cajonbox

About

Heidi Joubert is an internationally recognised Cajon player, known as a pioneer of the cajon and one of the world’s leading cajon educators. Her popular youtube channel focused on teaching people to play cajon, which currently sees over 125K subscribers with over 17 Million views on her video lessons. She regularly tours the world giving cajon clinics, workshops and performances for many established music organisations and companies as well as privately . Her website ‘cajonbox.com‘ covers everything about cajon and features a webshop which sells her own brand of handmade cajons, ‘Cruz Cajon’. In 2016 a video of her, Kiddotkat and Ozzy Lino jamming spontaneously on the s-Bahn in Germany went viral and gained over 100 Million views (that particular video is no longer available but there are hundreds of other uploads with millions of views online). This video resulted in her appearance on many TV shows internationally, including the Markus Lanz Show. Just shortly before this viral video she became Roland’s international percussion and Elcajon demo artist. Her list of clients include Roland, TedX, BeInspired, BBC London, BT Uk amongst others. Also recognised as a prominent singer-songwriter, she tours the world with her Solo project ‘Heidi Joubert Project’ and is currently preparing to record her debut solo album due to be out in 2022. She has worked with many great musicians, including having Stevie Wonder spontaneously jam with her onstage during her Demo at NAMM show in California in 2016 after she won ‘Best Show in Namm’ award, as well as giving a private demo to Sheila E. on the Roland EC10 cajon at the same event. She has also been invited to talk at various events as a ‘person of inspiration’, including TedX, Beinspired productions and the Roland Berger B50 festival. Heidi is currently not only about to record her first album but she has just released a series of video lessons, her own ‘Modern method for the cajon’ which is available online on her cajonbox website.

“I am passionate about music, arts, sharing ideas that inspire, laughing and different cultures from all over the globe and how music plays an important part in each language.
But most importantly, I love people and utilise any other form of passion I have to feed my main passion. People.’ – Heidi Joubert

Biography

Heidi Joubert was born in South Africa on 4th May 1987 in Pretoria. There was not a moment in life that Heidi recalls not having music as part of her life. Her mother is a pianist who used to practise classical pieces in the background while Heidi and her 4 siblings played legos or monopoly. Singing was the first instrument that Heidi could instantly reach and grab and as she grew up she never spent much time without singing (simply to herself). Having grown up without any TV, Heidi had to feed her own imagination with stories through her music and her love for composing and writing was also evident at an early age. She also danced ballet for a bit and loved acting.

At age 6 she started taking her first piano lessons with Maestro Usias van der Merwe (Head of the classical department of the Technician of Pretoria in those days, the same teacher her mother had). Her piano lessons with him continued for only a few months as she found classical piano to require more time and dedication than she could give, she had other instruments she was interested in learning too. She also started playing drum kit as her brothers had a band and turned the garage into a studio with a drum kit. They used to play Grunge, Rock and Metal. Heidi’s first beat on drumkit was played on a Nirvana song at age 4, but she only later really picked up the drums.

During high school Heidi also started taking up the Saxophone. She went on to do a 3 year Music Matric diploma (Kinda like Rockschool for Highschool instead of the standard subjects) which she completed in 2 years, graduating as top drummer, singer, composer and pianist of her class.
One week before Heidi’s 18th birthday she immigrated with her parents to the UK to London where a wild adventure awaited her.
She wanted to study at the Guildhall music school but she did not have the finances for it, and was not legally allowed to work as she was a ‘dependent’ on her father in the UK.

She then started busking to make some money. First on Saxophone, then she formed a duet with a guitarist she met during on the South bank in London during her early busking days. Heidi will say that busking was the best university she could have gone to! She busked professionally with her own group (Fernando’s Kitchen) that she formed with the guitarist all over London, Cambridge and the UK for over 8 years. During her very early busking years she got introduced to the cajon and Heidi taught herself to play the cajon through countless hours of busking on the cajon. From Busking she also built up the band where they actually recorded a number of albums and had numerous concerts, and finally a big tour in New York, after which the band broke up and the band went their seperate ways. It was during these years that she got very much exposed to Flamenco, latin and world music and she started to venture into these styles with a desire to learn more about the cajon, the music and the cultures.

