I just wanted to say a great big THANK YOU to those donors and word-spreaders who helped our Nile Project Kickstarter campaign reach it’s goal with $11,192 raised. This seed money will allow us to take our initial research trip to East Africa in May, and get this project off the ground in a very real way. I cant tell you how appreciative we are of all your support.

And in more music news, I’m in Montreal TODAY, kicking off a week-long East Coast Tour that has us in Montreal, Burlington, Boston, Pittsburgh, DC, and New York City. Ah the road…. How I love it! If you have friends in those places, let them know we’ll be rolling through town. And we hope to see YOU there.

Festival Nuits D’Afrique at the Cabaret Du Mile End
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Montreal, Quebec
http://www.lemileend.org/
http://www.festivalnuitsdafrique.com/

The Lane Series
Friday, February 3rd, 2012, 7:30 pm
UVM Music Building Recital Hall
384 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT, United States, 05401
http://www.uvm.edu/laneseries/2011/05/meklit-hadero/

Johnny D’s
Saturday, February 4th, 2012, 7 pm
17 Holland St, Davis Square
Sommerville, MA (right outside of Boston)
http://www.johnnyds.com/bands/2412-meklit-hadero/

Shadow Lounge
February 7, 2012
With Joy Ike Opening
5972 Baum Boulevard
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
http://www.shadowlounge.net/

Artisphere
Wednesday, February 8, 2012, 8 pm
1101 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22209
http://artisphere.com/

Baryshnikov Arts Center
Thursday, February 9th, 2012, 8 pm
450 West 37th Street, Suite 501
New York, NY 10018
http://bacnyc.org/

Wanna hear hip-hop and traditional musicians from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt collaborate to create a new sound? I do! Introducing the Nile Project…

Loosely based on the Silk Road Project (www.silkroadproject.org), and created by myself and Egyptian ethnomusicologist Mina Girgis, the Nile Project explores the intersection of ecology and culture across much of East Africa.

Help us take the first step with our kickstarter campaign!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/926996485/the-nile-project

We’re bringing together musicians from the Nile cultures to play and record music, to tour down the river and its source lakes on a boat made of recycled water bottles, and to share an experience that will connect us, the peoples of the river.

We realized that though East Africa’s Nile cultures have shared millenia of history, today we do not know very much about each other. Mina and I decided to start this musical project so that the people of the river could get to know their neighbors through a mutual sharing of stories, sound, music, mythology, and culture. In 2013, we’ll also tour Europe and North America.

How has the project gone so far?

After only a few short months, we’re in talks with Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium as our North American presenting partners, and I got the TED Senior Fellowship with the Nile Project as my main fellowship focus. Things are really starting to roll!

We need your help to get to the river!

We are seeking to raise $10,000 right now, which will cover our April 2012 scouting trip where we’ll connect with musicians from the region and choose participants for the Nile Project ensemble. All donations are tax deductible!

What will we do with the money?

At the end of the trip, we will have selected the members of the Nile Project All Stars, conducted approximately 50 video interviews with people living along the river, and collected songs about the river from the various peoples and cultures we meet along the way.

If we raise more than $10,000, we’ll use this money towards a residency for the Nile Project musicians, to build the boats and tour down the Nile, to record and distribute the Nile Project CD, and to tour the Nile Project around the world. We thank you so much for your participation in making this happen.

Onwards to the river!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/926996485/the-nile-project

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-unleashed-mind

cheers,
meklit

more very soon,
meklit

We’re playing a show at Don Quixote’s International Music Hall this coming Novembre 30th. Oh yes! Join us for music in the land of the redwoods!

Click here for tickets and info!

More neeeeeeeeeews soon!.

Cheers,
Meklit

I’m thrilled to announce that as of last week, I’m a 2012 TED Senior Fellow! So exciting. This means that I’ll be going to the next four TED conferences over the next two years, and am in the company of such an inspiring group of other fellows.

Check out more about the TED Fellows program by clicking here.

In the meantime, I’m in San Francisco at the moment, finishing up two new collaborative albums due out early next year. More on those very, very soon!

Be well, stay well……
Meklit

It’s a big few weeks ahead…. First – heading to NYC for some rehearsals. While there, I’ll also be spending some time at OccupyWallStreet. It’s a big movement and an exciting one, and I’m joining.

Then, I’m heading to Sarasota, FL for a week of sold out shows at the Ringling International Arts Festival, a performing arts extravaganza created in partnership with the Baryshnikov Arts Center…. I’m seriously hoping to meet Barysknikov himself, and I’ll let you know if I do.

After that, it’s off to Washington DC, for a FREE show at the Kennedy Center on October 18th. Yes!

And then I’m actually going back to Ethiopia (twice in one year – so lucky!) to inaugurate the UN’s campaign for gender equality with a show in Addis Ababa. I also got an invite to attend and perform at the African Leadership Network Conference in Addis by my dear friend and fellow TED fellow Fred Swaniker. There, young leaders from across the continent will get together to share the development, education, arts, and social entrepeneurship (sp?) work they are doing in their own countries and communities.

I’ll be home the rest of the year, resting and getting ready for the release of 2 new collaborative albums early in 2012. Stay tuned for more news on those.

Take care, be well, stay well!
Meklit

i’m writing from the swall institute, just outside yosemite national park, where i’m doing a songwriter’s residency. what a gift! the new tunes are pouring out.

and i’m getting ready for some exciting new shows too!

this thursday, sept 29th, we’re playing at the fabulous new parish, one of my favorite spots for live music in OAKLAND. yes!

this is going to be a serious musical extravaganza, featuring marcus cohen’s the congress, the illustrious female emcee duo canary sing, and the fabulous dj zita. i’ll be headlining and I’m so excited to play in the EAST. hope to see you bay area peoples there!

and after that we’re heading to florida for the ringling international arts festival at the baryshnikov arts center, and then up the coast to the KENNEDY CENTER in DC for an october 18th date at that classic spot. right afterwards, i’m headed back to ethiopia to play at a few conferences in addis ababa. many adventures and i’m grateful for all of them!

take care, stay in touch, talk soon…..
meklit

Click here for the article!

Wooooooooooo!

I just got a special notice that I can give you a discount code for Bumbershoot tix for 9/3/11… the day I’m performing. So cool!

Just go to: bumbershoot.strangertickets.co​m and enter the code DF66B.

See you in the Northwest!

Cheers,
Meklit