Eastern and Western influences and instruments form a musical experience
Rosalind Jennings, Lake Sentinel/November 2001

Her name is Wah! and critics call her music cosmic pop. Her background and music are as unusual as her name, and though she’s American, wah said there was nothing traditionally American about her upbringing. Born in Alabama, she moved every year with her family and once lived in a shaman temple in Africa. In her teens she moved into an ashram in New York and remained there 13 years. “I immersed myself in yoga, meditation, study of ancient texts, singing the divine name and achieving personal perfection,” she said. Today Wah! combines her spiritual devotion with her music. As the lead singer in the WAH! band, she plays the bass guitar and other instruments while hypnotizing the audience through a mix of chant, rock and reggae. “My music reflects my thirst for spiritual experience,” she said. Wah! will perform at the yoga center Yoga Central, 2724 W. Old Highway 441 in Mount Dora at 7:30 pm Saturday night. She will also have events there Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Formed in 1993, the WAH! band has opened for Courtney Love, headlined the Cultural Arts Festival in Yuba City, California and appeared on VTV Vancouver Morning Television. Wah! performed at Yoga Central in the spring and event organizer PK Radha said she’s back by popular demand. Radha said her last performance drew about 80. This time, Yoga Central manager Corbin Discher said he expects a crowd between 90 and 120.

Chanting is basically the repetition of a sound, usually accompanied with melody and audience participation. Wah! ’s chants are generally Eastern in origin – ancient Sanskrit. She sings a line and the audience sings it back. “She combines Western flavor with the Eastern purity of a chant,” Radha said. “And there’s a thumping bass in the chant, and that’s why it appeals to American people.” Radha said Wah! ’s melodies entice the audience to sing and the melody and chant build gradually to a pitch. Then the melody becomes more intricate and more intense. “She builds you up and gets you excited about the music and then slowly brings you down,” Radha said. Wah! ’s chanting concert combines Eastern and Western instruments. Her husband, Ekongkar, plays the harmonium, while a drummer plays an Asian Indian drum, the tabla. Wah! ’s 7-year-old daughter sings and dances. Wah! said her concerts are therapeutic, offering hope and upliftment. The concerts are both active and meditative, she said. “Chanting is one of those things that can bring people together. Some people dance, some people sit and meditate, some people clap to the music,” she said. “People have a hard time processing their grief, anger and pain. The process of chanting and meditation facilitates that,” she said. Wah! said her name means about the same thing in every language. In India it is ‘vah’ and in America it is ‘wow.’ “In any language, this sound – I spell it ‘Wah’ – expresses the experience of deep infinite understanding and wisdom, indescribable bliss, she said. “I have carried the name for 23 years and I am still on that path of bliss, seeking to understand the nature of my name,” she said. Wah! CDs include Hidden in the Name, Savasana, CD Krishna and Transformation. Although the chants are in Sanskrit, Wah! is not connected with any particular religion or group. Yoga Central is just one stop on her winter tour of 40 venues across the country.