It’s been raining cats and dogs here in the Atlanta and when that happens I prefer to stay off the roads however much I can. What typically happens is that I end up binge watching a series I’ve been dying to see or listening to some mellow tunes, and well I’ve been indulging in both. Leyla McCalla a New Orleans based, New York born artist of Haitian descent, has been the perfect remedy for this drab weather. Her sound is graceful whilst being intimate and her songs are certain to “satisfy the soul”. Her latest album “Vari-Colored Songs : A Tribute to Langston Hughes” pays homage to the Harlem Renaissance great. When asked in a recent interview by Tavis Smiley about what drew her to Hughes, McCalla said this:

My dad bought me a Langston Hughes book of poetry for my sixteenth birthday, it was always something I went back to and enjoyed…I read both his autobiographies and was so inspired by his life and the choices he made. His pursuit of creativity came at such a cost…his poetry so moving, he has such a beautiful way of bringing complex ideas and history and culture into words that are very human, simple and relatable. I really empathize with his work.

Leyla will be hitting the festival circuit this summer, go here to see if she’ll be in a city near you.