Episode 39 - Christian Kongawi

Christian Kongawi is a professional musician and
lover of puns who moved to Canada at age 12 from the Congo, into
a foster family in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. He's also the
mastermind behind The Potluck, a series of
events that have funded Kongawi's work building schools in
the Ubangui region of the DRC. He has played in many bands,
including The Rebellion, and now is a musical director on
Carnival Cruises.

We have a pun-filled conversation about being kicked out of
school dances, his early drumming career (including a band called
Five Alarm Chili), the skylight view into Amigos, "beats for
money", the transformation of The Potluck into a fundraiser,
dealing with corruption in the DRC, his education at Musician's
Institute in Los Angeles, being at sea during Hurricane Matthew,
and his uncanny connection to the Dave Matthews Band.  


This episode also features unsolicited contributions from my
cousin, a guy known as J-Pop, and some off-mic shenanigans from
Rylan Schultz of The Pistolwhips. Shit gets weird. 


 


Ubangui Technical Assistance: https://utadrc.wordpress.com/