For some time now, the Highlife/Funk band FRA! has been preparing for their tour in the United Kingdom and Europe.
The composer and drummer for the Ghanaian international band, Joshua ‘Virgen’ Boateng (JVB), in an exclusive interview with Class News’ Prince Benjamin (PB) said preparations started right after they returned from playing their October 2022 set at Worldwide Music Expo (Womex) in Lisbon, Portugal.
The upcoming UK/Europe tour, the name-sake of their upcoming third studio album Chale Wote, will span two and a half months, Virgen also revealed.
The ‘Happy Yourself’ hitmakers, this summer, will be taking their sound of West African roots and yet with global relevance to the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, Poland, Kazakhstan and cities therein.
In Rotterdam, Netherlands, FRA! will share the stage with legends and comtemporary stars like Seal, Jill Scott, Salif Keita, Lizzo, Stormzy, Gregory Potter, Marcus Miller, Snarky Puppy, Mark Lettieri, Samary Joy, Stanley Clarke and Sona Jobarteh.
Virgen plays the drums, George ‘Gogoe’ Ashirifie man’s the bass guitar, Selorm ‘Falaa’ Dornyoh is on lead guitar, Ishmael ‘Ayala’ Kugblenu is concerned with percussions and Christian ‘Osele’ Prempeh fronts as lead vocalist.
The band’s latest hit is a viral piece featuring singer-songwriter and cheerleader Nana Yaw ‘One-Man-Thousand’ Ofori-Atta and titled ‘You Dey Feel the Vibe’.
It was co-produced by JVB and Reynolds the Gentleman and originally debuted at the sixth edition of the band’s annual FRA!ternity Concert which took place on Saturday, January 21, 2023, at the packed Alliance Francaise amphitheatre, Accra, Ghana.
FRA! is signed to Germany-based Delicious Tunes founded in 2012 and led by Stefanie Schumann.