Life & Work with Silvia Passiflora of East Nashville

 

Today we’d like to introduce you to Silvia Passiflora

Hi Silvia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My stage name is Silvia Passiflora which in Latin translates “forest nymph” and “passion”. Silvia is the name I was born with and Passiflora is the name I’ve adopted. As a poet songwriter, trained as a certified master gardener to use Latin classifications for plants, it’s not surprising that my body of work has recurring themes of nature, plants, trees and animals. I believe names convey so much about the spirit world living within and writing about nature allows me to say things about relationships in a revealing way using hurricanes, passionfruit and the turning of the seasons to ask questions like:“Before the last leaf falls tell me/ do you feel the same?”

I am currently based in Atlanta, but have performed and fallen so madly in love with the musical landscape of Nashville that a move seems inevitable. My “Firefolk Americana” music has been featured on public radio hooking audiences and producers alike with an unlikely path to prolific spoken-word poetry and songwriting that began during the historic pandemic lockdown of 2020. A year and a half later, I heard myself singing on the radio. Less than two years later, Atlanta Magazine honored me with a feature in its year-end Best of Atlanta issue with an custom-made exclusive category “Blues Ukulele and Hip Hop”. It’s been an astonishing ride but the steps getting there were consistent and deliberate.

With performances in Paris, Nashville, Memphis and Chicago, I am currently scouting regional venues and local musicians on an exploratory venture dubbed the “This or Better Tour” referring to a potent manifestation practice and focusing on Southern regional cities with great food—I am a fine dining chef who trained in Honolulu.

Though I have a deep catalog, my song “Frame of Reference”, in the school of Simon and Garfunkel inspired folk rock music, is my introspective first single about “trophies when you bleed”. It will be released on all major streaming platforms on May 23, 2024, the beginning of a full moon known as The Flower Moon.

While my ukulele may brand me with island vibes and her banjo with honky tonk Southern ones, I have absorbed sonic influences from local performing artist friends in the South and regionally—some are legendary Blues performers, while others are redhot alt-bluegrass rock bands on the rise and young R&B, Soul and Gospel artists groomed young from generational music families. I simmer it all together like a silky Southeast Asian coconut curry with vocals reminiscent of Norah Jones, existential lyrics like those of John Prine and the Avett Brothers served with island tribal grooves and a touch of giddy discoball pop using string-bending, pinky-slides and lusty percussive techniques not often associated with ukulele. After I learned to adapt guitar techniques to ukulele, I inherited an abandoned banjo and taught myself to play it in a way that best expresses the songs that were originally composed on ukulele. They don’t really sound traditionally bluegrassy though they could given the right accompaniment.

I hope people come hear my music and leave rethinking the ukulele and banjo when experienced in a steamy Southern context. To attend my next show, follow for event listings: Instagram@silviapassiflora. To contact for interviews, sponsorships or booking: [email protected]. To see samples of live performances: www.silviaontheukulele.com

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Has it been a smooth ride? What have been some of the struggles along the way?
I play ukulele in the South which is not normally known for ukulele. I had to ask myself why anyone would want to come out to hear ukulele when the South is known for everything else, especially blues, bluegrass, hip hop, and jazz.

My songs and poetry have ample references to the South and Southern cuisine, “honey and cornbread for two/ love grows by the kitchen stove”. Lyrically my songs are almost exclusively about the South but has an affinity to Hawaiian songs about nature and red clay soil.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

While my ukulele may brand me with island vibes and her banjo with honky tonk Southern ones, I have absorbed sonic influences from local performing artist friends in the South and regionally—some are legendary Blues performers, while others are redhot alt-bluegrass rock bands on the rise and young R&B, Soul and Gospel artists groomed young from generational music families. I simmer it all together like a silky Southeast Asian coconut curry with vocals reminiscent of Norah Jones, existential lyrics like those of John Prine and the Avett Brothers served with island tribal grooves and a touch of giddy discoball pop using string-bending, pinky-slides and lusty percussive techniques not often associated with ukulele. After I learned to adapt guitar techniques to ukulele, I inherited an abandoned banjo and taught myself to play it in a way that best expresses the songs that were originally composed on ukulele. They don’t really sound traditionally bluegrassy though they could given the right accompaniment.

What matters most to you?

Music is a universal language. I want my music and poetry-driven lyrics to make people experience the world through new eyes, especially through the eyes of nature and its constant wisdom and the hope and renewal it brings.

What matters to me is the journey of becoming a musician and the community. It gives me a seat at the table wherever I go.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.silviaontheukulele.com
• Instagram: Instagram@silviapassiflora
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/silviapassiflora