WALDORF STRING BAND INTRODUCTION

WALDORF STRING BAND BIOGRAPHIES

WALDORF STRING BAND DISCOGRAPHY

WHAT'S NEW

WALDORF STRING BAND ARCHIVES

WALDORF STRING BAND BACKGROUND

LINKS:USEFUL SITES

Rael is a product of London's East End and started playing banjo in the school Ragtime Jazz band at the age of 15. In the late 50's, he became involved with the then current ‘Skiffle' rage and played with the well-known "Eastsiders", performing in Soho's ‘2i's' and then the ‘Skiffle Cellar'.

In the ‘60s, it was a fairly logical move for his interest to evolve into traditional folk music and was soon playing with the "City Folk".

Shortly after arriving in South Africa in 1972, Rael Birns was contracted to organise a national tour with HAWK, one of the cult music groups of that time, and to manage and produce ROB AITKENHEAD JNR.

Joining the Barlow Group in 1975 Rael Birns became the Specialised TV Division consultant, teaching larger organisations the use of TV production as a medium for education and training. During his time with the group,  he was responsible for launching the VHS format in South Africa.

ving been ‘head- hunted' by Warner Bros., as one of their General Managers, Rael set up WARNER HOME VIDEO in South Africa, being responsible for a head office operation together with five branches nationally and a structured divisional staff. 

Following the Warner Bros ‘disinvestment' in South Africa, Rael Birns operated as a film broker, supplying film and TV product for Home Video distribution together with broadcast and Pay TV use. At the same time he was commissioned by Business Day, to write articles related to the music, recording and video industries.

In 1987 Rael formed WALDORF STRING BAND, one of South Africa's most popular traditional folk music groups.