Growing up during the 80’s in Brooklyn, Meklit knows how being enveloped by music can shape the experiences of New Yorkers and knows first-hand the appreciation audiences in the Big Apple have for good music. Having relocated to the Bay Area some time ago, she’s been engaged with their community of creatives and found a home among groups with common interests and similar backgrounds. Though she came of age in Brooklyn, Meklit was born in Ethiopia and bathed in the culture of the East African country and each of her influences informs her music accordingly.
The homecoming show at SubCulture (45 Bleecker St. Downstairs) Friday night is the cherry on top as she tours in support of her latest album, We Are Alive. Written, arranged and recorded over a span of time that ended with seven days in the studio, We Are Alive is in many ways part of the continuum that makes up the projects she’s worked on since her 2009 debut album On a Day Like This, as well as the culmination of the journey that began with a pen and pad years ago.
That’s usually how it starts for Meklit; a pen, a phrase, a poetic line or a funky bass line sparks an idea that becomes a song. She’s making the music she’s always wanted to hear and now she’s able to get it out of her head to share with the world. That seems to be the goal, getting the music to the people in its most organic form, the way she feels it should be shared, live. She promises a high-powered set that will grab audiences, allowing them to connect with the emotions poured into her compositions. She’s traveling the country backed by a live band, adding fans with each stop, because that’s the way it’s always been done and in many ways Meklit is a traditionalist.
However, that doesn’t mean she’s eschewed new traditions; she’s maintains an internet presence at http://www.meklitmusic.com/ and through various social media outlets like Twitter (@meklitmusic) and at Facebook.com/meklitmusic.
There are still tickets available for Friday’s show at SubCulture and they can be purchased here. Additional tour dates for Meklit’s “We Are Alive” tour can be found via her website.
Meklit’s latest offering We Are Alive is now available and can be purchased here.
