An intriguing, dynamic poet singer songwriter and multidisciplinary artist. Her voice is unique and honest.

12 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Folk Pop, WORLD: World Beat



Details:
NEeMA's presence on and off stage is rich and charismatic, and her voice is very honest and unique. She has spent most of her life trying to understand her place in this world. She has met the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa; she has managed an isolated Aboriginal community in the North of Canada and worked with street children in Egypt. She is a traveler of the world and has an undeniable talent to communicate her journey through her very truthful yet uplifting songs. Her songs have a strong social message of understanding and hope for peace. She sings mainly in English with French, Tlicho and Arabic, and her style is folk-pop with influences of world, jazz, and spoken word.

NEeMAâs debut album, Masì Cho (meaning thank you in Tlicho) takes you on a musical journey from the streets of Egypt to the tribal singing of Canadaâs Great North. The culmination of over three yearsâ work and a lifetime of experience, Masì Cho is a deeply personal and touching tribute to the people and places she holds dear.

Collaborating and writing music with Montreal based musician François Turgeon, they recorded the initial phases of the album in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories with local musicians Tagaq (Bjork) and Norm Glowach at Spiritwalker Studio. They continued the album in Montreal at DNA Productions with David Sturton (Jean LeLoup, James DeSalvio), Rick Haworth (Lhasa, Daniel Bélanger, Michel Rivard), Karen Young, and at Dazmo with Sari Dajani (Mitsou). The album begins and ends with a prayer song; inspired by the chief and council meetings in which NEeMA participated during her time in the community of Wekweti. In December 2005, NEeMA also recorded the video Masì as a message of hope and peace.

Born in Montreal of Egyptian and Lebanese descent, NEeMA has been writing poetry since childhood and developed a passion for the world and traveling at an early age. During her summers in university, NEeMA backpacked around Europe and beyond, eventually completing her studies in Sydney, Australia. Thatâs where her music started to take shape, and she bought her first guitar while living in Byron Bay. Then it was off to New Zealand, Southeast Asia and India, where her exposure to various styles of music and her practice with Tibetan monks further influenced NEeMAâs developing style.

In 1999, NEeMA lived in Egypt, learning more about her roots and nurturing her passion for music. She studied classical voice training with Mme Titie Sid Ahmed and classical guitar with renowned musician Mohammed Emad El Edin. She also worked with street children teaching them English through music. By the end of that year NEeMA returned to Canada and moved to Wekweti (Snare Lake), a small isolated Aboriginal community north of Yellowknife where she was the First Nation's Band Manager until October 2001. She then continued working for the Dogrib Treaty 11 Council assisting in the Tlicho land claim and self-government negotiations. These experiences greatly enriched NEeMA and inspired much of her music and writings.

NEeMA is featured in Dave Coolâs documentary film entitled What is Indie? that was launched internationally at Folk Alliance and nationally at the Canadian Music Week 2006. Her music has been featured in several documentaries, namely Tlicho Self Government: As Long As This Land produced by Rabesca's Resources Ltd, Crossing the Deh Cho produced by the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation, and Chief Jimmy Bruno High School Graduation 2005 produced by First North Productions. Her music is also featured on several compilations including Hope: Love is the Answer, alongside Robert Fripp, Ritchie Havens and Dave Davies and produced by Grammy Award Winning Steven Zuckerman. Other compilations featuring her music include Welcome to Yellowknife, Vol I produced by Ice Vibe Recordz, the Arm of Gold Compilation produced by The Arm of Gold Aboriginal World music Festival, as well as the What is Indie? compilation. She also wrote and performed the lyrics for the winning video âShe Flowsâ produced by Josh Usheroff which was screened through the NFB at the United Nations World Peace Forum in Vancouver in June 2006.

NEeMA has been performing around Montreal and in the Northwest Territories during the last several years and has spent the summers of 2005 and 2006 touring the Maritimes. Last June she produced a multi-disciplinary show at the Montreal Fringe Festival entitled âJourney the Transformationâ. It received wonderful reviews in several newspapers and was a combination of spoken word poetry, music, dance and video. After the successful Quebec launch of Masì Cho in October 2006, NEeMA will be releasing the album in the rest of Canada in January 2007 via Select Distribution. She will embark on a national tour to support the new CD.