About Me
“I love singing with you women!†Lauren exclaims, breaking the silence and eliciting smiles from four women caught basking in the afterglow of a vocal exploration. They breathe again, bodies still humming with the vibrations of five part harmony, toes still tapping in time with hearts, and beam at each other like mothers at newborn babes; caught up in the awe of creation. To hear AkaBella is to participate in the sound of creation. They are five sisters from five mothers and ten grandmothers singing songs to the ancestral mother goddess in all of us. ********** AkaBella is a world-fusion vocal group dedicated to learning, sharing and performing traditional songs from around the world. Their fast-growing repertoire now extends to almost every continent, including songs from: Russia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Zimbabwe, Guinea, Cuba, Brazil, Japan and North America. AkaBella has been greatly inspired and influenced by the music of Zap Mama, Sweet Honey in the Rock and Kitka and hopes to someday contribute, like these wonderful artists, to the preservation of global folk-music. The name is (of course) a play on “a cappella†which refers to music with no instrumental accompaniment, but literally, a cappella translates as “in the chapel†which honors the sacred roots of vocal music. AkaBella can alternatively be read A.K.A. Bella: “Also Known As Beautifulâ€. AkaBella hopes to empower girls and women everywhere to create their own beauty outside the media’s body-image cage. ********** There are five unique vocalists in AkaBella: Nola Pierce, Verena Reece, Lorenza Simmons, Lauren Smith and Melody Walker. Though all five are natives of Northern California, the women of AkaBella have traveled the world in search of the music they love, visiting Europe, Brazil, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Japan, Thailand and Ireland. At every show they take the time to teach the audience a song, fearlessly inviting every person to join their singing circle. The members of AkaBella are constantly learning and sharing song with friends, family and strangers. Their dream in life is to travel the world together studying, teaching and singing everywhere they go.
