Rowan Stuart Music

Today we sent our valuables off to be shipped to England.

It's quite surreal to have a visual depiction of your life and history represented as a pile of cardboard boxes! It's been an interesting challenge figuring out what to send over, and what to leave behind.

Of all the musical, studio, videographic and photographic equipment we've accumulated, I'm most sentimental about my guitars. I had to leave a few behind, but changed my mind about one particular electric at the last minute!

As I'll be without most of my equipment for the next few months, I'll be using borrowed gear for my last few shows in South Africa.

I want to say thanks to Dave and the gentlemen from Cargopak CC for all their help, carefulness, expertise and consideration in facilitating the transport of our belongings.

Bon voyage, earthly possessions - see you in England!

EXTRA DATE ADDED - Good day, one and all. While my Farewell Concert on the 21st of January is sold out, the Westville Theatre Club has kindly allowed us Friday the 19th of January for an extra performance. Tickets are selling quickly, so email [email protected] to reserve yours if you'd like to join me in celebrating 15 years as a solo artist. Dustin Mason will be joining me on bass guitar, and we are really looking forward to performing for you one more time before I leave for the United Kingdom (Of Leaves)!

A sublime 2024 to you! My farewell concert at the Westville Theatre Club on 21 January is officially sold out, but there may be the option of making a second date - Friday 19 January - available. If you would like to attend the Friday, please email [email protected] as soon as you can to let her know. Wishing everyone a splendid start to the new year 🌅

Greetings, all. There are only 4 tickets left for my Farewell Concert at the Westville Theatre Club on 21 January. If you'd still like to attend, email [email protected] before they're gone. Also, I'm pleased to announce that Dustin Mason will be joining me on bass at this special event 🎸Have a good Thursday, everyone! 🌿

Greetings, Good Folk of the Festive Fray. Here is the poster for the final concert I will be doing on South African soil for a good while, maybe even years. Join me, and help make this bittersweet occasion less bitter, and more sweet. It would be most splendid to celebrate the last 15 years of solo South African serenading with you!

Email [email protected] to book now.

🎶🧝‍♂️🌠

Greetings, good folk. Last year I started the process of pursuing a talent visa for the United Kingdom. I kept it under wraps, because I didn't know how realistic my chances of being accepted were. Amazingly, my application was successful, and so on the 28th of January 2024, Carryn and I are moving to England! We will be staying in the village of Folkingham in the Lincolnshire district as our starting point. I'm going to miss my friends and family very much, but I hope to return to South Africa as often as I can. As mixed as my emotions are, this is a rare opportunity, and I'm looking forward to sharing my music with the people of England and soon the European Union.

Thank you, everyone, for the trillions of messages of congratulations for Carryn and I on our recent wedding! I look forward to sharing more from our big day with you soon 🏰💍

A sneak peek of what we got up to last weekend: presenting Mr. and Mrs. Stuart 🌠

📷: Kavo R Photography

Good evening, all! Tomorrow morning, the 10th of October, at 11 am - 11.15 am South African time, I will be doing a live stream performance as part of World Jenny's Day.

Held each 10 October on World Mental Health Day, World Jenny's Day was established to use the Performing Arts and The Arts to normalise and soften conversations around depression su***de and their solutions.

This is a very important cause, and a very special event, and I'm honoured to be one of the acts representing South Africa.

To watch mine, or any of the dozens of performances from artists around the world, please see the links mentioned in the attached poster.

And for more information on World Jenny's Day, visit the following links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Jenny's_Day
https://worldjennysday.com/

Forever dreaming. Forever working hard to make them real. And when I go quiet, it usually means something big is coming.

Hi, all. Sadly, we have to cancel tomorrow's show at Stumpnose in Kloof - we didn't get the minimum number of pre-bookings we required to make the event feasible. I will still be performing at The Market at Lifestyle Centre in Ballito from 12.30 - 3.30 pm tomorrow (Saturday), and will be joined by Dustin Mason on bass guitar for the first time at the venue.

On Saturday, we brought the Step Into My World {LIVE} concert to The Knoll Historic Guest Farm for a lovely audience of appreciative and musical folks. We laughed, reminisced and sang together like old friends. It's so nice to witness these songs I write connecting with people of all ages. I appreciate the 20-somethings, for choosing to support live, original music, in a world of endless entertainment options available at their fingertips. I appreciate the people in their 70s, who have lived through some of the greatest decades of music, for embracing my songs. And I appreciate everybody in between for choosing to spend their time, their money and their energy on attending my concerts. I take your support very seriously, and will continue to try and bring you the best show I can. Thanks to Chris from The Knoll, and to Carryn Clicks Photography for these images.

Good Wednesday! Okay, I'm going to be real with you for a moment - we've had very few bookings for the Rowan Stuart - Step Into My World {LIVE} in Hilton concert planned for this Saturday at The Knoll Shed, and we're on the verge of having to cancel the show. We would much prefer to go ahead with the event, so I ask my Hilton, Pietermaritzburg and KZN Midlands community: if you're interested in attending, please email Carryn today on [email protected] to pre-book your seat/s. If we get enough positive responses by the end of the day, then happily the show will go ahead. If not, I'll be sharing the disappointing news of its cancellation tomorrow, and I don't know when we'll be back. Either way, wishing you all a beautiful day!

