This is Roots
This old house.
Unmistakable passion flows through Azere on the front porch where most of her debut album was written and recorded. Built in the late 1800’s, it is no surprise she finds herself drawn to this place.
Connection
Through music, Azere unravels tangled stories to finds her identity as a mixed race Black American woman experiencing racism like her ancestors did. Azere embodies voices from her ancestors through her Americana roots music.
Herstory
Azere’s small-town, Eurocentric upbringing— as one of few BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) in her community, shaped much of her youth and translates into her storytelling.
Azere’s struggle to fit into a community where she never truly felt accepted, fueled her desire to search out her roots in the Black community. This led her to delve deeper into the music and stories of her ancestors, providing an opportunity to explore these connections through her music.
Azere’s artistry explores the past through the lens of her life experiences, as well as those of her ancestors, forging old-time blues and folk with a modern twist. Being influenced by the likes of Nina Simone, Bessie Smith, and Ma Rainey; her music dances between pain and release, breathing new life into old blues from the early 1900s.
Azere’s original songs emanate jazzy folk blues vibes also inspired by her affinity for bluegrass music. “When covering country tunes I’d joke that my love for country music and bluegrass comes from the white side of my family but after my research and further exploration I realized Americana, Country, Bluegrass all stem from Black roots. This music embodies all of me”.