Yeshe

Hailed by the Sydney Morning Herald as “Groundbreaking roots musician” and “Sublime ***** ” by the Montreal Metro, it is on his new EP, Woven, that the veil has finally been pulled back on the story of this internationally celebrated musician. Yeshe has emerged as an exciting new voice of Global Roots Music.
Yeshe’s story has been one of a global search for identity, fuelled by a deep connection to music. He was born in Germany in the same year that the Berlin Wall was built. Like many others, it not only cut Yeshe’s family in half, but also led to a disconnection from his culture and traditions. Yeshe left his family home in Germany at the age of 16 with a friend who soon thereafter met with a tragic end. The first song of the EP, Woven, to which the EP takes it’s name, is dedicated to the memory of Yeshe’s late friend. For the next ten years he came of age as a versatile busking street performer, surviving on the hard streets of Europe’s capitals. This experience shaped his worldview, an open mind, social activism and a thirst for learning the traditions of indigenous cultures, filling old bottles with new wine.
During this time, Yeshe had a chance encounter with Mustapha Tettey Addy – a world renowned Ghanaian master drummer and ethnomusicologist – which sparked Yeshe’s musical journey of many years, living and studying Mbira, Kamele Ngoni and percussion in the villages and ghettos of West and Southern Africa, ultimately leading him to a life of playing music for spirit mediums across Zimbabwe.
Leaving Africa to return to Europe, Yeshe had a chance meeting en-route with Canada’s Harry Manx. Since that time they have collaborated and toured together globally. Yeshe’s début album “World Citizen” was released on Manx’s label in 2004. Yeshe’s second album "Roots & Wings” won a Billboard World Song Contest, along with other international awards. More recently, Yeshe recorded and toured globally with one of Australia’s leading Roots artists, Xavier Rudd.