Stories and Songs debuted onto our screens in 2020, right in the glare of the COVID-19 pandemic, with (you guessed it) jovial stories and uplifting worship songs.
Amidst the turmoil and uncertainties of the pandemic, their weekly YouTube broadcast ‘Worship Wednesday’ kept hope pretty much alive in Kenya and beyond.
Their bond of friendship was exuded on live camera by unscripted banter and laughter, and their fellowship reinforced by well coordinated singing.
Years later, Stories and Songs is still fanning the flames of hope. Their fanbase has since grown – their YouTube channel ‘Stories and Songs’ sports over 48K subscribers and well over 4 million views. Even better, fans keep sharing testimonials of positive impact the band has had on their lives.
Band members up close
Stories and Songs blends worship music with warm, entertaining conversations to bring out a different dynamic to gospel’s congregational music. This has become their signature. You will most certainly catch lots of light moments of humor on Worship Wednesday.
Playful Kitungi
The band members won’t let go of the slightest opportunity to tease one of their own. Manasseh Shalom a.k.a Kitungi (also Mkamba) is often on the receiving end of the jokes. He has the cheerful, comic and playful personality that often ignites laughter and cheers everybody.
Don’t let Manasseh Shalom’s lingual playfulness fool you. He’s an accomplished musician who’s been horning skills since 10 years of age. His music often mashes his native Kamba language and Swahili or English. At the time of publishing this article, Manasseh has three albums and seven singles. His latest album is Ndoa.
Manasseh also features on Men of Soul alongside Noel Nderitu, Isaac kimani, Kato Change and Ciano Maimba. While on Stories and Songs, he plays the role of a music director, vocalist and guitarist.
Index One & Shera – teasers
When it comes to teasing, Alando Okech a.k.a Index One and Wanjira Mathai a.k.a Shera are both prolific and relentless. They will effortlessly pick on Manasseh and a few times on Ben. Both play the roles of vocalists in the band.
Calm Wepughulu
Ben Mbasu a.k.a Wepughulu, also a vocalist, mostly stays silent through the banter, only speaking when poked. He’s often teased by Manasseh for food stereotypes.
Ben’s a motorcycle rider, and was involved in an accident in September 2022. In a feat of love, the entire team at Stories and Songs (with Noel Nderitu and Delightful Destiny) organized a special edition of Worship Wednesday and fundraiser to cover for Ben’s treatment and recovery expenses. Ben has since been discharged and was reported to be in recovery on Stories and Song’s Instagram page.
Band and production crew
Other members of the band who take on a lower profile are:
- Ogara David a.k.a Master David – pianist
- Erick Mayore a.k.a Crocs – Plays the bass guitar and does graphic design.
- Brady – plays the drums
Behind the scenes, Stories and Songs has a dedicated production crew. Here are the crew members we could find:
- Producer – Wangui
- Decor, Pastor – Derrick
- Photographer – Kimachia
- Technical Manager – Noah
- Camera – Wacera
- Camera – Glynn
- Editor – Koome
Nairobi Chapel South
As far as can be told, the team at Stories and Songs appears to have descended from Nairobi Chapel South. The debuting episodes of Stories and Songs were broadcast on the church’s YouTube channel.
Themes, aesthetic setups
Aside from the fondness, Stories and Songs always has a theme for every Worship Wednesday session, which guides their choice of songs. The themes cut across the range, from ‘Songs we grew up with’ to ‘African songs’ to ‘Thanksgiving’, ‘Forgiveness’ and many more.
The band also has an edge on aesthetic stage setting. On every session, the foreground, furniture, dressing and seating configuration stand out in elegance. Even the choice of venue is outstanding. Stories and Songs has previously been hosted by the Waterfront Karen, the Watermark Business Park, Nairobi Garage karen, ICC Nairobi, Redforth Academy of Music, and private households.
Concerts and Perfomances
Stories and Songs had their first live in concert on April 2022, held at the Waterfront Karen.
The band has also perfomed at Pambio Live, a gospel music show on DStv’s Maisha Magic East.
What’s next after season 5?
As at this time, Stories and Songs has broadcasted five seasons of Worship Wednesday. The band has not hinted on season 6.
Here’s an Instagram post from the band’s page, posted after five episodes of season 5:
Song covers
There’s a huge library of song covers done by Stories and Songs. We sampled some of our favorites from each vocalists:
- Wanjira Mathai – Naomba by Adawnage
- Manasseh Shalom – Ahadi Zake by Marion Shako
- Alando Okech – Umenifanya Ning’are by Christina Shusho
- Ben Mbasu – Wewe ni Mwema by Israel Ezekia
We hope you get to enjoy the fellowship, and worship songs from Stories and Songs. Thank you for reading.
We should not allow these guys to disband. They took care of us through the most difficult moments of the pandemic. Its my prayer they Come back stronger than ever. I’ll be devastated if this is a goodbye.