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THE STORY OF YOLA:
FROM
OPPRESSION TO EXPRESSION.
POLISH PRINCESS ESCAPES COMMUNISM, FAMILY ABUSE AND SLAVERY TO
RULE THE AMERICAN AIRWAVES WITH POPULAR RADIO SHOW --
AND HER OWN MUSIC * * * Yola reinvents herself with Another Girl on Top Shelf Records, April 27th From great suffering comes great art, and singer-songwriter and musician Yola proves this out as a miracle to her own talent, courage and fortitude. The Polish princess – a title she has earned through grace, not birth – lives a story that grows more remarkable by the day. The latest chapter: a stunning collection of original songs on her Top Shelf Records debut, Another Girl, poised for release April 27th. The first single, the emotive and vulnerable “I Wanna Be Loved By You,” is capturing hearts at A/C radio. “It’s a special song for me,” Yola says quietly. And as it climbs the charts, it no doubt will be for others, as well. Born and raised in abject poverty in Communist Poland, Another Girl is Yola’s autobiographical soundtrack, but at the same time, a phoenix-like reinvention. As if starvation wasn't hardship enough in the land of her birth, the musical prodigy not only suffered at the hands of her abusive, alcoholic father, but also was denied by the socio-political infrastructure the artistic education that she so desperately wanted. Despite winning several vocal competitions and awards throughout Poland, Yola was not allowed to continue her musical studies in college. Unbent and unbroken, Yola defied her father’s cutting discouragement and the stifling Communist climate to receive a proper education. Working several jobs to put herself through school, she studied Fine Arts and Psychology, receiving a masters degree in the latter. One summer, answering an ad in a local newspaper, Yola applied for a waitress job with several other girl students, only to be kidnapped and sold into slavery by the Italian and Polish Mafia. With a lovely Eastern European cadence that isn’t quite broken, but not quite fixed, either, the eloquent Polish princess can describe the incredible details of her months-long ordeal, trapped in a remote area of Italy, as well as her brilliant escape. It’s another astonishing chapter in the story of Yola.
After trudging through hell for most of her young life, she has
finally been able to knock on heaven’s door. America answered.
Realizing a dream that she held dear for so long, Yola was one
of only 50 people out of 600 who was awarded a Visa to come to
this country. And for the last few years, she has been living
out that dream.
“When I came to America, I woke up,” she says. “I embrace my time here.” In addition to creating Another Girl, which she wrote and produced with Ted Nash (saxophonist with Wynton Marsalis), she’s living out a fond and elusive dream of musicians from here to Poland: Yola gets to play her record on her own radio program. Loosely translated as Be Crazy with Me, the Polish language show began as an hour-long broadcast out of New York, but its engaging host and former TV reporter gained immediate popularity with a rich balance of information, issues, fun and entertainment, and now rules afternoon drive time from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. EST in eight states. Though not released yet, she has been premiering various tracks from Another Girl for her devoted audience to desired effect: she’s won countless fans that are counting down the days until it’s available. Yola’s radio show has become so successful that the general manager has offered her the rare career opportunity to step up as the program director for two radio stations. While grateful for the opportunity, it didn’t take her long to make a decision: she turned the position down in favor of pursuing her dream. “When there’s something that you have in your heart so deep, you just want to do everything to make it happen. Singing has this kind of meaning for me,” reveals Yola, who also plays the guitar. “I was always trying to sing, but there were obstacles in my way. Maybe this is what made me so strong about it, and made me fight for it, and it means even more to me – the whole idea of singing and telling people what I have in my heart.” While dodging bullets has been a nine-lives survival technique, winning accolades for her golden voice has made it all worthwhile. “It showed me that life could be beautiful,” she half-whispers, trying to control the joyful tears in her voice. From oppression to expression, Yola has faced adversity, triumphed over it, and lived to sing about it all, giving her the chance to be Another Girl. www.yolamusic.com |
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