Humble Man – celebrating 25 years of awesome music!

We have said it many a time before and we’ll say it again: East London truly is home to some of the most talented musicians around. Whether the artists are permanently based here or have left the city for pastures new, there’s no denying that our homegrown talent is simply awesome.

And one such band that springs to mind when thinking of our incredible musicians is Humble Man, East London favourites for a long time now.

Formed back in 1991 under the name The Blues Co. by Greg Clur (bass), Colin Clur (guitar & vocals) and Titch Wild (drums & vocals), the trio gigged locally at first, establishing a solid fan base here in East London. The opportunity then arose to travel further afield to perform and so they took their talent and wowed audiences in cities such as Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.

After a decade of performing locally and nationally, The Blues Co. decided to lay down some tracks for a debut album and it was at this point that the name of the band was changed to Humble Man (so named after one of the album tracks ‘Humble Man Shuffle’). The trio recorded the album ‘One True Friend’ in Johannesburg at Robin Walsh’s Undahaus Studio to critical acclaim. A 15-track offering, the album proved to be an excellent representation of the band’s sound and was followed in 2006 by a second album ‘Aim to Please’. This time round, the band displayed its mellower side on many songs of the 12-track album but still retained the trademark Blues and Rock sound they had become known for.

A few years ago, the band decided to do a bit of a Humble Man Shuffle and introduced the awesome talents of Donné Dowlman on bass guitar. This introduction to the band meant that Greg was free to indulge in his electric guitar passion and together they produced a sound that worked perfectly.

One of the venues that Humble Man has performed at regularly throughout the last couple of decades is The Guild Theatre. Ask anybody around and they will cite The Guild as one of their favourite East London venues; Greg, Colin, Titch and Donne are no exceptions. It was where the band’s debut offering, ‘One True Friend’, was launched and they have since graced its stage on multiple occasions.

The 6th October will be the tenth time the band has performed at The Guild Theatre and this particular occasion is going to be an extra special one, marking 25 years of the original trio having played together.

Humble Man will be adding to its already incredible sound with the introduction of some ‘friends’ including Norman Chibanda on keyboards, Kirk Gibbons on saxophone, Sharon Mvandaba on vocals and a classy backing vocal section aptly named The Humble-etts and comprising of Tshepiso, Khanyi, Azi and Liso.

The band was recently asked how they felt about having played together for so long and of course, their responses were true to their characters and display their loyalty and brotherhood to one another.

“It’s been a blast! We’re like brothers really; I mean Greg and Colin are brothers anyway and I’m like a third brother you know. We’re all very close.” Colin chimed in: “Yeah we have a musical understanding which is formed over many years; it’s like an instinctive thing.” Greg agreed saying: “It’s something you can’t quantify, it just happens and we spark each other; besides we get on really well anyway.”

Humble Man’s 25 year anniversary concert is going to be a spectacular show and you will most definitely not be disappointed. Show your support for one of East London’s most respected and well-known bands and don’t miss out on this evening of absolutely awesome music. Bookings for the show can be made at either The Guild Theatre or via Computicket and the price is R100 per person.