Doulton Robson, a popular local musician and bass guitarist, says growing up in a large family where music was part of daily life, has been instrumental to him pursuing music as a career. “I grew up in Modjadjiskloof in a house with ten people, including brothers, grandparents, and parents. At times there were even more, I am number five of six brothers,” he says.

After matriculating from Merensky Agriculture Academy, he followed his brother Danny Shade, also a well-known local musician, to Johannesburg to study music. “I’ve known what I want to be in life since I was a child and my mother and father could see that it was pointless to push me in a different direction,” he says. This year will be Doulton’s 21st year playing the bass guitar on stage.

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He does solo performances, plays the bass guitar for other bands, and at times joins his brother Danny Shade for gigs. “Unlike American musicians, we as South Africans don’t have the liberty to specialise in a genre, we are forced to play every kind of music which makes our musicians very versatile. For this reason, I try to play as many styles as possible.”

He recently reconnected with his friend and fellow performer, André Visagie who owns a recording studio and provides sound at events, Die Man Cave, in Tzaneen. “In between performing with Danny and André, Die Man Cave keeps me busy when I’m not commuting to Gauteng to perform with another being a musician, I have finally started to work on recording my first ever original single, I’m excited to have it finished,” he concludes.