Join the joyous Malawian dance pioneers and Cornish psych legends for a killer double bill in collaboration with Smugglers Agency.
MADALITSO BAND
The Madalitso Band are a two man musical army from Malawi. Described as 'Uplifting and Vibrant' by the BBC, they get crowds beaming with wonder and on their feet dancing every time. Their first album was produced by Bongo Joe records and the band has already performed at Womex 2020, Womad 2019, Roskilde 2018, Sauti Za Busara 2017...to name just a few.
Their vibrant playing, strong vocals and traditional style caught the attention of Emanuel Kamwenje who recorded their first album the same year. The band plays the babatone - a home-made instrument popular in Malawi - and the four-string guitar, creating the traditional Malawi 'banjo' sound. When not playing or touring, babatone player Yobu Malinga works as a gardener and guitarist Yosefe Kalekeni works as a security guard, however around Malawi they are increasingly revered as musical prophets.
BLIND YEO
Led by Will Greenham, Blind Yeo features a shifting cast of members which at present includes Henry Greenham, Sam Pert, Anoushka Helm, Jake Sheridan, Phil Self, Phyllida Bluemel and Dan Gilbert. The project began in the quiet and solitude of lockdown, before coming alive in a creatively explosive residency at the newly opened Cornish Bank in 2022 – a vibrant not-for-profit community arts space in the centre of Falmouth which has become the heart of a thriving underground Cornish scene of which Blind Yeo are very much a part. The band has since grown into a psychedelic carnival of sound best experienced live, as their memorable sets at festivals including Lost Map’s Christmas Humbug in Edinburgh and Great Estate and Tropical Pressure in Cornwall have proved.
Blind Yeo self-released their debut EP Echoes in April 2023, with tracks receiving plays from NTS, Soho Radio and BBC Introducing. It was followed in May 2024 by their Lost Map debut single ‘Otherside’ – a six-and-a-half-minute blur of motorik beats, rave synths and jagged electric guitar runs which received support from BBC 6 Music’s New Music Fix. Blind Yeo’s second EP Anam Cara was recorded last summer in bassist Jake Sheridan’s cob house, off-grid, solar powered studio hidden in woodland just off the north coast of Cornwall. Instead of putting it out as a purely standalone release, they’ve decided to pair it up with Echoes to create a revealing document of the band’s first two years together, and the thrilling journey of discovery they’ve been on to date – a journey that shows no time of stopping anytime soon.