Mon Rovîa
Back on tour (with a heavy foot)
“The nature of creativity is to make space for things to happen . . . "
— Ian McGilchrist
"I’m Mon, born in Monrovia, Liberia. My life can be summed up by being born into a civil war, escaping the life of a child soldier, rescued by the hands of missionaries. Spent a lot of my developmental years living in a variety of places with a number of life experiences. And then layered on top of all of this is the assimilation I felt being a transracially adopted refugee. My music in a nutshell is a culmination of these experiences blended with the empathy I feel for the experiences with others. The mission of my music is to heal with others - with every nation and tongue, in due time."
Watch and listen to this WFUV Live Session: https://wfuv.org/content/mon-rovia-2025
My son Sam (above in the middle) plays bass and keys with the band Mon Rovîa. Their recent tour culminated with a performance at the Newport Folk Festival and then the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville - and papa’s pretty proud (in a Mennonite sort of way)!
He’s home this month, but they’re getting ready to head back out beginning in Tennessee, then Texas, New Mexico, and up the West Coast. They’ll be back in Chicago on November 6 for a concert at Thalia Hall and then have another European tour lined up for this winter. (https://monroviaboy.com/pages/tour)
I won’t see much of him, but am grateful that he’s making a living as a musician, his dream since high school - AND it’s good music.
A new song “Heavy Foot” goes:
Do you hear the sound of the bell
Did you wish your family well?
Times ain't the same in the neighborhood
Got the parents all going through hell
Cause the guns keep flying off the shelf
Do you see the man on the street
Just fighting for a meal to eat
You can write him off as a lunatic
But it coulda been you or me
If we didn't ever find our feet (hm)
Love me now
Hold me down
And the government
Staying on heavy foot
And they tried to keep us all down
No they never gonna keep us all down
Check them out:
Spotify:
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/mon-rov%C3%AEa/1313944611
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@monroviaboy
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/artists/B078KR5C3Y/mon-rov%C3%AEa?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fmonroviaboy.com%2F
Bravo!!!