Aashid Himons is nothing less than the
greatest musical artist you never heard of.
Now that is not to suggest that no one knows
Aashid, but to the world at large, he remains
virtually unknown. Now all that is about to
change because of the internet and other new
technologies which are giving him the
opportunity to share his amazing volume of
work with the entire planet.
Aashid is an artist with a capital A, and
his artistic path has led him through many
incarnations, from child star in West
Virginia (he began performing at age four and
appeared on The Today Show when
he was 14) to R&B crooner (he had several
releases in the early '60s as Little Archie)
to blues folkie (in the Toronto-based duo
God and I during the late '60s and early '70s)
to Delta blues man (performing bottleneck
guitar as West Virginia Slim in the mid-'70s)
to Blu-Reggae pioneer (as leader of Afrikan
Dreamland in the late '70s and early
to mid '80s, and as leader of the Blu-Reggae
Underground in the late '90s) to space
musician (in the late '80s and early '90s)
to psychedelic rocker (as leader of The Pyramid
Underground in the mid to late '90s to present)
and finally as country soul man (as leader of
the Mountain Soul Band from the late '90s
to present).
Now add cyber artist to his resumé. With his
iMac, a few peripherals and some revolutionary
music software, Aashid is busy making his art
available to the whole world via the internet.
He has an impressive website featuring his art
and his interests at www.aashid.com. He also
has his own subsite at MP3.com
(www.mp3.com/aashidhimons), where he has more
than 20 full-length albums available for
purchase featuring some of his solo
recordings, as well as work with The Pyramid
Underground. More surprising than the fact
that a virtually unknown artist has over 20
full-length albums available is that Aashid
is just getting started.
"I don't know where its all going to end,
man," he says from his headquarters
in Nashville. "I have more than 20 more
albums of unreleased material that
Im planning to make available through MP3.com,
plus all the Afrikan Dreamland and solo
material to be reissued on CD that was
originally released on vinyl and cassette."
How do you spell prolific? A-A-S-H-I-D. Its
almost unimaginable that an artist without
major label backing could amass the amount
of music that Aashid has in the vaults.
Counting unreleased music, he may have close
to 100 albums worth of material. In order to
create all this, he has had to be as
resourceful as he has been prolific.
"Without question, the Most High has blessed
me," he explains. "Ive been led to people
who dug my music, who dug my message of
Oneness, and who were able to help me gain
access to facilities and players so I could
record my music.
"Things really took off when I moved to
Nashville in 1979. A lot of people don't
realize that Nashville isn't just a country
music town. Some of the best musicians and
studios on the planet are right here, no
matter what kind of music you're talking
about. As a result, I've had the good fortune
to play and record with some of the baddest
musicians on the planet."
As you can imagine, Aashid is an
outstanding musician in his own right.
In addition to being an incredibly soulful
singer with a rich baritone, he's an
accomplished keyboardist, percussionist and
practitioner of Delta blues bottleneck guitar.
While he comes from a traditional background as
a musician, he's always embraced new musical
technologies, searching for ways to broaden his
musical palette; and the digital revolution has
given this amazing artist a window to the
world.
.
"At this point, I can do so much myself
because of the technology," he says with a
broad smile, obviously relishing the fact.
"I can create the CD artwork, edit the raw
music, transfer the music to MP3 format, sell
it on the web and feature it on my MP3 internet
radio station. I have to confess it
blows my mind."
Judging from the volume of Email he
receives, Aashid's music is blowing minds all
over the globe, resulting in sales of his
albums and offers to perform. Depending on the
situation, he can perform solo or with a band,
either The Pyramid Underground or the Mountain
Soul Band.
"All my life, Ive been driven to make music
and share it with people," Aashid says.
"Now after decades of struggling to get my
music heard, the entire planet is right here at
my fingertips through the keyboard of my
computer. Because of the volume, I can't answer
all the Email I'm getting from people I don't
even know who have accessed my music through
the internet and been touched by it."
"All I know is it's a beautiful thing!"
need help playing tracks?
lo fi play
hi fi play
download
email track to a friend
view track info
