STRICTLY ACAPELLA ZIMBABWE

Music is one of the most effective means of impressing spiritual truth upon the heart.Education pg 168.”Rightly employed, it is a precious gift of God, designed to uplift the thoughts to high and noble themes, to inspire and elevate the soul.”

I was in bed just thinking about life and things around me.Early this week , I had a chat with Pilgrims Music’s Phillip Machokoto. We had a deep conversation where he told me their upcoming album was inspired by the death of his brother Patrick.Just a week after launching their album , Patrick was murdered in Sunningdale. He was just like one of us , just like you and me but unexpectedly, he left us . Phillip then wrote the song Pazvinoperera which is the title track for their upcoming album. He explained to me that Pazvinoperera, Mwari ndipo pavanotangira.We may suffer in this world and go through all the pain but God will someday come take us to heaven.

That brought me to the song written by Radiance Acapella’s Kudakwashe Muyedzenga ,Heaven someday which is on their upcoming album to be launched in May.I listened to the song in bed while trying to sleep .It got so deep I had to wake up and pray again , asking and asking God to be in heaven with him when all things end.The lyrics read …. I can’t wait to hear the trumpet sound calling us home beyond the clouds , I’ll be in heaven someday, I’ll walk down the streets of gold , I cant wait to taste the tree of life .I’ll be in heaven someday, I’ll sing with angels and sit next to Christ the blessed One…..
Listening to the song , it was God talking to me .Its God talking to us.God is giving us assurance in this song , one day we will be in heaven , we’ll sing with angels , every sorrow will be gone and we’ll be with Christ.

Amour Music’s Kudenga Kwakanaka written by Kudakwashe Munda articulately describes how beautiful heaven is…..kudenga kwakanaka, hakuna matambudzo , Jesu ndiye mambo , tichandogara naye. Who wouldn’t want to go to such a beautiful place !!!! The song also highlights that Jesus is calling us to repent while we can so that when He comes to take His chosen , we’ll be there also.

I want to be there , i need to be in heaven. So what should I do? Ndiregererei by Firm Faith answered my question.I need to have a good relationship with God . In the song, the writer cries to God because of his sinful nature that continuosly leads him away from God, pleading to God to forgive him.The lyrics read….Baba ndiri mwana wenyu , nyangwe ndakatadza.Ndinochema mberi kwenyu mundiregerere , munoziva kusasimba kwangu ndotya kurasika….

This is how music has touched my life and there is no doubt it has touched a lot of people’s lives helping them cope with the pressures of life.To music groups , you may not be getting any money out of this but let there be greater satisfaction in knowing that your music has helped to uplift many, so that they may here on earth enjoy a little heavenly bliss ,but far better is the eternal reward for all who serve faithfully.

Pilgrims Music is an Adventsist acapella group based in Harare.It was established in the late 90s.Strictly Acapella (SA) caught up with Phillip Machokoto (PM ) who is the director of the group to discuss more about their upcoming album Pazvinoperera.

SA: Phillip can you give us a brief background of your group.
PM: Pilgrims Music was started in the late 90s and we were just singing at church level. I joined the group in 2004 but by then the group never really had the vision to record mainly because we didn’t have our own music.

SA:How many albums do you have now?
PM:Our first album Anopa Runyararo was released in 2016.The album didn’t get the attention we had hoped for. So in 2018 we recorded and launched our second album Bhachi Remavara.We got great recognition on that album and it was a huge success.

SA:Your upcoming album, can we have more details?
PM:It is titled Pazvinoperera with 10 tracks.The title track is Pazvinoperera again and I wrote the song .We are going to launch it in June this year at Glad Tidings Hall in Harare.

SA:What was the inspiration behind Pazvinoperera?
PM:Just a week after launching Bhachi Remavara my brother Patrick Machokoto was murdered in Sunningdale. The pain was too much for us as a group so most of the songs on the album redirects us to God , “Pazvinoperera” tinotura mutoro.Unto him we lay our burdens. It brings one closer to God , apo tapererwa Mwari anotinyaradza.Pazvinoperera zvinhu zvese zvakatiipira , ndipo pana Muponesi.So as a tribute to Patrick, we added on the album one of his songs which he wrote titled Moyo Wangu Unofara.

SA:What can we expect from Pilgrims Music in the future?
PM:As a professional brand, we are now working on reaching out to the regional and international community, on television and in the newspapers.We see our group going big.

SA:Thank you Phillip. God bless your ministry.
PM:Thank you too for having me.

Pilgrims Music is an Adventsist acapella group based in Harare.It was established in the late 90s.Strictly Acapella (SA) caught up with Phillip Machokoto (PM ) who is the director of the group to discuss more about their upcoming album Pazvinoperera.

SA: Phillip can you give us a brief background of your group.
PM: Phillip can you give us a brief background of your group.\nPM: : Pilgrims Music was started in the late 90s and we were just singing at church level. I joined the group in 2004 but by then the group never really had the vision to record mainly because we didn’t have our own music.

SA:How many albums do you have now?
PM:Our first album Anopa Runyararo was released in 2016.The album didn’t get the attention we had hoped for. So in 2018 we recorded and launched our second album Bhachi Remavara.We got great recognition on that album and it was a huge success.

SA:Your upcoming album, can we have more details?
PM:It is titled Pazvinoperera with 10 tracks.The title track is Pazvinoperera again and I wrote the song .We are going to launch it in June this year at Glad Tidings Hall in Harare.

SA:What was the inspiration behind Pazvinoperera?
PM:Just a week after launching Bhachi Remavara my brother Patrick Machokoto was murdered in Sunningdale. The pain was too much for us as a group so most of the songs on the album redirects us to God , “Pazvinoperera” tinotura mutoro.Unto him we lay our burdens. It brings one closer to God , apo tapererwa Mwari anotinyaradza.Pazvinoperera zvinhu zvese zvakatiipira , ndipo pana Muponesi.So as a tribute to Patrick, we added on the album one of his songs which he wrote titled Moyo Wangu Unofara.

