Some might wonder where the title Weutonga came from. When it is loosely translated, it simply means dawn. It was after she was involved in a car accident that she decided to rebrand herself and renamed her band name from So What?! to Edith WeUtonga.
“I feel that cheating death in the accident and the birth of my second son Mudiwa in South Africa presented me with a new beginning in life.”“I began to write new stuff with much more meaning and depth.”
“I decided to call my sound Utonga, meaning dawn, and rebranded myself and my band to Edith Weutonga which simply means Edith of Dawn,” read a statement on WeUtonga’s website.
She is among the lineup of artists who are slated to perform at the NewsDay Bash at Harare Gardens on Saturday. She will perform alongside the likes of legendary musician Oliver Mtukudzi, Munyaradzi Mataruse, Donald Kanyuchi and the Kwela Whistlers.
Losts of fun prizes will be won on this family entertainment day. Born in 1979 in Kadoma, Edith is the first born in a family of five. She grew up with her father who then was in the army, stationed at Cranborne in Harare, where she spent her infant years.
She did part of her primary education at Chedonje primary school and when she was in the fourth grade, she moved to live with her maternal grandparents in Kadoma where she completed her primary education.
Then, she re-joined her parents and began secondary education at Townsend Girls High School. When she left school, she pursed her great love, music, at the Army School of Music, later joining the Army Band at Brady Barracks as a vocalist.
After six months, she moved to Bulawayo’s Amakhosi Township Square where she honed her craft in both music and acting.
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For a while she was busy touring the country and the region with Amakhosi stage productions like Athol Fugard’s Hello & Goodbye, the Greek Classic Lyssistrata, Raisedon Baya’s Tomorrow’s People.
Outside of Amakhosi, Edith had leading roles in Wonder Guchu’s Alone But Together, and Tawanda Kanengoni’s Hifa Debut of Silent Words.
WeUtonga went on to become lead singer and songwriter in the all-female band Amakhosikazi, “The Queens”.
She picked up the bass guitar and played with the band, up to the time they broke the band in 2006.
From its remnants came a new band, So What?!, which was to make a name for her on the local music scene.
So What?! relocated to Harare and developed a reputation for playing the live circuit at hot spots like The Book Cafe, Jazz 105, Sports Diner and The Kraal.
After recovering from the horrific car accident, which left scars on her face, WeUtonga briefly reunited with So what?! This band continued to feature at Harare’s hottest music venues before she rebranded it.