She added a few video lessons on cajon and what she had taught herself on Youtube in the hopes of helping other people who found themselves in her position; no teachers and no material to learn cajon. She wanted to share what she had figured out about the cajon through a lot of trial and error over a number of years. Those videos started becoming popular as the cajon was also still on the rise to becoming popular. Heidi decided to start a blog page with more info on the cajon and more lessons to create more awareness of the cajon and share the wonders of this awesome new discord with the rest of the world. She also started up her own brand of Cajons that she sells on her website, and she runs the only cajon school in the UK based in London.

In 2016, Heidi was asked to become Roland’s international Elcajon and percussion artist, and was the face of the worlds first hybrid cajon, the Elcajon EC-10 by Roland. The Elcajon was launched at the NAMM show in California and it was Heidi’s first gig as Demo artist. She won ‘Show on NAMM’ award, gave a private demo to Sheila E and even had Stevie wonder join her onstage for a jam during one of her demo’s.

Then in 2016 a video of Heid Jamming on the Subway train in Frankfurt with Kiddokat and Ozzy Lino went viral, seeing over 70 million views in just 5 days on Facebook (it currently has over 100 Million views). This bought on a storm of public attention including multiple interviews, Appearances on TV shows in Germany, like the Markus Lanz show and also having the video covered and shown on multiple News shows throughout the world. There was many opportunities that opened due to this new sudden jump to Fame. In 2018 Heidi went to South Africa to film her ‘Modern Method for Cajon’, which has been something she has worked on since she started playing the cajon, a step by step cajon video course to teach people her very own method for learning to play the cajon. Although there was a pause in her work when she took a much needed personal break (to deal with some major things in her life, including some addictions and heartbreak from 2019 – 2021 which saw her to Rehab, change her country and almost every aspect of her life) she finally completed Part 1 of the Modern Method and has released it on her website in the summer of 2021. She is currently preparing to get back to creating new content and videos for her youtube channel and focusing on recording and filming her own songs and her singing, her greatest passion. She hopes to do tours from 2022 once she has recorded a number of her own songs.

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53 Comments

    • heidijoubert

      Brent! Great video, I love your playing! Perhaps one day we will play some music together! Thanks for your comment!

      Reply
  1. Josh Homet

    Hello Heidi,
    I started playing cajon around the time you started making videos and have followed you all along. I mostly play for my church worship band and everybody loves the weeks when I play cajon! I finally wore out my first cajon after all these years ( walked off stage last week wearing some of the front plate on my sleeve) and its time to replace. Its time to buy one of your beautiful cajons I’ve been wanting for years. I’m thinking the pro elite toro and padded bag. I play live worship sets usually mic’ed with a full band, although sometimes we go acoustic as well. Do you think this is the right choice for me? Best wishes in all your endeavors and God Bless!

    Reply
    • heidijoubert

      Hello Josh

      It is so pleasant to read your comment today, almost at the end of this year. 🙂 What a blessing! I love that you played your cajon literally to bits, not many people can say they have done that, so well done, I am proud of you! And Worshipping at that, how cool! 🙂 I am planning to add up a few more worship covers on my youtube channel this year, so your comment just confirmed it to me as a priority for 2021. Thanks! As per the Pro Elite Toro, it is the best model I have, and my personal Favourite! You will LOVE it, it sounds great mic-ed up and acoustic, and it just looks really awesome to compliment its awesome sound! I would most definitely suggest you get that one… and the back front board with the natural wood logo is so beautiful! Let me know if you need any help with placing your order. And keep rocking on for Jesus. It inspires me as well, not to mention the people you bless at your church. All my love from your Sister in Christ, Heidi

      Reply
      • Kathy omalley

        Hey Heidi I’m a Cajon player and told my friends about you.!! I’m glad to see you surfacing. I’ve played my Cajon with my left foot. Kicked through manybutnowhave a sturdy gun boss el toro.we are threewheeler blessings for new year !!!

