Umojah Nation helps to draw people into a super cool location: Akron, Ohio. Cool people, cool music, cool places. Read all about it!

Left to Right: Tracey Aquart-Nguma, Egan Ammerman, Ceco Selinas, Stefano Nguma, Ali Boyd, and Junior Brown of Umojah Nation in Akron, Ohio

Summer, fun, and happiness scream reggae music. Thankfully, reggae doesn’t scream in your face. Instead, reggae music happily invites you to be a part of something… a beat, a vibe, a message. Even when there might be a strong meaning behind the lyrics, reggae is the one of the few genres of music that forces you to feel good, alive, and in tune with a sometimes powerful communication.

Umojah Nation at The Mustard Seed in Akron, Ohio

I wanted to write about the Akron, Ohio reggae band, Umojah Nation for two main reasons:

• Every Umojah Nation show that I have attended is completely captivating. Audience members are absolutely drawn into the music and performance, and especially at The Mustard Seed, the band has a definite following. (The Mustard Seed’s Highland Square location is a restaurant and grocery story by day, and newly happening, vibrant music scene by night.)

• Umojah Nation is a group that helps to demonstrate why Akron is cool. This is a hip and happening band that helps to bring life to the city. Having received a bit of a bad rap for a number of years, Akron is emerging as an artistic, eclectic, unique city with a plethora of food, music, and entertainment options. As Stefano Nguma of Umojah Nation shared with me at Uncorked in Akron, it is “exciting to be a part of the ‘renaissance’ of Akron, to be part of the music and culture.” (Uncorked is a trendy wine bar, art gallery, and music venue that is a fantastic place to sip wine, see art, and listen to music. The wine bar displays local artists’ work and is located inside the High Street Galleries. And, Tracey Aquart-Nguma of Umojah Nation tends bar some nights!)

Tracey and Stefano of Umojah Nation

The Chat
Having watched many Umojah Nation performances over the years, I was excited to catch up with Tracey Aquart-Nguma and Stefano Nguma, both founders, bassists, and vocalists for the band, prior to a recent private summer event. Tracey was born and raised in Akron, while Stefano ventured to the city in 1989 for school while having been raised in Africa. Join me in my chat with the pair to learn more!

How long has the band been together, and how did it all start?
Tracey: The band has been together for at least 10 years. It was my ideal.

Stefano: Tracey had formed a group of ladies that had been part of the band. But, it was hard to keep the band together, so I ended up joining. We got our first gig playing for a monastery in Pennsylvania. We were thrown into it before we were even ready, but we put a group of people together and played in PA.

How did the two of you get together?
Tracey: Someone thought it was a great idea for me to meet this guy with dreadlocks… since I have dreadlocks. I thought it was kind of silly, but I ended up meeting Stefano’s roommate. Stefano and I met a few weeks later and became best friends.

Stefano: After about a year we became closer friends.

Tracey: We’ve been married almost 20 years now. It will be 20 years in November.

Both: But, don’t tell our fans that we’re married!! 🙂

Ceco Selinas, Stefano Nguma, and Junior Brown of Umojah Nation

How often does the band play out?
Tracey: In the summertime, we play almost every weekend: June, July, August. In September and October we get quite a few shows. We slow down a bit in the winter because Reggae is more summertime music. In the winter, we practice more and write.

What are some of the big places that you’ve played?
Stefano: We’ve played the Mid-West Reggae Festival, the Bay Village Arts Festival.

Tracey: The One World Festival in Cleveland, and we’re playing Lock 3 this year and Hardesty Park. We’re not playing the Mid-West Reggae Fest this year because we’re going to take a break and just enjoy the festival.

You write your own music, so is most of what you play your own music or do you also play covers?
Tracey: Most of what we play is our original music. But, we do a few covers to fill in the gaps.

Stefano: It all depends on the length of the show. And, with reggae there is also a familiarity you bring to people who might not know the music. They know they’ve heard something. We play covers to bring them in.

Do you have an album out?
Tracey: Yes we do! We’re in the process of ordering more CDs because we are completely sold out.

Stefano: We also do online sales. Our album is called Smokescreen.

What does Umojah Nation mean?
Stefano: Umojah in Swahili means unity, but the literal translation is more like oneness. So, it means “one nation.”

Tracey: Plus, it brings all kinds of people together.

Reggae music, as a whole, kind of does that. And, I’ve noticed that when being at your shows how everyone is in a good mood and positive. I bet there aren’t a whole lot of bar fights when you play.
Stefano: [Laughing] No, there are not!

Who are some of your inspirations?
Stefano: Burning Spear is an artist from Jamaica; he probably started in the ‘70s, one of the early artists, but he’s still playing today. Then, there are also British influences of Reggae like Steel Pulse and Aswad.

How do you write music?
Tracey: Sometimes it’s just what’s going on in my life at the time. Songs like Understanding.

What is a favorite song that you sing?
Tracey: I would say…. all of them. [Laughter] I would say that No More Stress is everybody’s favorite.

Stefano: One of my favorite songs to play is Peter Tosh’s Pick Myself Up. I love that song. It’s one of the cover songs that we do.

Left to Right: Tracey Aquart-Nguma, Egan Ammerman, Stefano Nguma, Ali Boyd, and Junior Brown of Umojah Nation

What drives you to be in Umojah Nation?
Tracey: I know how Reggae made me feel before we started, and I love the message of the music, as well. It’s uplifting, consciousness, and also about things that are going on in the world. It provides consciousness, but a good feeling, too. There is a term in reggae: he who feels it, knows it.

Stefano: Some people wonder, why reggae? I remember hearing Bob Marley at an independence rally or something like that, and people were understanding the message, even if they didn’t speak the language. It’s a powerful vehicle. It has a way of bringing people together. We each have a story to tell. With reggae and the way you can express yourself, you can really highlight the lyrics of what you are saying. I can [sing] to somebody about my experiences in Africa, and it can translate to someone who grew up here who has never experienced what I experienced. You can actually plant a seed and make something good happen.

Stefano, what was life like in Tanzania and Ethiopia? Do you ever visit?
Stefano: Although I am Tanzanian, I spent all my childhood living in Ethiopia until the age of 19. My father worked for the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa. Even though it was a stifling communist dictatorship, the people and the country were beautiful. There was a very large community of expatriates there, as well, so I grew up in a very diverse Africa. I have visited Tanzania in 2003, but I haven’t set foot in Ethiopia since 1991. I’m planning to visit next year.

I came to the US for college in 1989 to study Engineering Geology at the University of Akron, but started working in the IT field. I currently do technical writing, produce product training (videos, guides, etc.), and knowledgebase administration.

Tell me more about playing at private parties. My friends are very excited to have you play at their summer party.
Tracey: You get to play amongst people and their friends. It’s a little more intimate.

Stefano: And, you get to play for people who don’t get a chance to come to your shows. I really appreciate these intimate gatherings.

Have you ever played at Porch Rokr?
Tracey: We have been invited a couple of times, but we could not make it work with our schedule. If we are asked this year, maybe we’ll be able to play! [Porch Rokr is an annual festival in Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood that features over a hundred bands playing throughout the day on the porches of individual homeowners. This year’s event occurs on 8/20/16.]

When in Akron, you must add an Umojah Nation show to your schedule. In the meantime, download Smokesreen on iTunes here!