Wah! sings of Spiritual Journey in pop-laced Sanskrit chants
by Ellis Widner/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette    June 2, 2002
Hidden in the Name is the title of one of her albums. What then, is hidden in the name Wah!, an Alabama-born woman who fuses Vedic (Sanskrit) chants with Western pop music? The first clue comes from the music itself, selections clearly aimed at consciousness-building, reflection, prayer, connection to the divine. The music, with its subtle Indian percussion, bass guitar and meditative tones, shares some common musical ground with world music singer Sheila Chandra and chant singer Krishna Das (whom Wah! managed and toured with for two years). The next clues come from qualities in the singer’s voice: haunting, heart-felt, emotional, longing, passionate. Qualities that drew rocker Courtney Love’s interest. So, what should people expect when they walk into Barefoot Studio today to hear Wah! in concert? "It's active and meditative," she says. "The chants are simple ones, and the spontaneous transformation of the chant happens in the rhythm. It won't be hard to follow and it's always a group effort." By that, Wah! says she presents the chant as a call-and-response. "Most people sing, some meditate, some like to dance or move." The chants, almost like extended improvisations, can go on for as long as 10 or 15 minutes, well outside the traditional and familiar 3-4 minute pop song structure. "The music reflects my experience in folk chanting, my experience with the music from India and reggae," she says. "It's all roots music and it's propelled by the bass line. Some have described some of what I do as reggae chanting." Wah! comes by her diversity through her life experiences. The daughter of a sociology and history college professor father and a musician mother, Wah! says her parents' "progressive thinking" opened her to many things, including yoga and meditation. At age 14, Wah! was an exchange student in Europe. She joined the Arthur Hall Dance Ensemble and traveled to Ghana and Nigeria in 1978. A 1979 graduate of Oberlin College, she also lived in an ashram (a Hindu religious community) in New York City for nearly a decade. She made several trips to India between 1989 and 1992. "It was all part of the search," she says. Wah! says she responded strongly to the power of the Hindu chants and the music of indigenous cultures. "When I was in Africa, morning practice was drumming and singing in the village where I stayed (in Ghana)." That diversity of influences and experience appealed to Courtney Love, who tapped Wah! to open a couple of shows for her band prior to their last tour. "Courtney had just finished her last album and was trying to change her image. She was getting into yogga and looking for a way to bring something positive to her (audience). We opened for her a couple of times, but her fans didn't buy it. I offered to add some English language tunes, but Courtney wanted the Sanskrit. So that's what we did." But Wah! , who also plays violin and harmonium, is working with more English lyrics for her next album, which is being co-produced with Herb Graham, Jr., a percussionist who works with R&B star Macy Gray. "We're seeking a way to present music in English so it continues to be uplifting and meditative. I want to bring people into a state of awareness, of being. Can I sing or speak to people in the way that keeps them in this place? "It's an interesting dynamic and friction," Wah! says of the new recording's evolution. Like bliss itself? It's better than hidden in the name. It is the name.