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Three world music acts come to the Sheldon
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STLtoday.com, Three world music acts come to the Sheldon >>
Mexican-American singer Lila Downs is the very embodiment of two countries trying to bridge a deep divide while still retaining a distinct sense of cultural identity.
The daughter of a Mixtec Indian mother, a cabaret singer from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, and an American father of Scottish descent, an academic, Downs grew up in Mexico, California and Minnesota.
Her latest effort, "Shake Away," moves between music from both sides of the border and was based, she says, "on the spirit of healing. My intention was to point out some of the dark features of humanity and the human spirit, but I think I tried to focus as well on the celebratory things."
Unlike past triumphs — the Latin Grammy-winning "Una Sangre (One Blood)" (2004) and "La Cantina" (2006) — "Shake Away" (nominated this year for a Grammy for best contemporary world music album) presents a number of songs in English, something that Downs says took even her by surprise.
"I think I have been kind of avoiding doing songs in English, but this time it didn't feel like it was an effort to do it," she says.
Among them is a cover "I Would Never" by Scotland's the Blue Nile, a sly means of connecting with her father's roots and a song Downs says spoke to her on an elemental level.
"What I feel is the voice who is singing is a (Mexican migrant) worker who is saying, 'You don't need to be afraid of me. I'm not going to turn my back on you,'" she says.
Downs also addresses the topic on the impassioned "Minimum Wage."
"I think it's a very uncomfortable issue for people who keep looking at it as a political issue instead of looking at the human element," she says. "Really, it's a human issue."
8 p.m. Wednesday — The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Boulevard — $32—$38 — 314-534-1111
03/20/09 >> go there
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