we take in the view from the balcony. She’s just finished the second performance of her day, but she’s still full of energy.
“[My] music is a bit of a wildcard. I can’t be boxed. I think it would be unfair to box people’s emotions. What I want my music to be is an honest story of my emotions,” says MacMahon. Her sound hits striking folk notes, a genre rooted in oral tradition that delves into
unlikely crevices in the human condition and often explores subjects such as hardship, love, inequality, conflict and peace. “It’s just music. I don’t like the idea of trying to categorise it because it would have to be a really long name like: soul-reggae-folk-funk-pop,” she says, laughing. She says her upbringing has been a major influence on her music….