Rhonda Richmond

Multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter Rhonda Richmond captures the smooth and verdant tones of her native Mississippi in her music. Steeped in the blues, peppered with jazz and a healthy dose of R&B and country, Ms. Richmond's music reveals a powerful spiritual component which illuminates the strong cultural ties between the Mississippi region and the West African nation of the Yoruba. Rhythm And Strings is dedicated to Richmond’s parents who passed on to the ancestor realm within a few months of each other. Velma Richmond, a music teacher, introduced her daughter to music; while her father, Lester Richmond, an educator, imparted great wisdom through country tales and Mississippi folklore. In Rhythm And Strings, Richmond captures the experience and mood of many generations that lived and worked, laughed and cried and celebrated life to the best of their abilities until the final homecoming. Richmond's first CD, Oshogbo Town, was released in March, 2001. The collection of seven original compositions and covers of Duke Ellington, Nina Simone, Muddy Waters, and Grover Washington, is a soul-stirring musical journey through the vast emotional landcape of the deity, Oshun. Her live and recording ensembles, always comprised of the regions best musicians, are an auditory feast of slide, electric and acoustic guitars, Delta percussion, and soulful bass and brass.