        Reply
        • heidijoubert

          Yay Kathy! Happy new year!! May it be BOOMING! xxx

          Reply
  2. Mindful Nomad

    Hello Heidi
    Please don’t stop doing what sets your beautiful Soul on fire! You are a spark to many creatives like me (accidental painter for lack of better words) to just be and have fun doing what we love thru music or arts for nothing and nobody can stop it from its beautiful unfolding. You are an inspiring Energy!
    Thank you for sharing your beautiful Soul and Essence.
    Namaste

    Reply
  3. Jean-Francois

    Hey Heidi, couldn’t help but notice your surname being Joubert. Does your family have any roots in the Seychelles be any chance? Our closing family friends were Joubert when I was living there.

    Reply
  4. Pam friedmab

    Hi Heidi. Would you please
    Tell me what language you are singing in your cover of Sway? Thanks. It’s so beautiful.
    Pam

    Reply
    • HeidiJoubert

      Hello Pam! I sing Sway in English but I do have an improvised part I do on the song at times, and the language I use is simply made up, almost like the concept of scatting but using more of a concept of real ‘language’ which I find helps me to improvise and express myself better. I consider it a Spiritual language! 🙂 Crazy I know, but then again, all language was made up by people at some stage in our history so not so crazy after all. Hope this answers it! I actually do this quite often in many of my songs, I find it gives me the ultimate freedom as an artist.

      Reply
  5. Kyle Elinesky

    Heidi, I love what you’re doing…sharing the music, spotlighting the cajon box.
    Your videos are hypnotizing… you are very pretty … beautiful voice.. drums are bangin…I dig it

    Reply
  6. Cecilia

    You’re a great teacher, musician, person, and a true inspiration. Thank you for everything 🙂

    Reply
  7. Francois

    I’ve busked all over the world since age 9. Love what you do 🙂
    I’m the market for a cajon and would love to try your brand! Do you by any chance have any in San Francisco Bay Area? 😀
    Blessings,
    Francois

    Reply
  8. Sid

    Hey Heidi,
    I accidentally stumbled upon Cajon link and was so mesmerized to see the performances with the instrument. I am a Guitar beginner but always had desire for Drums. The only background i have is trying to play every song drum on any table 🙂
    So with no drum background and @40, I hope its its not too late for me to learn Cajon. But considering you as my e-mentor, i am now now plunging into the Cajon magic.
    I just wish to say thanks to you for all the in videos and tutorials you have posted. Wish me luck !

    Reply
    • jacksonc1

      a Cajon is basically an amplified table with snare wires so that’s perfect. Its never to late to learn percussion, its a very fun and useful tool and will help you in every aspect of your musical career. good luck to you.

      Reply
  9. Samantha

    Hi there Heidi, I would like to buy a Cajon for my mother in law. She is absolutely in love with your music. She used to be a singer and now wants to try the Cajon. What do you think would be a good one for me to get for her as a beginner!? And do you guys ship to Canada? Thanks

    Reply
    • HeidiJoubert

      Hello Samantha!
      We ship out worldwide! 🙂 It;s a great gift idea for your mom in law! 🙂
      Let me know if you need help with your order and all the best with being a super awesome daughter in law!
      Heidi

      Reply
  10. Phil Jenkins

    Dear Heidi
    Just found you on u tube a few weeks ago. I. Am interested in buying a Cajan. , but seen them from
    50 To. 500 pounds is it worth starting out with a 50 pound one please ?
    All the best in Cuba
    God Bless
    Phil

