THEY call themselves “the Godsons of Marimba Band” and their band plays music on a set of wooden bars that produce fascinating tones.

The group that originates from Leribe is now based in Germiston, Gauteng province and performs in nightclubs, weddings, restaurants and other social gatherings.

The band’s lead player, Letlotlo Rakhoarai, 24, who formed the four-man group, says they decided to relocate to South Africa after an unsuccessful campaign in Lesotho.

“In April, we staged street performances, from Teyateyaneng to Maseru, especially in shopping malls, but the reception was extremely poor. The band didn't make much money and we decided to cross the border to SA.
"We are a group of unemployed but talented youth who work hard to make ends meet. Playing marimba is our way of life and nothing is going to weigh us down," he tells Metro, speaking from Germiston.
He says their music is receiving a warm reception on foreign land, especially in townships, where marimba is not so popular. The band's ability to play the marimba instruments live and along with already recorded songs selected by Djs at events, puts them on another special level.
"We play music based on the theme of an individual event. We are versatile in that we can play wedding songs that audience is able to sing along with, be it jazz, gospel, house, you name it and we play it," the band leader says, adding that they also compose songs of their own.

But what is this instrument they play?
The marimba is described as a percussion instrument consisting of a set of wooden bars struck with rubber mallets to produce musical tones.

Resonators or pipes are suspended underneath the bars to amplify their sound.
The bars of a chromatic marimba are arranged like the keys of a piano, with the groups of two and three accidentals raised vertically, overlapping the natural bars to aid the performer both visually and physically.

A person who plays the marimba is called a marimbist or a marimba player.
The versatile Rakhoarai, who is also a talented guitarist and a drummer, goes on to show that the other three members of the band are former schoolmates he attended school with at Sacred Heart High School in Saint Monica’s Leribe.
However, he says their journey to forming the band and organising tours both at home and abroad has not been a walk in the park.