Julain and Tanesha…A tale of two songbirds
Young female musical talents from western Jamaica seem to be on the rise with a number of young ladies from Westmoreland, including Julain Clacken and Tanesha Marsh launching their solo albums. With Negril’s Princess Tia, taking a top three finalist spot in the current season of Rising Stars competition, the ladies of the west seem set to make an assault on the island’s musical scene.
Julain has just completed her first project, a self-titled album produced by super musician and arranger Lee ‘Xanadu’ Holness and his Mojosoniq’s crew. The 27-year-old Leo was born and bred in Savanna-La-Mar and has an overwhelming passion for singing and the arts.
The church choir was where she started her singing and since then she has done a host of gigs, background vocals in the studio and on stage. Among persons she has done work for are Queen Ifrica and Jimmy Riley and she was also a member of the acclaimed Fourth Street Sisters.
As an artist Julain loves to explore the different music genres but her music is deeply rooted in her native reggae. “I most definitely refuse to be boxed in but I will remain grounded to my culture,” she told Way Out West. She feels that she has paid her dues in the music business and is now ready to take the world by storm with her cool persona, vocal skills and a well-produced album with her new management team, Managra Entertainment behind her.
Another talent to look for from the west is Tanesha.
Although originally from the old Capital of Spanish Town and raised in the Garden parish of St Ann she has been living in the Whitehouse community of Westmoreland in recent years. Her musical journey began through participation in school and church concerts.
Tanesha, who enjoys writing songs as well as singing, previously recorded a few singles with Tallas Recordings, produced by Calvin Reid of BritJam entertainment. The songs got good rotation on local radio stations Irie FM and Links FM.
Confident, with an interesting stage savvy gained through years of participation in stage productions at various hotels where she worked as an entertainment coordinator, Tanesha has the talent and the drive to be a major female force in the island’s music industry.
Today she is busy in the studio working on tracks for her debut album with producer Kyrie Pearson of Ludy House Production. She is confident her new efforts will pay off and expects to make an impact on the local and international scenes.