Murinye Express, a Gweru based sungura music band emerged winners of the Midlands province Chibuku road to fame after beating seven other groups at a competition held last week in Gokwe. The group walked away $1000 richer with the second group scooping $500.
The tight Midlands competition saw Gokwe being set alight with sheer musicality and energy.
This year’s Midlands province edition of the Chibuku Road to Fame music competition was held at Mapfungautsi bar at the bustling Gokwe Centre.
Speaking during prize handover ceremony, Miss Catherine Mthombeni, who is National Arts Council spokesperson, thanked Delta Beverages for its generosity and the role it plays in championing arts development in an otherwise moribund economy.
She also implored artists to use such opportunities to network and create business with fellow musicians, promoters and venue proprietors.
The event was also graced by SaMukoko who played as guest artiste.
Speaking on the sidelines of the show, the dreadlocked artists was confident that Murinye Express were very strong contenders for the national title. He however, suggested the group might need to add a sub-rhythm guitar to complement their set of three guitars.
The competition run as a fete attracted musicians from three districts namely, Kwekwe, Gokwe and Gweru.
The winning band, Murinye Express exhibited an excellent display of showmanship. Their set was well thought of and unlike most groups competing their vocals and instruments were not competing for prominence.
The Chibuku Road to Fame(CRTF) is a music talent search show by National Arts Council of Zimbabwe in partnership with Delta Beverages. The programme was launched in 2005 and since then it has managed to identify and promote music talent among the youth upcoming artists in all the country’s provinces. The CRTF competitions are done at two levels, at provincial and national levels. The first prize winning groups in provinces then compete at the national finals