    Reply
  11. Mel

    Hey Heidi,
    I saw you on Markus Lanz’s show yesterday and realized that I had seen you live in Cambridge when I still lived there. I had not heard about your S-Bahn video yet. I just found it cool to see you on that show. I love your music.
    Mel

    Reply
  12. Anna

    Hi Heidi!
    Just saw a video with you and your friend playing Prince ‘Kiss’ on a subway on Facebook, and just wanted to say I absolutely adore you. Rock on!
    Lots of love from Sweden
    /Anna

    Reply
  13. Peter

    Fantastic performance of ‘Kiss’ in the S-Bahn!

    Reply
  14. Michael

    Talented, sexy, and adorable.

    Reply
  15. Marja Zweesaardt

    thank you so much for the good service and quick delivery of my present to myself:-))
    The fun has started!! And a very nice CD came along with it, thank you.
    I will spread the cajon sound all over The Netherlands.

    Reply
  16. Abhilash Cherukat

    Hi,
    I am from India,currently in Bangalore. I would like to know if you ship the cajon to India. And I dont know much about the instrument so you will have to recommend one for me. My musical background: I am a tabla player and a little drum(which is self taught).
    And please include all the price.
    Thank you,

    Reply
    • Heidi Joubert

      Hello! Good to hear from you!
      We have all details of our drums on our webshop, you should check it out!
      I would go with the Pro Plus model, a great model for an existing player with a drum technique already.
      Hope this helps!

      Reply
  17. Ms. Mauikai

    Hi Heidi!
    I stumbled onto your videos and am LOVING everything you’re teaching 🙂 Thank you so much for being such an incredible resource. I recently moved back to the States from France with my Soul Hip Hop duo and we recently decided to break away from our full band and really give this hybrid acoustic duo the wings it deserves. I’m new to the Cajon, but your videos are really helping me fine tune my playing and production skills. Would love to see you with your band sometime!
    Love & Gratitude,
    Ms. Mauikai

    Reply
  18. Alan MacDonald

    Finally, a good teacher, will follow with interest. Alan, New Zealand

    Reply
  19. Alan MacDonald

    Finally, a good teacher. i will follow with interest. Alan, New Zealand

    Reply
  20. Jack Burchard

    Hi Heidi.
    So do you have a US Outlet for Cruz Cajon so I can avoid international shipping rates? Also, really looking forward to the lesson video.
    Thanks
    Jack

    Reply
    • Heidi Joubert

      Hey Jack!
      At present we don’t have any Cruz’s stocked in USA yet but we are working on it! Hopefully soooooon!
      Heidi

      Reply
    • Robert Hensley

      I am also very much interested in your cajons, and I will be following your lessons. Very well organized, and your technique is low-effort and clean it inspires to get better as a beginner player. I am adding cajon, moving from djembe as a performer and teacher. Thanks for organizing these lessons.
      Now get those cajons here in the US! lol

      Reply
      • Heidi Joubert

        Hello Robert!
        Apologies for the ages it took to reply, somehow I missed your comment!
        Thanks for your very nice words on my lessons! I am releasing a DVD soon too so keep an eye out!
        Did you know that most of ouyr Cruz Cajon sales go to US? We ship directly to you, it;s fast, safe and secure! Check out our range on our webshop! We just received our new stock and they are simply magnificent!
        Heidi

        Reply
  21. Diego Armando Cacilha

    Olá, sou do Brasil e assisti o seus vídeos no Youtube.
    Parabéns pela musicalidade. Você faz um som muito bom!

    Reply
  22. Mais Lee

    Hey, Heidi, the e-mail from faraway China, I am your fans.
    Please forgive my English is really bad, this message is translated by GOOGLE it.
    I ask you which city in which country? Me and my friends are Chinese street performers.
    I’m going to be able to raise enough funds to pleasure of seeing you.
    Meet my idol.
    You

    Reply

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