Known for performing barefoot with her deep vocals and soulful renditions, UK’s award winning songstress, Joss Stone, will join the legendary list of great artists to have graced the stage at Botswana Craft. The singer, songwriter, and actress will perform at the last but one Mascom Live Sessions event for 2015 this coming Friday, November 20. She will perform alongside Botswana’s own Abigail Isa and the Contrabanditz.
“Joss (Stone) is doing a tour around the world and she chose to perform here in Botswana as part of the tour,” Botswana Craft Managing Director, Oliver Groth said. He said Groth would perform at a couple of other SADC countries as well. Addressing the media on Stone’s visit, Groth said before jetting off to perform in Zambia, Stone intends to visit some of the charity organisations around Gaborone.
“I was surprised to receive a call from her and her team expressing their desire to visit. They googled Botswana, and Mascom Live Sessions is what they came up with,” Groth said.
Born Joscelyn Eve Stoker in 1987, Stone comes from a small coastal town of Dover, in the south-eastern county of Kent (England). A lover of soul music since a young girl, Stone is known for deep throaty vocals, soulful renditions and barefoot performances.
In 2002, she left home for New York City to pursue her dream and landed a deal with S-Curve CEO Steve Greenberg. A year later, at age 16, Stone released her debut album, The Soul Sessions, a collection of covers she produced in just four days. The record reached the top 5 in the U.K. and the top 40 on the U.S. Billboard Chart. The singer followed her debut with 2004’s Mind, Body & Soul, a body of original work that was an even bigger success than the first. In 2005, Stone won two Brit Awards and was nominated for three Grammys. Stone enjoyed continued success with her next effort, 2007’s Introducing Joss Stone, which went gold in the United States.
Colour Me Free, released in 2009, failed to make as big of an impression as her earlier work. Branching out on her own, Stone launched the Stone’d Records label in 2010. She also has explored cooperative projects. Stone joined forces with stars such as Mick Jagger and Damian Marley to form the group Super Heavy. The band announced in May 2011 that they woulld be releasing their first album later that year. Botswana Craft most recently hosted South Africa’s gifted songstress, Lira alongside Botswana’s Samantha Mogwe under Mascom Live Sessions. The last Mascom Live Sessions event for the year is scheduled for some time in December.