click here for an audio-visual look at the gig highlights

***for full gig listings jump to the bottom***

Greetings:

Thursday night in Phnom Penh sees Two Country Drunks at The Vine, the jazz jam with Dr George at The Deck, Aisha & JP Kotze at Little Susie, Vince Solomons at Cloud and the open mic hosted by Muz Muskett at Noisy Chili.  Later and louder The Extraordinary Chambers are at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Kampot James and Thomas are at Madi Bar and GC-Max Duo are at Old Market Skybar, while in Siem Reap Rain is at The Pizza Garden.

On Friday in Phnom Penh, there’s a grand opening party at Riva with Romvong Comitatus (Lue Thy, Alli G and Pervez) and DJs ,while The Sock Essentials are at Khmer Funk Sky Bar  and Pick and Bow (Sharon & Gaby) are at Botanico.  Poca is at The Tin Hat, Vince Solomons is at The Black Sheep, Adam Marsland is at Little Susie, Steven Bee is at Cloud and Mourin Terry is at Big Wig.  Later and louder, The Velvet Compromise open up for The Blue Souls at Oscar’s on the Corner.   In Siem Reap JamCha are at The Pizza Garden and Kiko & Carlos are at The Panthers Hut.

A choice of jazz in Phnom Penh on Saturday, with George Hess Trio at The Deck (following a World Poetry Day event), Bebop Highlights Vol 2 with Metta, Darvel, Sharon and Mark at Aquarius, Echo Kin [see Passing Chords below] at Au Marche and Mathieu & Friends at  Little Susie.   Earlier there’s an open mic at Villa Grange, and then weighing in on the acoustic side we have John Peter at Botanico, Cardboard Lo-Fi  at Tropico and The Shining Hearts at Vinoteca. Getting louder, Lakhon Luong are at Noisy Chili, Kim & Co. are at Velvet and After God are at Distortion Dive Bar.  Stu Cottom opens up for The Riverside Kings at Oscar’s on the Corner.  On the coast, Poca is at The Wave: Kep West and Wooden Bridge are at Kampot River Nest, and in Siem Reap Ubuntu host a Khmer night with Phalla.

On Sunday G2 [G Squared, Greg & Gaby] are at The Vine, the Sunday Sundowners open mic at Tacos Kokopelli is hosted by John Memery, Adam Marsland is at Botanico, Stu Cottom is at Bar Oz and Ace is at Little Susie.  Later on Shaken Spirit are at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Kampot there’s the regular acoustic night with Andrew at 1960, and in Siem Reap Kodi Hudson is at Embargo and there’s an open mic with Andy at The Pizza Garden.

Passing Chords – a few things you may not know about

DVND (pronounced Divinity), a versatile singer recently arrived in Phnom Penh from Austin, Texas.  “DVND is a stage name, but it’s more than a stage name.  It’s something that I’m trying to embody in myself.  I want to accept my timing in the world, and not look at everybody else’s timing.  There was a time that I felt I had accomplished so much, but I wasn’t celebrating because I felt like I had so much more to do.  After some soul searching I realised I’m on my own divine time, and anywhere that I am is exactly where I’m supposed to be; and resonating with the people around me in their own divine time too.”  She is currently leading two bands in Phnom Penh – an R&B outfit called The Polytones with Damani and James Parm, and Echo Kin, a jazz band that adds Raphael Biamonte to make a quartet with a completely different repertoire.  You can find Echo Kin at Au Marche on Saturday 21 from 8 pm.

Do you have a pet musical pet peeve?

Self doubt.  As artists we’re sensitive about what we do, our work, and I feel like I beat down on myself a little bit too much, even though that’s part of what drives me to be better.  We can sometimes get in our own way.

A private musical indulgence:

I call it ghetto house, but it’s really raunchy house music – gets your body moving, gets your hips moving.  I love music that makes you laugh, makes you feel good.  For example Mr De, he’s really, really fun.  Also Yiruma, because I like classical piano music.  One of my favourites of theirs is White Shadow.

The year you first came to Cambodia:

This is still my first year in Cambodia.  I’ve only been here since last September.

An early music memory:

My mom sang a lot in church, she’s an extraordinary singer.  She would sing songs, I would see people cry and break down, come up to her and thank her, shake her hand.  That was always so beautiful.  Later when I was performing in school, high school, college, people would do the same thing to me – I didn’t know what to do with that.  When I was seven years old I sang O Come All Ye Faithful in front of the whole church, a solo with the kids’ choir.

