It’s hard to say who is driving the new upsurge in country music’s popularity – South African born masked singer Orville Peck, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter or Cape Town’s very own queen of country, Micaela Kleinsmith.
Butterfly hitmaker, Kleinsmith, will be playing at the jazz fest’s free concert in Greenmarket Square on Thursday from 4pm.
The talented, Kleinsmith has a discovery tale made for the story books.
The first ever winner of the Nashville-located Apple TV+ reality competition series, My Kind of Country, Kleinsmith shares that she nearly didn’t make it to the spotlight.
“I missed the first email from the show,” she said. “Someone must have seen me online – I still don’t know which video – and then they (the show) emailed me again. I thought it was a scam initially.”
After some internet sleuthing and verifying that actress Reese Witherspoon was indeed involved with the show, she responded, auditioned, and then Peck chose her to be on his team.
The rest, as they say in showbiz, is history.
“It was the most random thing ever – the universe is telling me something – I need to listen to it,” said Kleinsmith of overcoming her nerves to get on a plane and participate in the competition, which she ultimately won, with her original song ‘Butterfly’ being released on Apple’s streaming platform.
Kleinsmith, for all her youth, has a depth of emotion and empathy in her music that is hard to ignore.
Her effervescence belies the sadness and loss she has experienced, which informs much of her work, which is about love, its highs and lows and of self, others and the whole.
“I think that the place I write from is the love I have for my family, friends, and partner.
“I want people to essentially appreciate everything they have and the people around them – life is very short, and things change very quickly.
“I have had lots of experience with loss and death, I know what that feels like and I have learnt to appreciate who I am.”
How did she end up in country, especially in a town deeply rooted in jazz?
“I come from a musical family. “My earliest memory was singing in creche. When I was 13, an uncle down the road began teaching me the guitar and I started out playing secular music. My first real tunes were country and I have dabbled – vocally – with a lot of jazz, which is why I am so excited to be playing on this stage.”
Greenmarket Square will ring true with Kleinsmith’s singing, music and message.
“Expect some original sounds and a really good time”, Kleinsmith said.
Sharing some words of encouragement to others who have a dream, Kleinsmith said: “Continue believing in yourself and pushing – it’s one thing to dream about stuff but if you don’t do anything or don’t work towards it, it may not happen.
“Believe as if your dreams have already come true because when it happens, you’ll be ready.”
Cape Times