Neycha

In her own words:
"Music should be defiant in some way - it should ask something of us; even if it is to go beyond that which we're comfortable with. I am moved by a song when it has the power to completely arrest me - when I have the urge to just live inside the energy of the song, however brief."

Lyrically driven and emotionally provocative, the acid hip-hop dusted soul anthems for which Neycha is perhaps best known, are not your typical run of the mill songs. Rather, they are a blazing set of aggressive grooves that document the fragility of life.

Not your typical southern belle. Not your typical only child. In fact, Neycha is nothing you’d likely expect by mere description, unless you were simply creative enough to imagine how a sanctified small town with more churches than banks, basement parties than baptisms and more early traumatic loss than most people 50 have experienced, would grow a little girl into an adult.

Today, Neycha is an accomplished singer, songwriter, performer and Transformational Counselor who writes, arranges and produces much of her own music. A true renaissance woman who moves outside the herd, Neycha’s upbringing was cultivated and directed by a troop of equally audacious women. The southern belle has been singing, writing and performing since her childhood days in the Pentecostal choir. Exploring the piano as her first instrument, Neycha often created songs that entertained her, and as she adds today, probably saved her.

Neycha’s first professional gigs were in Washington, DC with a band highly influenced by Prince, Jimi Hendrix and Sly and the Family Stone. The metropolitan area became the foundation for Neycha’s diverse musical interest, which had always included soul, gospel, hip-hop, rock, and funk. Later, Neycha moved to NYC, where she was recruited by Village Voice writer, and Burnt Sugar lead man Greg Tate, to front one of his many “high art” music projects. This exposure provided baptism by fire. Performing and exploring the racy and progressive underworld of the NYC avant-garde music scene for a few years, Neycha emerged with her first self-directed band and a posse of musicians who’d played with Marianne Faithful, Peter Gabriel, Me’shelle Ndgeochello, Cassandra Wilson, and many others.

Neycha’s bold introduction in 2001 with her debut release, the dirty side up, exploded on to the downtown music scene. Her often provocative live performances at CBGB, The Knitting Factory, Arlene Grocery, etc. and the critical acclaim of Neycha’s genre defiant 2001 release gained national and international attention. At the height of this massive buzz in 2002, Neycha’s long time beau and best friend was murdered. Devastated and in shock, Neycha returned to her VA hometown to deal with her profound grief. It was during this time that Neycha began writing on the piano songs that would eventually make up her current CD, white noise. The 13-song disc has been described as “gut wrenching”, “fierce”, and “where acoustic and electronic worlds collide laced with menacing beats and in your face brashness.” Slated for release in summer 2005, this once again genre defiant 13-song disc continues to make Neycha a poster child for artist refusing to fit into a box who insist on blurring the lines. She is the ultimate crossfader.

The Performance
Neycha, relentlessly committed to exploring new dimensions within her own music, often performs in a variety of ways. She's just as likely to perform with her sub-harmonic beat orchestra (which consist of a full string section, d.j., sub bass, and piano) as she is with her guitar driven acid hip-hop band. She enjoys the intimacy of acoustic sets and performing solo.