Mishi – Labda Kesho

BIO

Mishi is an American-Italian musician who has spent 10 of the past 14 years working, living and making music throughout Tanzania, "kutoka porini mpaka mjini...na njiani pia" ( from the bush to town and even on the road ). Labda Kesho means " Maybe Tomorrow " in Swahili and captures the often unpredictable and spontaneous happenings of daily life in Tanzania. Mishi's original Kiswanglish music is a new style—crossing genres—that brings the everyday joys, frustrations, and hilarious experiences of Swahili life into song. Mishi first started writing songs when she was growing up in Pennsylvania, on the eastern coast of the United States as a young child, and has loved singing and making music for as long as she can remember.
Her first songs written in Swahili were about Tanzanian breakfast foods while learning Swahili in the Peace Corps in Kilosa, Morogoro and then in Ilembo, Mbeya from 2008-2010. After the Peace Corps, she lived in Baltimore on a boat (The Takiteze - a 1976 44’ Trojan Motor Yacht) she owned for 4 years and would often play music for guests aboard, occasionally performing Janis Joplin cover songs at bars, or on the streets of Fells Point to entertain friends. In 2015, she moved to Dar es Salaam where she continued her work with an NGO in public health and began playing her original music for the first time while performing regularly at The Slow Leopard in Masaki at Chi Temu's Open Mic events and John Kagaruki’s Friday shows, with Shane Palko and at the Isimila Music Festival in Iringa in 2017. In 2017 and 2018, Mishi led Labda Kesho & Friends in musical parades in Stone Town for Sauti za Busara which created some magical impromptu musical moments in Mashallah Cafe with Ribab Fusion followed by late night performances at Livingstone's. In April 2018, after becoming completely burnt out, unhealthy, and disenchanted after a decade with the development and aid system, Mishi quit her job and moved to a friend's farm outside of Njombe where she has been residing, writing, creating, spending long quiet times in wild nature and doing deep inner transformational work for the past 3 years.
During this time, her performances included shows at Iringa Sunset Hotel's welcoming sundowner deck built around the natural boulders and rocks with views of the miombo woodlands, and surrounding valleys. She also had the pleasure of playing at the annual Kisolanza Touch Rugby Tournaments in 2019 and 2020 for wonderful crowds in the southern highlands and around the country. She even played in early 2021 for hundreds of passengers aboard the overnight journey on Lake Nyasa on the new MV Mbeya II ferry from Mbamba Bay to Lipingu. Now she has emerged from the mountains of the southern highlands and finds herself living on a boat in Zanzibar starting up an AirBnB, retreat and performance space, and mobile boat safari camp on "The Indiana", a double deck catamaran currently based in Kendwa. In June and July 2021 alone, she has had the honor of performing at Crazy Monday at Coral Rocks in Jambiani, Demani Lodge's Thursday Night party in Paje, La Fontana Bungalows in Kendwa, Sunrise Bar in Stone Town, a musical interview performance with ZCTV's "The Beats", multiple house parties in Stone Town and Mbweni, Under the Shade Safari Lodge's grand opening in Arusha, and hosted a musical boat brunch with Fadhilee Itulya. She is now touring throughout the island on land and sea to promote her first album, “Bajaji Kisses”, which contains 8 songs in English, Swahili and Kiswanglish--including some Labda Kesho classics such as "Fundi, Uko Wapi?" and "Simama", about getting stopped by the local traffic police. Bajaji Kisses was produced by Bob Julie, Prosper Boaz and Kenny Mackyao at KenMack Studios in Moshi in 2020--where Mishi drove herself across the country after BongoZozo heard her playing from his room and invited her to a studio session with other artists. She ended up camping in her tent on the roof of the studio with clear views of Kilimanjaro and recorded the album a day and a half before driving back to Njombe, camping in Kondoa and playing music along the way. Bajaji Kisses is now available on digital platforms including Spotify and iTunes. Mishi most often plays guitar but grew up learning the piano and has recently added ukulele, melodica and accordion to the list of instruments she incorporates into her songs. She loves playing with other musicians, inviting crowd participation, and will always welcome additional voices, rhythm eggs and tambourines to liven up the often improvised on-the-spot songwriting. Whether it's on stage, playing for a crowded bar, in Ruaha National Park playing around the campfire, or even playing her ukulele in a dalla dalla on the way to town, Mishi brings a new authentic vibe and style that seeks to lighten and uplift those around her. For Mishi, her life is the gig. Musiki ni maisha!