AVA LEIGH Biography
Why does the voice of a conscious reggae sister emerge from this Chester bred girl? Basically, The Ava Story, which is only just beginning, is already a triumph of an old Jamaican proverb – Who feels it, knows it.
Though she’s a devotee of a music made before she was born and a world away, mid-1970s Golden Age reggae, Ava’s own breezy personality makes a much-loved sound fresh, and very much her own.
Helped by top UK sound men Future Cuts (La La La) and Nick Manasseh (Breathe), Ava's vocal nuance and shimmering harmony show she appreciates all she’s learned from old school greats like Marcia Griffiths and Dennis Brown.
When Ava was 14 she spent many of her Sunday's rehearsing and recording at the IG night club studios which were co-owned by her long time manager Raymond Stevenson. Whilst there she used to sneak into the Aba Shanti club nights upstairs and soaked up the thunderous reggae and dub vibes.
Love, of course, is big in the mix. It may surprise you as they sound so up-tempo, but Ava calls the instant lilt of “La La La,” her “angry love song.” “Sometimes you’re in it and you can’t get out of it, even when you know it’s wrong for you,” she explains. “I’ve felt that way, and I know there are a lot of people going through the exact same thing right now.”
With an innate sense of her own direction, Ava will be providing us with pleasure for years – partly because, as she says, “I write lyrics about me and my friends’ own personal experiences and I just love songs that everyone can relate to, and that will always remind them of the moment they first heard it. I want to make memories.”
femalefirst.co.uk
AVA LEIGH lyrics and albums
