Evon

She was Uganda's sole representative in the Project Fame all-africa talent search. Below is a previous story about her by P-Tech and a her new single 'Friday'.

From the depths of Littlered studio comes another MMC-produced single titled ‘Friday’. This song, written and performed by the silky-voiced Evon talks about being a practicing Christian and at the same time finding time to have fun with friends and features Papito of the leading Ugandan Hip-hop/rap quintet, Klear Kut. Papito's presence on the track is hard to miss as his firm, well-delivered Swahili bars offer a unique dimension to this already diverse audio project.

We have all heard many a complaint that Ugandan music still doesn’t have an identity but after listening to this, maybe we are halfway there. Evon is no doubt one of the best female singers that Uganda has brought forth to date. She is the kind to go to a Jazz or Karaoke session and keep a low profile in the audience until she is driven by the urge to sing to step on the stage and deliver the goods.

Evon has become a regular at the Jazz Nites at Kelly’s pub where her following has grown from strength to strength. During the days when she first went there, she quietly asked Gordon Begumisa, the bandleader of ‘Blank ‘n’ Blue’ who perform there every Tuesday if she could have a go at the microphone. Being the gentlemen that they are, they asked her what she wanted to sing and she didn't disappoint.

The crowd was like ‘Wow! Who is she?’ Some actually don’t know what her name is but call her ‘Alicia’ or ‘the girl who sings like an angel’.

One nite, she was going to up to do a solo and Eddie Begumisa (Gordon's brother) was going to give her a guitar accompaniment, so I asked her, ‘What are you going to sing?’ and she said ‘How Come You Don’t Call Me – Alicia’ and ‘cause of my total ignorance of the Alicia Keys discography, I imagined she was asking me why I hadn’t called her Alicia. We laughed it off after I realized she was going to sing the song 'how come you don't call me' by Alicia Keys and she went on to thrill the crowd.

Evon has been singing in the underground for a long time, which could actually explain why she is that good. The first time I actually saw her sing was at the dining hall of Africa Hall, Makerere University. There was practice/audition session for the Afro-Stone show. There was no accompaniment and no microphone for her so they said ‘Next is Evon’ as she emerged from the crowd and the went on to miraculously excite one of the most impatient and unidirectional crowds I’ve seen in the recent past.

Every one that has heard her sing, even her very own sisters keep asking themselves the very same question, ‘why isn’t someone as good as her a superstar yet?’ When some listen to her song on CD, they ask questions like 'is she really Ugandan?'

‘Friday’, which is the debut track of her yet-to-be titled album could have found the perfect balance of RnB, contemporary Ugandan and dancehall music. This the same formula that her producer MMC employed on ‘Mary Rosie’ by Smokie & The Benjaminz and my gut feeling is that it could define the equilibrium we have all been impatiently seeking. A few more tracks with the same recipe could do the trick.

Truly your's

Paul 'P-Tech' Mwandha