Kijabe-born musician thrilling audiences across the US

By BILL ODIDI; July 17  2014 

Her songs: Scared Love; I’m Alive; We Are In Trouble

Naomi Wachira, a Kenyan-born musician based in Seattle US, is making a name for herself with powerful guitar melodies about social and civil change. Courtesy 

A Kenyan-born musician is charming audiences across the US and making a name for herself with powerful guitar melodies about social and civil change. Naomi Wachira is based in Seattle, in the State of Washington, and her music is borne out of the tension that she feels everyday as an African living in America.

Naomi’s big break came in 2013 when she was named Best Folk Singer by the Seattle Weekly, which described her style as weaving fibres of two the continents she calls home.Her biggest influences, unsurprisingly, are Tracy Chapman and Miriam Makeba, both of whom she admires for being strong voices for social change through music.

When she hit a dead end in the process of making her debut album, she turned to the influential US producer Damien Jurado who offered to produce the album himself. Meanwhile, she run an online campaign through the website Kickstarter to raise funds for the production of the album.

Her producer made her realize that she needed to use music to express herself and not try to be someone else. As a result, she has recorded music inspired by both the rhythms she discovered in America and the sounds she grew up with in Kenya. The music is a portrait of a Kenyan artist at home in the US balancing the two worlds, of an African, living in America.

Since the release of the album in March this year, the 36-year-old has spread her wings further afield beyond her home state making her debut in California and New York in March and April respectively.

She has also been in performances with another highly acclaimed young musician of Kenyan origin in the US, trumpet player Owuor Arunga, who is also based in Seattle. Last February, Naomi returned to Kenya to perform at the Blankets and Wine Festival.

There are plenty of highlights on the self-titled debut album by the singer-songwriter and guitarist with just enough instrumentation to allow her voice and her message to shine through.

“The songs are drawn from my life as a woman and a single mother, chronicling some lessons learned whether in trying to find a good companion or hoping to raise my daughter in a mindful society,” she explains.

Bond

The words of the second song on the album, “Sacred Love” were written after a conversation Naomi had with her three-year-old daughter and she describes it as a song that expresses a mother-daughter bond.

“The way I feel about her can only be described in the song as pure, it’s redeeming, it’s challenging, it’s heart wrenching and comforting all at the same time,” she says.

“I am Alive” also holds a strong personal connection because it is the last song her late dad, a church pastor, saw her perform. “I can still remember the quiet smile on his face as he watched. “We Are In Trouble” is a call to action against discrimination and prejudice all over the world: “If you hurt your brother, your sister, then you hurt yourself. We are in this together,” she sings.

Naomi Wachira was born and raised in Kijabe and started singing at age five in her parents’ choir. Growing up in Kenya exposed her to percussions and harmonies as she remembers how her family would sit after dinner and sing songs, always in harmony.

“Even at a young age, I was well aware that life was hard and whenever I felt that heavy hand, music came to my rescue,” she says. She wrote her first songs as a 15-year- old and as she grew older, picked up the guitar learning how to express her thoughts through simple songs.

Naomi left Kenya to study communication in the US and lived in Chicago for 11 years before enrolling in graduate school in Seattle in 2007 for an MA in Theology and Culture. She fell in love with the area’s mountains, water and serenity and decided to settle permanently in Seattle.

Naomi’s self-titled album is available to buy and download online via iTunes store and also through her official website www.naomiwachira.com.This has provided her with the perfect backdrop to do that which she loves most - music, and provided a base on which to launch what is certain to be a successful performance and recording career.