You can call in to talk to Wayna at 571-257-7298 or email info@browncondor.com to ask Wayna your questions.

click on pic to go to Wayna's webpage

Ethiopia’s Billie Holiday

Meet Wayna.  You have not heard of Wayna?  Let me introduce you, Wayna is Ethiopia’s Billie Holiday.  There are few Ethiopian artist who have broken the mold, who have branched out from singing traditional Ethiopian music and fused the best of our tradition with a touch of jazz, R&B, and Hip Hop.  Reflect for a second about Ethiopian artists who have branched out and reached a wide audience in main stream America.  A few come to mind, Mahmoud, Aster, Thomas and Gigi.

Well, meet Wayna.  Wayna’s story is one part hard work, one part audacity, and a whole lot of pure talent.  Let us start off with the hard work.  Wayna has always been a tenacious worker; even  as a young child, Wayna was always enthralled with music.  How many Ethiopian kids do you know that starred in the musical Annie and the Damn Yankees.  Well, meet Wayna.  She never gave up on her passion; in college, she pursued her passion—well passionately.  She learned how to play the piano at University and along the way was crowned Miss Black Unity.  You are probably thinking to yourself, “wow, Wayna is really amazing”.  It gets better.

Now let’s get to the audacity part.  Wayna has always had the audacity to think big.  Want a case in point?  Where is the one place in America where you need a whole lot of audacity to perform, and if you don’t do well, you get booed unmercifully.  If you guessed the Apollo theater in Harlem, NY, you guessed right.  Wayna had the audacity to perform at the Apollo.  She, along with a quartet that she started, sang at the Apollo Theater.  Not only did they not get booed, her quartet were finalists in the Amateur night competition—take that CP the clown.

So as you can see, Wayna has the hard work and audacity covered.  But is she talented?  Well is the sun bright?  Wayna has an amazing voice that has been compared to many in the industry to Billie Holiday.  Yes, the one and only Billie Holiday.  In fact, Billie Holiday’s legacy has made a big impact on Wayna.  Wayna recently performed at the Blues Ally in Washington DC where she dedicated her performance to Billie Holiday.

In an age where music has become staid and over populated with auto-tune, Wayna is a breath of fresh air.  In fact, Wayna was nominated for a Grammy Award.  How many Ethiopian singers do you know that were nominated for a Grammy Award.  Well, meet Wayna.  Wayna’ sophomore album Higher Ground was critically acclaimed.  Wayna is currently taking a small break as she is expecting her first child.  However, it is a matter of time before Wayna comes back with the hard work, audacity, and talent that has made Wayna who she is.  So, have you met Wayna?  You will get a chance to do so now.

click to go to Wayna's Facebook

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**research credit:   Tadias.com