Music enthusiasts have all their eyes on Canada-based Rwandan Musician Daddy Cassanova as he gears up for a homecoming performance at the forthcoming second edition of the Volcano Fest slated from Friday, October 7 to Sunday, October 9, at the feet of the five majestic volcanoes in Musanze District, Northern Province. The annual festival is a platform that puts alternative, progressive, and experimental artists in the spotlight to share and celebrate their talent with a mix of Rwandan and international audience for three days of uninterrupted music. The singer, who is now known as Cassa, is among 30 creatives varying from musicians, performers and deejays to other artists in various disciplines expected to entertain festival goers, representing nine countries across Africa including South Africa, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and host nation Rwanda, to name a few. Cassa is already in the country ahead of the festival as he looks forward to performing for Rwandans after almost a decade of his music career in Canada. Organisers told The New Times that, like any other performers on the lineup, the singer is just coming to give the best music he has been recording overtime, including his latest album ‘Back to Life’. “Cassa was doing music in Rwanda before he left the country and he kept recording while in Canada so people will get a chance to enjoy the music on his latest album. He’s now performing on big stages of the Afro-Caribbean live music scene and we hope this is what he is going to bring home when he performs in Musanze,” said Rodriguez Iragena, one of the festival organisers. Other notable performers include local artists like South African DJ Pride, Uganda’s Donzilla and Rwanda’s very own artists Deo Salva, Greta Miziguruka, Alyt Mx, Kavumbi Dus, Eric 1Key, DJ Motari among others while Musanze’s women traditional troupe will also perform to ensure that people in the area feel at home and included. “After a successful debut edition last year, we anticipate an even more entertaining, more colorful, diverse and vibrating second edition as we look forward to celebrating the diversity of Rwandan culture and that of other participating artists through music, theatre, performing arts and dance among others,” Iragena said. The performers and festival goers will spend three days at the Volcanoes Forest Camp experiencing the entertainment experience while also having a glimpse of culture diversity through an exhibition of Made in Rwanda products which will be on display at the venue. Beyond performances and partying, festival organisers are working on a residence program for artists to develop new partnerships, projects and skills in various areas that are lacking in the ecosystem of culture and creative industry. About Cassanova Cassa is not only celebrated as a pop musician but also one of the best radio presenters Rwanda has had in high generations. In the early 2000s, he joined Contact FM, one of the private radio stations that started operations in Rwanda. Shortly after making a name for himself as one Rwanda’s favorite radio presenters, Cassa launched his music career and released singles like ‘My Dance Floor’, Imyaka Itatu’, one of his best hit songs of his career so far, and 'Ishiraniro' among others. His latest album ‘Back to Life’ is a collection of six love songs that he wrote during the pandemic. He worked tirelessly on it to create a modern and unique sound with hints of old school Congolese Rhumba horns and baselines that he grew up listening to on his father’s old vinyl records. In ‘Back to Life’, Cassa narrates, “It’s me revisiting emotions I felt from music as a child, expressed from a more mature perspective”