The last thing you had to eat:

French fries.  I have a toxic relationship with potatoes.

Stagefright – yes or no?

Yes, absolutely.  I know the cure for it is self-affirmation, and having a solid community that is honest with you and supports you and really wants you to grow.  I’m still building that community – it’s turning out really good.  But I still get very nervous.

A country you want to visit:

This is my first country outside of the USA.  I was thinking maybe Malaysia would be a nice spot for me.  I really want to go to Thailand but there’s a lot of issues there, I’ll have to wait on that one.

A book or movie you keep going back to:

I watch anime quite heavily.  One that I always come back to is Avatar: The Last Airbender.  I’ve been watching it since I was a kid.  Even as an adult it’s very powerful.  I even have a tattoo of it.

What languages do you have?

English.  In my six months here I’ve learned tiktik Khmer.  I have a little Espanol, a little bit of basic French.  And I’ve had to learn a little bit of Chinese.  I wish I could sing in other languages.

Your primary instrument, and when you started playing it:

Trombone.  That’s the first instrument I ever played.  I actually have a Yamaha bass trombone back home, I may have to get it shipped in.  Then there’s piano – I taught myself how to play for a long time, then I got professional training in college.  I’m picking piano back up now but I’m trying to understand more jazz theory – training was all classical.

Something people might be surprised to know about you:

I used to be a mobile pet groomer.  And I’ve groomed Gwen Stefani’s dog, a small Pomeranian named Chewie.  He was a dear.  A very camera-friendly dog – any time you put your phone up as a camera he’d pause to take a picture.

You have a time machine and a magic ticket to one gig or festival in the past. What do you choose?

Michael Jackson.  I never got to see him.  Probably at his peak, around Thriller.

Questions from the last participants:

Mike: If you could chat for an hour with one musician, living or dead, who would it be?
I’d want to talk to Erykah Badu.  I feel like she would have so much encouragement, wisdom and knowledge, within an hour.  I think it would be a very fruitful conversation.  How to know what it is and what it ain’t, and how to be creative within those realms.

Margie: If you could join any currently performing band as a member, which band would it be?
I would love to join one of my favourite bands, Hiatus Kaiyote, an Australian jazz/funk band.  Their lead singer, Nai, she is phenomenal, and I would love to be a background singer with them.  A wonderful sound.

Department of Let’s Try That Again

Angkor Wave (formerly Kampot Radio/Radio Oun) has nearly completed its relocation to Siem Reap, and will be relaunched on 1 April 2026 with a renewed committment to local and barang Cambodian music.  The first order of business will be the Top 40 Songs of All Time countdown fundraiser at Khmer New Year – nominations will be called for in the coming days and voting details released soon.

Department of Mutual Support:  Friends of LengPleng

We are pleased to welcome new Tuol Tom Poung music venue Motodop to the LengPleng family.

 

      

   

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Steve Porte Photo of the Week

Dr Salad closing up their whirlwind first (!) tour of Cambodia with an acoustic set at The Deck on Sunday 15 March.

 

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Musicians, venues, punters:  if there are things you know that LengPleng should know, please tell us and we’ll do our best to tell the world.

See you around the traps.
your correspondent,

 

 

Guillermo Wheremount
LengPleng.com
gigs@lengpleng.com (mailto:gigs@lengpleng.com

 

Weekly Gig Guide – week commencing Thursday 19 March 2026

** residency/weekly

Thursday

 

Friday

 

Saturday                                                            


Sunday

 

Monday

 

Tuesday

 

Wednesday


Coming soon:   

 

Friday 27 March

 

Saturday 28 March

Sunday 29 March

  • Spanish guitar recital by Tran Quang Huy, 7 pm, Raffles Le Royal – note ticketed event

Friday 3 April

Saturday 4 April

  • Lee County Ramblers, 6 pm, The Deck
  • Soselo Summer, Bustaka Band, Matsamura Fishworks, DJs, Nesat Market (Koh Kong)

Thursday 9 April

Friday 10 April

  • One Year Visa (Kiko & Carlos from Siem Reap), 5 pm, 1960 (Kampot)

Friday 8 May

  • Kokeshi, Atlantis (Siem Reap)

 

By Weekly Wrap