SA:What can we expect from Pilgrims Music in the future?
PM:As a professional brand, we are now working on reaching out to the regional and international community, on television and in the newspapers.We see our group going big.

SA:Thank you Phillip. God bless your ministry.
PM:Thank you too for having me.

Victoria Marimo
Two adventist music groups sharing one name have caused confusion among acapella lovers as followers are finding it difficult to separate the two.

Pilgrims Music registered at Sunningdale Church and Pilgrims Ministries registered at Mabelreign Church boyhh claim to be the rightful owners of the controversial name.

In an interview with Strictly Acappella , Pilgrims Music director Phillip Machokoto said his group is not concerned about the name since their followers know the real Pilgrims sound.

He added that they are in the process of branding their group through uniforms and originality in their sound taking note that they are originally the owners of the name.

“Our group was established in the late 90s.It was only last year when we got to hear of this other group thats why we had the album Bhachi Remavara to show our followers our real sound.”

“We have uniforms, group logo and our music is unique so we are really working on building our brand differently from anyone else. On our part it’s not competition, we just focus on our music.”

Pilgrims Ministries’ Programmes Coordinator Taurai Pambweyi, however said both groups existed without knowing each other and as a group intentions are there to revisit the name aspect but it is not a priority now.

“Identity is pertinent and essential to exclusively own your brand but we will continue using Pilgrims Ministries as our name until further notice. ”

He added that the group was formed in 2014 and as a ministry their focus is not only on music but on preaching as well as noting that this is not the first time such a name coincidence has happened.

“Inspired Vocals name was once shared by two groups based in Harare and Bulawayo but these groups worked together on certain songs and had two shows together which were successful.”

Pilgrims Music is launching their third album titled Pazvinoperera in June this year.

Being a broadcast journalist in this environment, i had my soul on fire trying to quench the fire with a few productions here and there but i couldn’t find the platform to do so.

I started blogging last year with my first blog Education 101 mainly focusing on the education sector in Zimbabwe. I chose education because I felt the need to change people’s lives through my articles. I faced some obstacles but i kept my head up.

I AM A STORYTELLER, story telling is my passion and even when i feel like i can’t go on.Fortunate enough, with the advent of social media, i can be who i want to be , a blogger , a journalist, a storyteller.

As a music lover , i realised a number of music groups to be more precise adventist music groups have little or no publicity .Hence i started my second blog Strictly Acapella , a platform where groups can have the opportunity to showcase their music , projects and get to interact with their fans on a more personal level.

I am overwhelmed by interview requests I am receiving now and I am humbled. In future , we will have video interviews with guests.

For questions, feel free to ask and for interviews, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for your support!!!

I had an interesting interview today with two groups .They both share the same name but they claim they were not aware of each other’s existance up until last year. Check out my next post on Thursday with the full interview .

Hello acapella lovers.So we are having interview requests from music groups and they’re are not “acapella” groups , but……..we want to give everyone who follows our page a chance to experience the beauty of adventist music. Having said this, we’ll be featuring more and more groups on our page.

Don’t forget to check our page for interviews and updates on your favourite groups and PRESS that LIKE button on our page.

So as promised, I had an interview with one of the most sort after male group, Radiance Acapella.
Radiance Acapella is an Adventsist male acapella group originally from Gweru with 10 singing members . Strictly Acappella’s Victoria Marimo (VM) caught up with Tinashe Muyedzenga (TM) who is the director of the group to discuss about the upcoming album titled Heaven.

V.M : Tinashe can you start by giving us a brief background of the group Radiance Acapella.
T.M : Radiance started as a mixed group in 2013 .Im not one of the original members.The founder is Nyasha Mukandabvute .While singing , the group recruited more people and as time went on the group had more males than females so it ended up as a male group. We have 10 singing members and 3 management members.

V.M : How many album do you have to your name now?
T.M : We have 3 albums namely Anotonhodza, I Believe , It’s Going Far and currently we are working on our fouth album titled Heaven.

V.M : Speaking about the much awaited album, what can we expect?
T.M : The album is going to have 15-17 tracks , rinenge riri dambarefu chairo (he chuckles).We are going to launch it first in Namibia on the 4th of May and in Zimbabwe on the 1st of June.We are still yet to decide the venue for the launch in Zimbabwe.

V.M : …more about the album. …
T.M : The album is about the christian journey as we live on earth.Its all about the second coming of Jesus Christ as the climax of our journey thats why its titled Heaven. Tese tinoda kuenda kudenga so the album has songs on how to live the christian life getting ready for heaven.

V.M :Your singing guys is flawless, people want to know , how do you recruit members in your group?
T.M : Normally we take people we already know who have a passion for music however, we do hold auditions . Sometimes when we see potential we approach the person but some people approach us to join the group then we audition them.

V.M : So Tinashe, what is your favourite song from all the Radiance songs?
T.M : Thats a difficult question Vicky (he laughs ) ummm hahahahah, i think its Be Still.

V.M : What can we expect from Radiance Acapella in the future?
T.M : More music , more powerful music. Its going to change, its going to be more mature and it will definitely be better.We hope to cover more ground , not just confined to Africa but our music is going to reach places , its going to be worldwide.

V.M :It was nice chatting with you Tinashe, God bless your ministry.
T.M : Thank you too Vicky for having me.

As promised , we had an interview with Radiance Acapella’s Director yesterday on their upcoming album Heaven . The article will be published this Tuesday so be on the look out.

Don’t forget to check our Facebook page Strictly Acapella for the article and click that like button…..