Music has always played an important role in Chris Ndeti’s life, and not just one style.
Her mother is from Brooklyn and sang doo wop songs at the Apollo’s talent shows, she said.
“My uncle was from Brooklyn and played the upright bass,” she said. “My dad is from Kenya and brought in East African influences.”
MORE: Hopelands Schedules 47th Season
She grew up playing the violin, and while a student at Georgia College, she listened to the music of her international friends. All of those styles melded together to help Ndeti find her own voice and style.
[adrotate banner=”19″]
“I can honestly say I’m all over the board when it comes to music. I can play 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and current songs,” said the singer/songwriter, who plays multiple instruments including the guitar, violin and piano.
Over the next few weeks, she’s got many engagements in the Augusta area. Ndeti’s versatility helps her choose the right set at the right function.
“It depends on my audience,” said Ndeti, who doesn’t have a standard set list that she plays every time.
While she has some staples that she loves, she can be mellow in a fine-dining establishment where people are having conversations, or she can go full-force if the setting calls for it. If her audience members are all of a certain age, she can play the songs that bring back those memories for them.
Whatever they need, Ndeti said she probably knows it.
“I like to say that I’m a human jukebox, missing a few tracks,” she said.
No matter the music, Ndeti can find her comfort zone, but it wasn’t always that way.
“I had to find my voice,” she said.
Ndeti said hers is not a lilting Disney soprano voice, and she wondered why she didn’t have that type of voice until she watched a documentary on VH-1 that changed her thinking.
It was on the Carpenters, and in it, they talked about Karen Carpenter’s voice. She wasn’t a soprano. Then the documentary showed a clip of the brother-sister song duo performing a song by The Beatles, but they didn’t sing it in the style of The Beatles.
“She had a nice deep voice, and she used it to her advantage,” she said. “That was it.”
[adrotate banner=”23″]
Although it wasn’t the way The Beatles did it, the Carpenters had great harmonies and put their own spin on what they heard, she said.
Ndeti said it made her realize that if the Carpenters could do it, so could she. It freed her up to find the voice inside her and let it out.
MORE: Live Outdoor Concerts Return to Columbia County Amphitheater March 26
Ndeti has multiple performances coming up. Find her at Suite 10 Restaurant and Bar from 7 to 9 p.m., March 26; at Tailgate Tavern in Aiken from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., March 27; or at Cantina Locale from 1 to 4 p.m., March 28.
In April, she’ll be at the Fox’s Lair from 9 p.m. to midnight, April 2; and at Mellow Mushroom in Aiken from noon to 3 p.m., April 4. A complete list of upcoming events is available at her website, acousticchocolate.com.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
[adrotate banner=”45″]
