Nana Adjoa

Alternative singer/songwriter Nana Adjoa colors her graceful, intricate songs with ’90s R&B and trip-hop influences. Following a trio of EPs, her debut album, Big Dreaming Ants, saw release in 2020. Born in Amsterdam to a Dutch mother and Ghanaian father, Adjoa started playing bass as a teen only because it was the one unclaimed instrument in her first band. Only later did she learn that her mother once played bass in a Ghanaian highlife band. Adjoa eventually went on to learn other instruments and study jazz at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, though she soon lost interest, preferring to work on recordings on her own and play in area bands. In 2014, she entered the national pop-music talent competition Grote Prijs van Nederland, where she finished as a finalist and secured a manager. She self-released her first EP, Down at the Root (Pt. 1), in 2017. Down at the Root (Pt. 2) and third EP A Tale So Familiar followed in 2018 as Adjoa began to win support from radio and streaming platforms. That year, she played shows in the U.S. and U.K. in addition to festival stages in the Netherlands. Recorded in her home studio, her first full-length, Big Dreaming Ants, arrived on Bloomer Records in July 2020. Although performed mostly by Adjoa, it included contributions from members of her live band including guitarist Tim Schakel, drummer Mats Voshol, and trombonist Daniel van Loenen. ~ Marcy Donelson