Entertainment of Sunday, 30 July 2023

Source: classfmonline.com

Ewura Abena recounts 'shattering' criticism from two music veterans

Gospel singer-songwriter Ewura Abena Gospel singer-songwriter Ewura Abena

Notable singer-songwriter Ewura Abena has painfully remembered how she started on her Gospel music journey.

She spoke to Taller Dee on No.1 FM, 105.3, Friday, July 28, 2023, on the No.1 Showbiz programme.

Dee asked if she had ever considered ditching music for a regular job due to something said to her.

"You know, because I initially had no plan to do music, I went into it without any plan," she answered. "I [just] went into the studio."

"You see, mine [was] a raw talent from church straight into the studio with no plan," she stressed.

According to Ewura Abena, after the said studio session, she was given a demo on a CD "to take around" in hopes of securing a deal with a record and or an executive producer.

"And I remember one of the old producers – he was reigning in those times – he was at the top, at Kantamanto," she recalled.

She said the producer criticised her harshly asking: "Who told you you are a singer? This song has no chance at success."

Ewura Abena said she was so shaken by the words of the producer – she did not name him – she does not recall how she descended from the studio.

Upon reaching home, she told her mother who consoled her and asked her to ring "a very old female Gospel artiste". She noted it was the heyday of cassettes and explained that her mother surprisingly had "a lot of" numbers for musicians.

Calling the Gospel singer yielded no positive result just as earlier at the producer's.

According to the singer-songwriter, she had told the woman she "wanted a helper" because she sings. However, she was rebuked with: "You these people! You sing a song or two and think you have a hit. My friend, go back to the church and sing."

"These two experiences in the same day, - I was shattered!" she confessed. "And I felt, there was no way, at that time, in my eyes, I could imagine being on an interview like this [because of my music]. I thought it could never be."

She said she went back to the studio and star Gospel musician and sound engineer Nacee asked her firmly: "Those are their opinions. What is yours?"

Ewura Abena here said "those two incidences, I can never forget". She revealed this happened circa 2007, "and it's fresh in my mind [even now]."

Ewura Abena currently has a hit radio song titled This Far with lyrics: "I have a testimony and I will tell the whole world."

Also, Ewura Abena wrote star singer Empress Gifty's latest hit Awieye Pa (A Good Ending).