The beauty of spring has brought SOMI back to Joe's Pub for another amazing show!  Monday, March 28th, 2005 she will return to the one of downtown's premier venues to exhale a belly full of stories on life, love, and liberation.  Originally from Uganda and Rwanda, SOMI's music gives voice to the post-colonial African experience in the Diaspora with an authentic blend of the contemporary and the traditional.  First seen in the New York City area as the featured vocalist with the African Globe Theater production Drums Under the African Sky, SOMI was soon after seen in Source Magazine alongside Rawkus recording artist Mos Def and other influential lyricists in an anti-police brutality project entitled "Hip-Hop for Respect".  A former background singer for Epic Records recording artist Amel Larrieux and Broadway's Tony Award-winning South African diva Tsidii Le Loka, SOMI's international appeal is a reflection of her diverse experience and influences.  Since her 2000 New York City debut, SOMI has performed at Joe's Pub, S.O.B.'s, Central Park's Bandshell Concert Series, The Museum for African Art, The Village Underground, and Sweet Rhythm to name a few. 

In February 2002, SOMI performed on national television when she appeared on The Ananda Lewis Show as "one of the most talented up-and-coming-artists," and again in May of 2002, when she performed on BET's 106 & Park proving her amazing ability to reach a wide range of audiences.  In June 2002, she reached greater accolades as she was invited to perform in New York City's prestigious JVC Jazz Festival with the Harlem Jazztet, and soon after performed at Chicago's famed South Shore Jazz Festival and the city's premiere venues like the Hot House and The Green Mill.  Summer of 2003, SOMI celebrated the release of her debut album Eternal Motive at the legendary Blue Note jazz club in New York City, and she has since been invited to perform at the Atlanta Jazz Festival to open for N-coded recording artist Maysa of Incognito, and Blue Note Records artists Soul Live and Eddie Palmieri; The New Jersey Performing Arts Center's Sounds of the City Festival, The Epcot Center's World Music Festival, Chicago Tribune's African Festival of the Arts, and Montreal's famous Maison du Jazz.  In 2004, SOMI was featured as a most promising young songwriter in the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Playback Magazine while touring through in Canada, Europe, and Rwanda.  She ended the year lending background vocals to Roy Hargrove's Grammy-nominated Strength EP (Verve) and sharing the New Year's Eve stage at the Blue Note in New York with Cassandra Wilson.