Awalom Gebremariam

Awalom Gebremariam is Eritrean singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who in 2006 began to teach himself two of Eritrea’s most recognizable and important folk instruments, the wata and thekrar. Before he left Eritrea he released 'Desdes' his only release so far. When an agency for asylum-seekers in North Carolina met Gebremariam and researched his background, they saw an Awesome Tapes From Africa blog post of the cassette. After everyone spoke, the plans for a reissue began to take shape and Gebremariam began to make inroads into performing his music in America.

On 15 April 2016, Awesome Tapes From Africa reissued Awalom's debut recording Desdes by Awesome Tapes From Africa on April 15. 'Desdes' is a cassette of Tigrinya-language songs accompanied by traditional instruments and was originally released in 2007.