Reaching Through Lonely Seasons with Mon Rovîa
On stage at Rough Trade Below, Mon Rovîa brings performance and poetry ahead of his Bloodline tour.
- Photo Credit Nicholas McMillen
Meet Mon Rovîa, an Afro Appalachian folk artist, who, in his own words, “makes songs that sound like lullabies for adults.”
Born in Liberia and adopted by missionaries out of a brutal civil war, he sings of being caught in between the conflicts of his birth country and America. Born Janjay Lowe, Mon Rovîa’s artist name comes from the name of Liberia’s capital city. His songs deal in the duality of emotions he draws from his feelings of survivor’s guilt in escaping the war, while finding his place in rural Appalachia.
Digitally he shares messages of hope and justice and community care. Truly that same sentiment was evident when he took the stage at Rough Trade Below on January 7. There was an undeniable warmth radiating from the crowd, quiet and persistently hopeful.
- Photo Credit Nicholas McMillen
He took the stage, ukulele in hand and a string of cowrie shells adorning his neck. He received support from Sam Hudgens, Joshua Durant, and Tyler Martelli, performing tracks off his debut album, Bloodline, out January 9. Together they sang their way to healing and reckoning, in gentleness and vulnerability.
In “Old Fort Steel Trail” he sings, “No need being so head strong / You been robbing yourself for too long / Put the past down, put the past down.”
He spoke of his time spent in rural Appalachia and in the Chattanooga area, “being amazed by nature, the mountains and rivers.”
“I heard and learned a lot of things in the stillness of that place,” he added.
In between songs, he read field notes on the thoughts that brought together each song, telling the crowd that he was “amazed to give to such people.”
“Love me now / Hold me down / And the government / Staying on heavy foot / And they tried to keep us all down / No they never gonna keep us all down,” he sings in “Heavy Foot.”
- Photo Credit Nicholas McMillen
Just as his songs have the ability to soothe the suffering, Mon Rovîa brings a promise of hope for better days. “Forgiveness of self and forgiveness of others is a beautiful antidote to suffering,” he told the crowd. And that promise is possible by sharing your suffering in community with others. “It shows that life doesn’t end at suffering.”
Mon Rovîa kicks off his UK and Europe tour on January 14 in Stockholm, where the journey continues, and his community will grow. —Olivia Bardo
