Ondara

Hailing from Nairobi, the vocalist and tunesmith Ondara first surfaced in his Minneapolis home base during 2016, where his emotionally resonant voice and richly detailed songcraft quickly drew notice. Shaped by Bob Dylan, the largely self-directed artist honed his craft on the city’s folk circuit before unveiling his Verve debut, the Grammy-nominated Tales of America, in 2018. After sharing stages with Neil Young and Lindsey Buckingham, he issued a stark collection of pandemic-era home recordings titled Folk n' Roll, Vol. 1: Tales of Isolation in 2020. Two years later he broadened the immigration and American-identity motifs of his first album on the expansive, character-centered concept record Spanish Villager No.3.

Born in Nairobi, Kenya, Ondara developed an early fascination with pop and rock through his parents’ radio broadcasts. Unable to purchase an instrument or take formal lessons, he nevertheless cultivated a deep passion for songwriting; by his teenage years he had absorbed the work of classic folk figures such as Bob Dylan and Neil Young alongside later voices including Damien Rice and Ray LaMontagne. In 2013, motivated by his admiration for Dylan, he relocated to Minneapolis to attend college. There he taught himself guitar, set his own lyrics to melody, began frequenting open-mike nights, and shared several cover performances online. An independently released EP soon attracted the local public-radio program The Current, which added his tracks to regular rotation and led to live opportunities, among them a standout appearance at the station’s birthday celebration at First Avenue in 2016.

Ondara signed with Verve Forecast and issued his first full-length album, Tales of America, in 2018. Mike Viola of the Candy Butchers served as producer, while additional contributions came from Andrew Bird, Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith of Dawes, and Joey Ryan of the Milk Carton Kids. The set earned a nomination in the Best Americana category at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.

Having finished a more ambitious second album, Ondara found its release and touring plans suspended by the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Following several weeks of isolation, he composed new material that confronted the immediate and emotional realities of the crisis and captured the songs in straightforward home recordings. Verve presented the results as Folk n' Roll, Vol. 1: Tales of Isolation in August 2020.

In subsequent years Ondara broadened his sonic palette, drawing fresh impetus from the art-pop and narrative-driven approaches of artists such as Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, and David Byrne. He returned in September 2022 with his third album, The Spanish Villager No. 3, a concept work centered on its titular figure and exploring immigration, Democracy, and the American Dream. Longtime collaborator Mike Viola produced the record, which also featured Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith along with Sebastian Steinberg, Tim Kuhl, and Jeremy Stacey.