While he was still working as a journalist, he did his first live gig in 1986 at the Green Room in Cape Town, a highly satyrical political cabaret along with writer Elmarie Kitshoff and singer Liese Stassen.

In that same year he moved back to Johannesburg, the city where he was born, where he collaborated with a group of writers in another political cabaret at the Black Sun in Berea. This cabaret featured songs as 'Wat 'n vriend het ons in PW' and lyrics as 'O, Kapitaal wat woon in Krygkor...' sung to the tune of die 'Onse Vader'.

In 1987, he workshopped a play, 'Piekniek by Dingaan' that won the 'Pick of the Fringe Award' at the Grahamstown Festival. The project featured Nataniel, Martinus Basson, Gustav Geldenhuys, Elma van Wyk, Koos Kombuis and Gerrit Schoonhoven. The play, sub-titled 'Kinders van Verwoerd' rocked the boat at the Arts Council establishment of Capab and since then he has never been asked back for projects by drama departments at the Arts Councils.

Also in 1987 he started working with Andre Letoit, who consequently became known as Koos Kombuis. They first performed as a duo, then a group of musicians joined them on stage and the band JOHANNES KERKORREL EN DIE GEREFORMEERDE BLUES BAND was born. Almost simultaneously Kerkorrel was fired from his job as journalist at Rapport after being threatened with the wagging finger of PW because of his political activism, and started making music full time.

A group of artists, part of a trendy urban young white generation who rebelled against the autocratic dictates of the apartheid state, allied themselves around the GBB. They referred to themselves as a democratic and non-racist collective and organised, in 1988, a concert called 'Die Eerste Alternatiewe Afrikaans Rock Concert' in Johannesburg. This concert was a show of solidarity for the liberation of Afrikaans from political fetters and galvanised a lot of support from the underground.
In 1989 the GBB album 'EET KREEF' was released and nearly all songs were banned from airplay by the SABC.

VOELVRY, a nationwide tour of campuses, followed and it unleashed an uproar in Afrikaner circles. The tour featured a.o. the late James Phillips as Bernoldus Niemand and nearly did not go ahead when it became clear that nearly all Broederbond-controlled campuses were paranoid about the concert. The issue of freedom of speech was at stake and tough battles were fought by the students who rebelled against the bans and organised alternative venues so the tour went ahead uninterrupted. At the University of Stellenbosch, the heartland of Afrikaans, the ban led to one of the biggest mass rallies in the history of campus. Eventually 4000 students attended the concert at Die Drie Gewels, a hotel outside town, not in the least intimidated by the security police filming the audience or the German and Swedish television crews filming the performers. Two days later the Voelvry-concert filled out the 3Arts Theatre in Cape Town, the first time in fifteen years this had happened since the cultural boycot. The tour ended in Windhoek, amidst controversy in the town after somebody pulled out a gun during the gig and ordered the audience 'to stop smoking pot and bringing their own booze'. Voelvry relocated to Club Oddysey in the coloured township of Windhoek, where it ended officially.

In 1990 after the banning of Voelvry on Afrikaans campuses nationwide and the banning of his songs on radio, Johannes Kerkorrel left for Europe where Eet Kreef had just been released. Initially he stayed with a group of exiles in Amsterdam and met up with artists, actors, conscientious objectors, writers and ANC exiles in the city.

At the same time the song 'Hillbrow' from Eet Kreef became a radio-hit in the Low Countries and people became curious about this 'white South African'. Consequently he was invited for a solo-tour in Belgium and after numerous interviews with newspapers, magazines, radio and tv, explaining time after time that 'no, not all white South Africans support apartheid'. Johannes Kerkorrel was the frist white Afrikaans singer who got completely accepted by the media and public. This then resulted in him being invited to the prestigious Dranouter Festival, where Donovan opened for him and where -to Kerkorrel's amazement- the audience of 15.000 sang along to his songs. At this festival he shared the stage with the likes of Rory Block, Luka Bloom and Thomas Mapfumo.

