Into her own
Deva Mahal touring in support of her debut solo album
Deva Mahal was born with blues in her blood.
The daughter of legend Taj Mahal, she is working to find her voice in music.
After years as part of a duo and backing up other legendary singers, Mahal is on the road singing the tunes from her solo album, “Run Deep.”
“It’s a mixture of stuff,” she says of the album. “Some of the songs I’d been working on for a long time, and some of them I wrote for the album. A lot of the songs are built up through the past couple of years. That was the creative process. I did a couple months of working through ideas, and then we figured out which songs were making the album.”
Although she had time to write the material, when it came to recording, that wasn’t the case. Mahal was able to collaborate on the album with producer Scott Jacoby, who helped guide her.
“We were under a lot of pressure to record quickly,” she says. “It wasn’t by choice. It was a matter of resources. We came up with the best solutions.”
Stepping into the spotlight has also been a transition for Mahal.
She started out as a solo artist when she lived abroad. Moving back to the United States, she continued in music, but as half a duo and then backing up other singers.
“It’s not too unfamiliar territory,” she says of being solo again. “There are different levels of feelings. I’ve already been through many nerves in recording the album. Because it’s music by me, it feels super exposing and makes you vulnerable.”
Over the course of her career, Mahal has had the pleasure of collaborating with Jaleel Bunton of TV on the Radio, Binky Griptite of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Living Color, and the New York Pops Orchestra, and has performed backing up such legends as Etta James, Dianne Reeves, Maceo Parker, Bettye Lavette, The Roots, and Cyndi Lauper.
Performing her own music has brought her a lot of joy.
She will perform the entire album during her stop in Santa Fe on Saturday, Aug. 4.
She wants the messages in the songs come across clearly to the audience.
“The messages are very apathetic in the current temperature,” she says. “I’m influenced by good music and by friends and family — also, what is going on in the world. Basically, life is my influence. All of the facets of it.”