Based: Cape Town
Luna Paige is a proudly South African singer / songwriter. She has been described as a singer with a sultry voice who has a mesmerising way of luring the listener into a world of beautiful images & emotions.
Luna’s love for song writing and the piano started in her teens, during which time she was heavily influenced by the great songwriters of the 70’s. Artists like Jim Croce, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin, Joan Armatrading and Joan Baez all played a part in shaping her sound. Later influences are artists such as Rodriguez, Nick Cave, Fiona Apple, Over the Rhine, Tori Amos and Tracy Chapman. Nowadays Luna finds her inspiration from in genres of music and random sounds and melodies that float by and find their way into her sub-conscience.
Luna studied Social Work at the University of Stellenbosch. After a four year degree she decided to combine her passion for people with her love for music and completed a Masters Degree in the therapeutic use of music in group therapy to treat chemically dependents. While at university Luna started performing her songs at poetry evenings, building a small but loyal following.
Luna’s introduction into the music industry came in 1999 when she was discovered by a small label called Afrimusik at one of these magical poetry evenings. Afrimusik produced a compilation album (Eve: Women in the garden of song, 2000) with the works of female singer/songwriters Lesley Rae Dowling, Laurinda Hofmeyr, Eugenie and Nicole Holm. This album included three of Luna’s original songs.
After her studies she started performing regularly and in 2003 recorded her first album. As a collection of Luna’s ‘favourite first songs’ the album consists of seven songs, some of which she wrote while still at school. The product was raw and unique and was well received by both music industry critics and Luna’s fans. A review of this self-titled album, (Luna) on an international music website stated the following, “If Luna were from New York, she’d be the latest rage!”
Her second album titled “Missing Pieces”, recorded in 2005, showcased songs she wrote over a two year period while touring and performing extensively. This album is a selection of up-beat pop songs and dark introspective ballads and ensured Luna a Nr 1 on OFM and additions to various play lists on national stations such as RSG and Highveld. During this time Luna relocated from Stellenbosch to Pretoria to expose her music to a bigger market. The music video for her hit song “Somewhere beautiful” was A-listed on MK89 and due to its popularity Luna was invited to appear on various TV programs and featured in numerous newspapers articles and magazines.
During 2008 Luna expanded her horizons and became involved in the Afrikaans theatre production “Elders aan Diens”, under director and well-known actor, Albert Maritz. Alongside actresses Nicole Holm and Frieda van den Heever, they did dramatic and musical interpretations of poems of Jeanne Goosens’ latest book “Elders aan Diens”. This production was nominated for a Kanna Award at KKNK 2008. This production also received rave reviews at various theatres such as Klein Libertas Theatre and Die Boer, as well as festivals such as Cultivaria (Paarl) and Aardklop (Potchefstroom). “Elders aan Diens” was invited to form a part of the RSG arts festival in October 2013 and subsequently got invited to run for the first time at the Woordfees 2014.
2008 entailed some serious composing and recording work. Luna worked on her latest album from July 2008 – November 2009. This album was finally released in November 2009 and was titled “Wonderful life”. Since then Luna has been traveling and performing solo and with her band, who consists ofSchalk Joubert on bass, Willem Moller on guitar and Kevin Gibson on drums. All of these artists also performed on “Wonderful life”.
Luna Paige has also started a collaborative project with blues man Gerald Clark in 2009. Together these two Capetonians have actively been performing and touring across South Africa since 2009. Audiences enjoy the fusion of old classic blues and country songs with the original, more contemporary songs as composed by the respective artists. Luna Paige and Gerald Clark deliver a fun and emotive blues and country performance with great vocals, guitars, piano, a telephone and a stomp box. The Lovemore Show will be seen this year at the Oppikoppi festival (August 2015).
In 2011 Luna decided to start working on her first Afrikaans album. She composed and wrote her first Afrikaans album over a ten week period. All these songs were inspired by Afrikaans novels and short stories that she read. Luna did a solo sneak pre-listening tour from June-July 2011, after which she started working on the pre-production of the album. This tour ensured some good publicity as well as a profile interview on Kwêla (Kyknet) – which was aired in September 2011.
A big scale production was recorded live at the Durbanville Auditorium in Durbanville on the 9th of June 2012. This was released in DVD and live CD format in November 2012. It includes a documentary about the inspiration behind this concept album. “Storielied” is one of its’ kind due to the fusion of Afrikaans literature (novels and short stories) and music. It promises to impress Afrikaans and English lovers of word and music and to make a valuable contribution towards the Afrikaans and South African music industry as we know it. After its release Luna received extensive media coverage and wonderful reviews (see My Music, Reviews and Interviews).
Since releasing the album, Luna was invited to various festivals such as Innibos (2013) and the Richmond Bookbedonnerd Festival (2013). Luna also traveled to the Netherlands to perform her Afrikaans music at the Festival voor Afrikaans in The Hague. Luna traveled to and performed in the Netherlands once again in 2014. She performed in Amsterdam, Haarlem, The Hague and Utrecht. In 2015 Luna is on her way to the Netherlands yet again to perform on Dutch artist Herman van Veen’s farm. More info on that soon!
In 2014 Luna released her fifth album, Borders & Beyond (SEE ‘MY MUSIC’ FOR REVIEWS & INTERVIEWS). It was a busy year which entailed a lot of traveling and performing to promote her album.
2015 is a year of new shows and festivals it seems. Festival performances are Woordfees, KKNK, STRAB and Oppikoppi. It is the year in which Luna introduces the Afrikaans music production “Die Ander Konsert”. She is currently promoting Borders & Beyond, “Die Ander Konsert”, the Lovemore Show (with Gerald Clark), her new show “From a Hat” – all whilst working on brand new Afrikaans and English material. Fans can look forward to hearing some of the new material in her show “From a Hat”.
Luna is also working at the Department of Social Work at the University of Stellenbosch (2015).
