liela groenewald is a 1973 capricorn. she grew up in the winelands and moved north eagerly. she now lives in brixton, johannesburg.
liela has been making music since she was at school. she sings rather nicely, but has unfortunately never learned to play the guitar properly. her favourite gigs nowadays are at oppikoppi festivals. it is with the encouragment of the oppikoppi crew that liela took to the stage as a solo act again.
this followed a break of a few years when she booked regular gigs for the valiant swart band during their reign of pretoria, and partied through the night quite often. she also started doing backing vocals for koos kombuis - a very precious experience for her, apart from being a great way of getting to know crowds, clubs and festival stages around the country.
another favourite was the abelarde sanction, brixton's infamous neighbourhood pub, regrettably closed down since taz, the gun-for-hire proprietor, decided to move. here liela often shared the stage with the brixton moord en roof orkes (bmro) fronted by andries 'roof' bezuidenhout. in 1999, liela and andries shared the abelarde prize for best folk artist. In 2000, liela won an abelarde prize for best female vocalist, but in 2001, the abelarde stewards couldn't make up their mind between liela and karen zoid. regrettably, the search is on for a new regular venue close enough to the brixton tower. mail us if you have a suggestion!
liela has played all of the oppikoppi easter and bushveld festivals over the past years, but the best one of the lot was definitely the double-wammy convoy of the two trek 2000 festivals in both in worcester and northam. for upcoming gigs at festivals and in more intimate venues, see the gig & band guide on this site.
several fans who have seen liela at the karoo festival (kknk) or on the kyknet show draadloos (first as guest of respectively koos kombuis and valiant swart, and more recently for a full programme) asked her where they could get her cd, and the question remains unanswered. liela would but indeed love to make an album soon - so watch this space!
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