As a part of our Sense of Place, South Africa trip, we traveled to Cape Town and recorded the band Freshlyground on their home turf.

The group is led by the energetic and powerful singer Zolani Mahola, and includes members from Mozambique and Zimbabwe as well as South Africa, where Mahola grew up. Mahola talked about what it was like for her to realize how Apartheid impacted her father’s life as well as her own, and shared the funny reason she got kicked out of a ska band before joining Freshlyground.

But before we get to that, our session starts off with a set of live music starting with the 2007 South African hit “Potbelly.” Listen in the player above.