Kenya’s Maia von Lekow embarks on American tour

Maia starts off her tour with a performance on Wednesday 25 May at Radio Bean in Burlington, Vermont. The following day, Thursday 26 May, she will showcase Kenya's dynamic musical scene at monthly Afrocentric live music event: Afropop Night Live. Sommerville, Massachusetts, near the city of Boston.

The full list of shows on her American tour is as follows:

• Wednesday 25 May: Radio Bean, Burlington, Vermont (starts 8.30pm; free entry)
• Thursday 26 May: Afropop Night Live - Milky Way Live, Sommerville, Massachusetts (starts 9pm; $10 entry)
• Saturday 28 May: Shrine World Music Venue, New York (starts 8pm; free entry)
• Monday 30 May: West Falmouth Library, West Falmouth, Massachusetts (starts 7pm; $15 entry)
• Thursday 2 June: Silvana, New York (starts 8pm; free entry)
• Saturday 4 June: Rockwood Music Hall, New York (starts 7pm; free entry)

Maia represents another amazing side to Kenya’s dynamic musical scene. Her voice and style has an affinity with female jazz vocalists of the 1930s and soul and folk music of the 1960s. In all her compositions, Maia explores new trails in Kenya, experimenting with different styles and creating a hybrid sound that is her very own. Her first single, 'Altered Light', was the result of a collaboration with a funk bass player in Australia. Maia's first album Drift was released in 2011 and was the culmination of her travels, meetings, collaborations and experiences. It contains the single 'Jellyfish', which in 2013 was given this great music video.

Sharing the stage with Maia at Afropop Night Live on Thursday will be Boston-based band Kina Zoré. Led by Mozambican native Helder Tsinine and featuring members from across North America, Europe and Africa, the group was the recipient of the 2012 John Lennon Songwriting Contest and the 2011 Peace Driven Award. The band seeks to illuminate social issues that impact on communities in Africa and abroad with lyrics of social change. Vital to the group's live performances are exhilarating drum breaks, lyrical solos and danceable rhythms. In April 2015 the band released their debut album, Tchova Nyolo (meaning "never give up" in Ronga, a language native to Mozambique's capital, Maputo), a call to keep pushing to move through the obstacles one faces.

For updates on Maia's US tour, keep an eye on her Facebook page.