Wah!

From her teenage years onward, Wah! devoted herself to hatha yoga and meditation, so earning a Performing Arts degree from Oberlin College represented merely one milestone on the path toward her identity as a singer, dancer, and spiritual seeker. After graduation she joined the Arthur Hall Dance Ensemble for journeys to Ghana and Nigeria, where she also resided in an African shaman temple. Back in the United States she spent several years writing and staging works, most prominently with the Angela Caponigro Dance Ensemble in New York City. Periodic journeys to India satisfied the wandering spiritual dimension of her nature and deepened her affinity for music, especially kirtan, the traditional Indian chant form. During the late 1980s she began producing recordings tailored to hatha yoga students through Cherdi Kala. In 1993 she broadened her scope by assembling a band that shared her name. The ensemble appeared at numerous pop festivals and chanting retreats. After moving to Los Angeles in 1995, Wah! attracted notice within celebrity circles, developed a local audience, and served as an opening act for Hole. A couple of years later she issued her first independent album, Chanting with Wah!. Her characteristic style merged Indian instruments such as harmonium and tabla with electric bass and Western rhythms. Transformation appeared shortly afterward. By mid-1999 she had released CD Krishna and formed a connection with fellow kirtan advocate Krishna Das. For several years she toured alongside him on bass and violin while supplying backup vocals, and she briefly handled his management duties. The double-CD set Hidden in the Name surfaced in 2001, as did Savasana.