Artist Spotlight: Saa'Shalom

Meet Saa'Shalom – a writer, poet, musician, living foods chef and ordained priestess of Ras Tafari. She has released an album (The Awakening) with Evolutionary Soul. To find out more about her scheduled performances and 'wholistic' workshops, visit her website or email tubmanxpress [at] yahoo.com.

_______________________________

What keeps you busy? I live my work. So I stay very busy. When I'm not serving others directly, I'm writing books, creating medicinal jewelry, designing a line of Goddess Wear clothing, making music, and preparing for live performances.

Are you originally from Lancaster? I was raised in Lancaster by my grandparents from the age of 2. I attended Chesterfield Elementary School until I moved to Washington, D.C. where my immediate family resided. I spent all of my summers up until age 15 in Lancaster with my grandparents. I consider Lancaster my true home because my grandparent's home was so peaceful and filled with love for me, while my home in D.C. was always filled with city life chaos. I'm a country girl at heart.

What's your musical style? My style is what I call 'evolutionary soul music', which is why my band is called Evolutionary Soul. It is a mixture of every genre of music that has touched my life experience deeply– funk, soul, blues, pop, opera, r&b, jazz, neo-soul and hip-hop. There is nothing new under the sun, so I take the various influences that God has given me, I spit on it my own unique flavor and mold it into something uniquely different. My main instrument is my voice. There is a lot of healing power in my vocal ability. I also play an acoustic 6-string guitar, the bass guitar, xylophone, and djembe hand drums.

Do you perform regularly? You can check me and my band out at the Lamb's Bread Restaurant near downtown Columbia, SC. I also tour with Evolutionary Soul.

What prompted your move to a "living foods" diet? I've always been a bit cautious about the threat of diabetes as both of grandmothers were diabetic. Most of my aunts and eventually my mother became diabetic. I knew it was diet-related, so I subconsciously (as well as consciously) decided to eat healthier and, at age 34, I simply decided that it was time to adopt a vegetarian diet. My husband at the time as well as my daughter and I all went vegetarian together, which was great help because so many folks struggle when they don't have a support system in the home. To say the confusion of life cleared up for me would be to put it lightly. Becoming vegetarian was highly transformational for my mind, body, spirit and emotional well-being.

When we alleviate the war that goes on inside our bodies due to improper diet, we are able to have peace not only inside ourselves, but in our outer reality as well. I was introduced to "raw" or "live" foods in 2002 by Artis Hinson at a gathering in High Point, NC. He was doing a live foods demonstration much like I had been doing cooking demonstrations and talks. I found myself being his assistant that evening and then apprenticed for a year at his place of business in Greensboro, NC where I was trained in live foods preparation and live medicines. By the end of my service there, I had become the Head Chef for his establishment and had quite a following who loved my food preparation style.

Where have your lecture and seminar travels taken you? From New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, DC, all throughout the Carolinas both north and south, to Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, facilitating classes and workshops on wholistic living principles, live foods preparation, meditation, as well as initiating women's emotional wellness circles. To find out where classes are being held, or to inquire about facilitating a workshop, please visit my website or email tubmanxpress [at] yahoo.com

Anything else we should know? If we can get away from the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) and allow Genesis 1:29 to be our dietary law, then Psalms 103:2-5 can be the ONLY health benefit plan necessary. Eat Life and Live!

_________________________________________________________

Links: Saa'Shalom on MySpace, Evolutionary Soul
FYI: Some famous vegetarians: Woody Harrelson, Andre 3000 of Outkast, Alicia Silverstone, Russell Simmons, Thom Yorke (of Radiohead), and Leonardo da Vinci.