Kashimana Press Kit

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Nigerian-born, Minnesota-based folk/soul artist Kashimana  celebrates the release of their new album Phantom Cries with a show on Friday, July 28 at the Cedar Cultural Center, which is fitting since Kashimana wrote many of the songs for the Cedar's 2019 Cedar Commissions project. Featuring the singles "Only Human (Hey Hey Hey Ah)" (featured on The Current's Scouting Report)  and "Hunny Bunny" (featured in Mpls.St.Paul Magazine), this new album a powerful album mixing blues, soul and spoken word to describe the journey of motherhood with all the fears, joys and pain of giving birth and raising a child. Download link and more info about album and show is below, but let me know if you need anything else or want to chat with Kashimana about this project. Thanks for supporting Minnesota's unique artistic voices!

Kashimana Celebrates New Mother-Inspired Album

Friday, July 28 8 pm

with ShaVunda Brown

Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave, Minneapolis

Tix + Info

KASHIMANA| PHANTOM CRIES

Release Date: July 28 | Going for Adds Now

Listen + Download Album 

RADIO FOCUS TRACKS:
#8 - “The Blood Will Show” (Folk/Americana)

#9 - “Strong Black Mother” (Blues/Folk/Soul)

"deliciously brilliantly fun...glistening new sounds"

-Mpls.St.Paul Magazine

“a fabulous singer and songwriter.”

-Diane Miller, Minnesota Public Radio

Nigerian-born, Minnesota-based folk/soul artist Kashimana releases their new album Phantom Cries. Inspired by the experience of giving birth and becoming a parent, they started these songs in 2019 as part of the Cedar Commissions project funded by The Jerome Foundation. Now, four years later, the songs have fully gestated, matured and grown into a powerful collection, telling the story of motherhood.

Capturing the pivot point of Kashimana's musical artistry and journey into mamahood, Phantom Cries is an emotional rollercoaster of songs guaranteed to give you goosebumps and invoke reflection and transformation. The music is raw and vulnerable using vocals, bass, and percussion to share the stories of conception, pregnancy, labor, birth, postpartum depression, recovery, loss, early motherhood, and the glorious epiphany that everything is different. From a song mimicking the sounds and emotion of childbirth (“Only Human (Hey Hey Hey Ah)”) to the playful plea from a mama to her child to sleep (“Hunny Bunny”) to the powerful indictment of the way Black mothers are treated in the healthcare system (“The Blood Will Show”), the songs paint an honest picture of the beauty, pain and struggle of becoming a mother. Named after the phenomenon of when parents hear the baby crying when it isn't, Phantom Cries is also a plea not to ignore the alarmingly high maternal death rates in this country.

Channeling the powerful vocals of Sweet Honey in the Rock and the funky sounds of Tune-Yards, Phantom Cries is an artful mix of folk, blues and R&B with a dash of hip hop. Although best known as an acoustic singer/songwriter, Kashimana began experimenting more with looping during the pandemic.

“The only instrument I had was my voice so I had to loop to remember my songs and melodies,” Kashimana says. “It  also worked perfectly for rocking a baby and trying to write.”

Recorded at The Library Recording Studio in Minneapolis at the end of 2022, Kashimana recorded these songs with frequent friends and frequent collaborators Khary Jackson (bass), Glory Yard (drums, percussion) and Aja Parham, Sarah O’ Neil and Alicia Steele (vocals). With thoughtfully layered vocals and funky grooves, these songs are very intentionally produced but still maintain a bright energy that feels as vibrant as Kashimana’s dynamic live performances.

Kashimana creates a tuneful, visceral musical experience of becoming a mother with all the hilarious and horrifying surprises along the way. From the haunting “Introduction” about the fears of a pregnant mother to the relaxed R&B grooves of the final “Oh Yes Flow,” Phantom Cries re-creates the journey of motherhood in a moving and life-altering way.

Music

Bio

Kashimana (shey/they) is a mother, musician, singer, songwriter, composer, producer, guitarist, and performing teaching artist with a rich soulful blues voice that soars through their original compositions. The name Kashimana means 'that's their heart' and you can hear their heart beating in the compelling sound of Kashimana’s music. Kashimana often draws inspiration from their experience growing up in Nigeria, Kenya, traveling through Africa, Europe and finally settling in the United States. Mixing Pop, Soul, R&B and more, Kashimana’s distinctive voice and stage presence pulls you in and leaves you in a warm and fuzzy thrall that’s hard to shake. 

As Kashimana says, “My voice has been my closest companion, with my voice, I see other universes and possibilities; with my voice, I hear the joy, the pain, where I come from and where I am going; with my voice, I heal, soothe, and create; with my voice, I am able to connect, harmonize, magnify, communicate, and transmogrify.”

Kashimana was the 2018-19 In Common Composer in Residence in Willmar, MN, a community residency geared towards teaching songwriting as a tool to encourage community sharing of stories which resulted in a community songbook. Kashimana was also a 2019 Cedar Commissions Artist, their project, Phantom Cries - a musical exploration of their journey into motherhood while shedding some light on the higher maternal mortality rate of African American women. They also debuted a story scoring project titled A Soundscape of Stories at the 2019 Northern Spark Festival, where they worked with emerging and national story tellers. Kashimana is an accomplished performer who is passionate about getting people to write and share their stories through song. Kashimana is also one of the teaching artists at COMPAS.

Kashimana holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition-Songwriting, a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences and an Associates Degree in Music Production. Among the many projects Kashimana is involved in, they also sing and perform solo, duo, quartet, with their band Kashimana and The Halos and Power of 10 (Top 40 cover band).

Kashimana is also the co-creator of a MN Opera MNiature Opera Don’t Tread on Me with Khary Jackson, a contributing artist and composer to The Art of The Revolution Twin Cities Community Album ‘Mama’ and a composer on a Sprig of That's latest album Eight Threads. Kashimana will be releasing a new album Phantom Cries on July 28, featuring songs from their 2019 Cedar Commissions project about motherhood.

In addition to addressing issues affecting Black mothers in their music, Kashimana has done advocacy work, creating creativity healing circles through their Mama Ignite Collective, partnering with TrillMoms and presenting at the Black Mamas Matter Alliance Conference in 2021.

Contacts and Social Media

Love from the Sun Album, Prosperity Sounds EP and “Oh Yes Flow” single at https://kashimana.bandcamp.com/https://music.apple.com/us/album/prosperity-sounds-ep/1606644827
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/love-from-the-sun/id1248439001
Subscribe to Kashimana's channel: https://www.youtube.com/KashAhua
Follow Kashimana on...
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kashimana
Twitter: http://twitter.com/the_kashimana
Instagram: http://instagram.com/the_kashimana
Official Website: https://www.kashimana.com/

Phone: 651-307-8566

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