Next week, local singer and guitarist Andrew Vella Zarb makes his debut as a songwriter with a two-date concert on October 17 and 18. The concert, titled Twelve New Songs, is a selection of folk and blues songs he has written over the last year.
“They’re very personal songs – which is exciting and nerve-racking all at once. I’m not used to sort of laying my soul bare in front of an audience. But I suppose that’s what makes them valuable. And you know, it’s my own work I’m putting out there, that’s totally uncharted territory for me too,” says the musician.
He says he strives for adventurous harmony and honest, playful lyrics, writing about romance, tragedy and nostalgia.
Listeners will be treated to an earthy, all-acoustic sound by some of Malta’s finest musicians: he will be joined by Effie Azzopardi on trumpet, Marco Cola on horn, Oliver Degabriele on double bass and his sister Angela Vella Zarb on backing vocals.
The concert will take place in Teatru Salesjan’s in-house café bar, marking the first time that the foyer space will be used as a mini concert hall since the theatre’s extensive refurbishment and regeneration last year.
Vella Zarb is a familiar face in Malta’s music scene, having given hundreds of performances over the last six years, as the frontman of the popular rock ‘n’ roll trio Strictly Commercial and the celebrated progressive rock band Mirage, as well as a guest musician with various other projects.
Yet he’s keen to point out that “the music doesn’t really have anything to do with what I’m known for, it’s not going to be like anything anyone has ever heard from me before.”
Each evening will be opened by a supporting performance from Ella Puci, an experienced singer-songwriter herself and the entrepreneur behind the theatre’s Café Bar. The event is being held with the help of independent brewery Stretta Beer, and concert-goers are invited to enjoy a cool lager or IPA while they listen.
Tickets can be booked for €13 in advance at Trackage Scheme or for €15 at the door. Spaces are limited to 50 seats each night.