In September 1990 he returned to South Africa to record his second album 'BLOUDRUK' and tour the country extensively with 'Die Blou Aarde Tour', which ended at the hugely celebratory - Mandela had just been released- Houtstok Festival.

In 1992 he started to work as the South African correspondent for the Belgian Radio 1 programme 'Het Einde van de Wereld', ever since he has been on the radio with his weekly column about South Africa.

In the beginning of 1993, Dutch singer Stef Bos came to South Africa to write and record with Kerkorrel, the single 'Awuwa / Zij wil dansen' (with Tandie Klaasen) was released in South Africa and the Benelux. The song became a hit in the Low Countries and Kerkorrel and Bos performed it live with Princesse Mansia M'bila -an authentic princess from Zaire- who took the place of Ms. Klaasen for the overseas tv-programmes.

Later that year Bloudruk was released in Europe and Kerkorrel was invited back for a tour of Flemish and Dutch Summerfestivals with his Antwerp-based band. This tour proved to be hugely successfull and Kerkorrel was to be seen and heard on nearly every radio- and tv programme, and two documentaries were made about him by Belgian tv. Kerkorrel has been travelling to and fro and played a.o. the Marlboro Tour circuit in Flanders, 'De Piano' on the townsquare of the historical city of Bruges where he played solo at the grand piano (also featured in the line-up that week was Randy Newman), 'Boterhammen in het Park' in the Royal Park in Brussels.

By that year he started to get invited for special one-off concerts in Belgium such as double-concert with singer Wannes Van de Velde in Ghent for the NGO's and government-representatives at the 'Nationale Honger Solidariteitsdag' and the launch of the 'Vlaams/Zuidafrikaans Intercultuur Fonds' where he was named Cultural Ambassador.

In 1994 his third album 'CYANIDE IN THE BEEFCAKE' was released and again he toured South Africa solo and with his band: Mauriz Lotz, Didi Kriel, Andre Abrahamse, Reuben Samuels, McCoy Mrubata and Barry van Zyl, Barry Snyman, Andrew Cleland and Amagugu Akwazulu.

In the same year this album was released in Europe and this time, Kerkorrel did a theatre-tour there which ended at the 'Nekkanacht' in the Sportpaleis in Antwerpen where he performed in front of an audience of 14.000 people with top Dutch and Flemish bands such as Amsterdam band The Scene, Dutch singer-songwriters Stef Bos and Frank Boeijen and Flemish superstar Raymond van het Groenewoud.

In 1995 he won the FNB Sama Award for best pop music performance and 'Speel my Pop' a documentary on him made by Ken Kirsten for SABC 3, featuring three video's from the Cyanide project, won an Artes.

In the same year he played at 'Les Halles de la Villette' in Paris, during the 'L'Afrique du Sud Festival' a celebration of music from the new South Africa, along with Hugh Masakela, Vusi Mahlasela, Sankomoto, Johnny Clegg, Bayete, etc.

Kerkorrel plays the Grahamstown festival regularly as well as the Klein Karoo Kunstefees, he does regular solo- performances as well as big concerts with his band from the Warehouse Theatre in Windhoek, to Cape Town, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban and the Observatory Theatre in Bloemfontein.

Documentaries about him and his first band the Gereformeerde Blues Band have been broadcast in Germany, Holland, England, America, Belgium and Sweden.

His fouth album 'Ge-Trans-For-meer' written while living in Cape Town, saw him recording his own version of the traditional Afrikaans song 'Al lê Die berge Nog So Blou. The show, with the same title, and featuring material from his new album quietly sold out all over South Africa. The CD won two FNB SAMA Awards - one for best Afrikaans performance and one for Best Male Vocalist.

The CD ' Tien Jaar Later', a compilation of his best songs, was released early 1999 to celebrate Kerkorrel's 10 years on the stage.

Also in 1999 his CD 'Johannes Sing Koos du Plessis' was released and again, has been nominated for a FNB SAMA Award.

Kerkorrel is currently touring with his new show 'Die Ander Kant' based on the material of his latest CD which was released in September 2000.

September 2000.

 

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