I’m not a spent force: Dougie Chimbetu

By Blessing Masakadza

Dendera musician Douglas Chimbetu has denied that he is now a spent force, insisting that he is still in the game. He, however, apportioned the blame to promoters for not marketing the shows he is staging enough hence giving speculation that he has hit hard times and has shelved shows.

“I’m still in the game, doing shows but the problem has been the marketing. Of late, we have been doing a number of shows in Chitungwiza but there have been no posters to promote the shows and people end up thinking that we are not doing shows,” he said.

Not much activity has been witnessed from the musician and “King Dougie”, as he is referred to in music circles, says he is working on releasing new music.

“Currently, I’m working on a new album. It is still work in progress and will only announce the release when everything is done. As of videos, they will come after we finalise on the release of the album,” he said.

The musician has over time found himself being compared to his cousins, Suluman and Tryson — who are also musicians pursuing their fathers’ genre (dendera) — with many suggesting he has fallen down the perking order.

Some have raised issues of rivalry among the trio and Dougie says he is in good books with his brothers.

Rumours of a strained relationship with his father, Allan also circulated but according to the musician all is well.

“I have no problem with any of them (Sulu and Tryson) there is no fighting. As for my father, it is the same, we are all fine,” he said.

Allan is the remaining father figure among the Chimbetu brothers, with all of them earning a living out of music.

Dougie broke away from his father’s ranks a couple of years ago to form his own ensemble, the Orchestra Dendera Kings. DailyNews