The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Thabisa plans New England tour
ASouth African-born singer and New Haven resident wants to bring the sounds of her cultures on the road this spring with her upcoming Alive Tour.
Thabisa Rich, who goes by the stage name Thabisa, was recently elected president of the board of CT Folk, an organization that produces the annual CT Folk Festival & Green Expo. She was also hired by the city Director of Cultural Affairs to be the community outreach coordinator to manage an allocation of $1.2 million in funding the city received under the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA.
“I cannot wait to help the community and put programs together as I am an artist myself and understand what artists need,” she said. “Even on tour, I will be helping the New Haven community every way I can.”
The Alive Tour, running April 28 through July 28, will start in Portland, Maine and make stops in Cambridge and Somerville, Mass. She is also planning on adding dates in Hamden, Hartford, New York City and Portsmouth, N.H.
When she moved from South Africa to New Haven in 2016, she
said it was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do. “I remember my husband and I driving on the highway here in Connecticut and seeing a sign that said ‘Welcome to New Haven,’ ” she said. “I remember feeling safe when I read that sign and at peace. It gave me hope that everything was going to be okay.”
One day, she recalls walking the streets of New Haven with her 1year-old asking around for how she could share her music music. “The rest is history.” Rich has performed
at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven and many venues around the state.
Rich is inspired by the sounds of folk, jazz, soul, R&B and AfroPop and blends her South African and American cultures to create her music while incorporating the languages of Xhosa, Zulu, Venda, and English. She has been singing since she can remember, trying to mimic the voice and sounds of South African singer Brenda Fassie.
“Fassie was my hero and used
her music as motivation to get to where I want to be,” said Rich. “I treat my music like life. I like to be a storyteller. I do not focus on the lyrics but mostly what I feel. I’ll start humming and words just come together and then I find myself creating a song.”
To Rich, being a South African women pursuing her music means that it is her duty to shine light to their stories and culture. “It means I am going tell stories for those who are voiceless. I will be their voice and make them feel seen,” she said. “It is my responsibility to tell the stories of struggle and what people in South African go through due to leadership.”
Rich has appeared on “South African Idols” and made it to the top 18 in 2012. She has released two albums, “The Journey” and “Eyodidi,” and was nominated for Best Video in the South African Traditional Music Awards in 2014. In 2020 she recorded “Sweet Sorrow,” which echoed the pain many went through during the pandemic; she wrote the song in 24 hours in her attic studio in New Haven.
She also started a non-profit organization in 2021 called the Rich Arts Collective “as a way of bringing music, art, and culture under one hub with the goal of raising up each member of the community in appreciation of our shared humanity,” as described on its website. The organization holds open mic events for youths, backyard concerts and conversations that highlight “economically challenged and BIPOC” artists, authors and creators.
Rich is crowd funding online to pay for the expenses of her upcoming tour; in exchange for donations, Rich said she will offer some donors a performance at a special event like a wedding or birthday party.
“I have dedicated my whole life to pursue music and I will not let funding be the reason to stop,” she said.
Rich also has an upcoming EP called “Petrichor” and plans to release a new album.