Happy Monday to you. Many people dread Mondays, but I actually like them - they feel like little blank slates, or mini new years to me. If you want to try a new approach to anything in your life, a Monday is a good time to start. Also, KZN Midlands folks, I have a show coming up at The Knoll Shed this Saturday, and I'd love it if you could join myself and Dustin Mason as we bring the Rowan Stuart - Step Into My World {LIVE} in Hilton to you. Book now by emailing Carryn on [email protected] - hope to see you there 🌠🎵🐉

It was so great to be part of Nikon's official Durban launch of the new Z8 mirrorless camera in Shongweni yesterday. Dozens of photographers and videographers were invited to come and try this amazing camera, and to learn about different approaches to photography and videography from the talented mentors, including my friend Kavo R Photography. Thanks, Nikon and Kavo for inviting me to perform and to be a subject for the 'music and live events' workshop. And thanks to Carryn Clicks Photography, also a long-time Nikon fan and user, for taking these dynamic photos.

Good folk of the KZN Midlands, I'm excited to be bringing the Rowan Stuart - Step Into My World {LIVE} in Hilton show to you in September. The venue is Hilton's much-loved Knoll Shed at The Knoll Historic Guest Farm. It's been well over a year since I performed in the area, and this time I'm bringing new music, a new concept, and one Ser Dustin Mason on bass guitar. Please join us for this special concert. Book now to take advantage of the early-bird prices by emailing Carryn on [email protected] - I'm looking forward to seeing you once again! 🎶🎇🌠

My Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster recently had a makeover!
This is a guitar I've had for almost 20 years, and it's had the same scratchplate (or pickguard, if you prefer) on since shortly after I bought it - see the last image for the old 'black pearl' one that had gone green with age. I wanted a new look that would align with the aesthetics of the modern Rowan Stuart world, so I looked no further than my friend Mark Swanepoel from Black Swan to help me achieve this. Mark hand-made and hand-painted the new pickguard with the precision of an aircraft engineer (because that is his background!) and gave the guitar a little bit of much-needed TLC - I think he did a great job. And then I asked the nice folks at Everything Laser to engrave my rather intricate logo, and I was really happy with the results. I debuted the new design at two performances this weekend - The Market at Lifestyle Centre Ballito, and Camp Orchards' Family Day yesterday. Pictured here beside me is Dustin Mason. His bass has a really cool copper-style scratchplate also made by Mark Swanepoel. Let me know in the comments what you think of my new-look Strat!

Saturday's 'Step Into My World' concert at Seabrooke's Theatre was a most special event, which I'll remember for a long time.
Thank you to everyone who came and listened, sang along, bought merch, partook of baked goods, and helped make this a highlight of my year so far. Thanks also to the venue, to Ross Hatcher on sound and lighting, to Dustin Mason who performed with me for the first time, and to Carryn Clicks Photography for all the help in preparing and running the show.

How are you today? I've had an extremely busy week trying to put the final touches on things ahead of my performance on Saturday at Seabrooke's Theatre. Somehow, we seem to have achieved at least 80% of what I had dreamed of doing for this show, when I had thought that would be impossible within the timeframe. I'm really looking forward to seeing my KZN friends at this concert. There are still general access tickets available. Visit Rowan Stuart - Step Into My World {LIVE} for all the info. Have a great Thursday, all.

Just over a week to go until Rowan Stuart - Step Into My World {LIVE} at Durban High School! There will be quite a few firsts for me at this concert and I'm excited to share them with you (provided I can pull them all off in time)! KZN folks, don't miss out - book now by emailing [email protected]
Hope to see you there 🌠🎆🎶

Poster in the comments for more info.

Happy Women's Day! Here is a visual tribute to some of the strong women who have been part of the Rowan Stuart World this year, including Brittany Goldswain, Nikita Van Schoor, Kerry Lavender, and of course, my partner in crime Carryn Clicks Photography.

Throwback to 2011, when I released this and other songs under the project name 'Light In Cages'. Yes, there's a clear Muse influence, but there is something about this song I still really like - especially the intensity of the guitar solo. This album was a lot heavier and darker than the music I released before and after, but give this song a listen for context, and let me know what you think of it. 🎶🎸

The Labyrinth Provided to YouTube by CDBabyThe Labyrinth · Light in CagesLight in Cages℗ 2012 Rowan StuartReleased on: 2012-10-28Auto-generated by YouTube.

I made this for a project recently - a montage of some of my favourite stages, venues, collaborations and moments since 2018. There are many more, but I like how these were captured most gracefully by Carryn Clicks Photography. Let me know which is your favourite, or leave a comment if you were at any of these events. 🎸🎶

'TIS COMPETITION TIME!
We're giving away 2 tickets to Rowan Stuart - Step Into My World {LIVE} at Seabrooke's Theatre, Durban High School, plus a merch item of your choice! To stand a chance to win them, comment below with your favourite scene from any of my latest music or lyric videos (Empire, Otherlife, or Hidden Stars) and why you like it. Carryn Clicks and I will then choose what we consider the best answer, and select the winner, who we'll then contact via a private message. Those who have already booked can still enter - if you win, we will reimburse your ticket/s. Link to the videos will be in the comments below.

I'm excited to be doing my very first concert showcase of the year (in August!). Durbanites, join me at Seabrooke's Theatre at Durban High School on Saturday 19 August at 2 for 2.30 pm, where I'll be joined by Dustin Mason on bass guitar - our first time performing together. We'll be debuting my latest singles 'Empire', 'Otherlife', 'Hidden Stars' and more. There are just a few Early Bird tickets available at R100 per person, so book now by emailing [email protected] to secure yours. Come and step into my world. 🪐🌠🎵

Greetings, friends. I hope you are all having a smashing start to your week! I'd like to hear what music you are listening to currently (if not this minute, then this week). If I haven't heard of it, I might give it a listen a little later - let me know in the comments. 🎼

📷: Carryn Clicks Photography