Angie Stone: True to her roots

Angie Stone will be performing at Soulfest.

R&B legend Angie Stone tells Lydia Jenkin how proud she is to be part of SoulFest line-up next weekend.

You could put Angie Stone right next to the definition of the word diva in the dictionary.

The 52-year-old R&B-soul sister has always had a powerhouse voice - probably in part because of her time spent singing gospel growing up in South Carolina - and an equally forthright approach to her lyrics. But more recently she's also been throwing down a bit of sass on reality shows such as Wife Swap and R&B Divas, and has even appeared in Scary Movie 5.

Now she's heading to New Zealand for the first time as part of the inaugural SoulFest line-up, which includes her ex-partner D'Angelo, and Maxwell, Common, Mos Def, Anthony Hamilton, and Musiq Soulchild.

"I'm really excited to be coming. I'm blown away at the line-up you guys have managed to put together -- how did you manage to get all that?" she asks with mock indignation, down the line from her home in Atlanta.

"It's been a while since that many people of this calibre have shared a festival bill. I'm honoured to be involved."

While she's not sure whether there will be the time or opportunity for any collaborations, or guest appearances in each others' sets, she's not ruling it out either.

"We'll see. I just think anything is possible when you've got the best of the best on board. I haven't been on the same stage as D'Angelo in seventeen years, so I'm looking forward to it."

So what can fans expect from an Angie Stone performance these days? Well she's bringing her band with her, a bunch of guys who've been playing with her for years, and she's just as much about empowerment and soul as she's ever been.

"We'll be bringing lots of good energy, and it'll be a spiritual, uplifting experience. We'll be playing songs from across the albums, we'll touch on everything. I just love to play soul music. Everything I do is an embodiment of who I am, so what you see and hear up there is all me."

Stone has been in the business for more than two decades but still sees her music as a direct spiritual expression of where she's at in her life, and she says her 2012 release Rich Girl remains a pretty good indicator of where she's at musically and personally.

"Wherever I am in a spiritual sense comes through in my music, and Rich Girl should be the one thing that you can tie to who and what I am now."

She decided to eschew working with other writers and producers for the record, and concentrate on returning to her songwriting roots, in an effort to rediscover her own voice.

"I basically wanted to go back to the core of what I believed in. Staying true to the music, and staying true to who I am and the gift that God gave me, allowing myself to be free enough to do what I do and enjoy it, that's what's important to me now."

Who: Angie Stone
What: SoulFest
Where and when: Sunday, October 26 at Western Springs Stadium
Listen to: Black Diamond (1999), Mahogany Soul (2001), Stone Love (2004), The Art of Love and War (2007), Unexpected (2009), Rich Girl (2012).

Whole lotta soul

SoulFest has announced its timetable, and it looks like it's going to be an impressive 11 hours of music if you're heading down to Western Springs for the inaugural festival on Sunday October 26.

The 10 live performances will be interspersed with 20 to 30- minute DJ sets from locals like Lo Key, Manuel Bundy, and Che Fu (allowing for stage changeover). Local live acts The Boomcat, Bella Kalolo, and Aaradhna will start the day, playing for around 20 minutes each, and the international stars are each playing 40 minute sets, starting with Musiq Soulchild at 2.10pm.

The exceptions are R&B legend D'Angelo, who will play for an hour from 8 to 9pm, and soul crooner Maxwell, who will finish the night with a 75 minute set from 9.30pm. Two words of advice: pace yourself.

Timetable

DJ TDK: 12 - 12.15pm
The Boom Cat: 12.15 - 12.25pm
DJ 09: 12.25 - 12.40pm
Bella Kalolo: 12.40 - 1 pm
DJ TDK: 1 - 1.20pm
Aaradhna: 1.20 - 1.40pm
DJ Lo Key: 1.40 - 2.10pm
Musiq Soulchild: 2.10 - 2.50pm
DJ Reminise: 2.50 - 3.20pm
Angie Stone: 3.20 - 4.00pm
DJ 09: 4 - 4.30pm
Anthony Hamilton: 4.30 - 5.10pm
DJ T Rice & Hudge: 5.10 - 5.40pm
Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def: 5.40 - 6.20pm
DJ Manuel Bundy: 6.20 - 6.50pm
Common: 6.50 - 7.30pm
DJ Che Fu: 7.30 - 8pm
D'Angelo: 8 - 9pm
DJ Reminise: 9 - 9.30pm
Maxwell: 9.30 - 10.45pm

- TimeOut