Country Singer Serafia is A Well of Soul and Passion

Country and roots singer Serafia is keeping the country music legacy alive and honoring black women at the same time.

Courtesy of @serafia

Black music is truly American music, but at times even its descendants need friendly reminders that it is more than acceptable to return to your home. Iconic musician Beyonce’s recent declaration of an album has led music fans down a rabbit hole looking for the genre’s brightest talents.

California-reared and Texas-made musician Serafia is here to fulfill that need. Blessed with the vocal range to sing jazz, blues, and roots, and the artistic depth to write songs for all emotions, Serafia is a complete artist eager to showcase the wells of passion inside of her.

Origins

Born in Northern Iowa, Serafia was adopted at birth and taken in by a diverse couple in the area. Her mother migrated to America from the Philippines and married her father, who was a pastor in the area. The couple chose to adopt two children, Serafia, and her brother who is Korean. Her mother gave her the name Serafia, deriving it from the seraphim theology used in the three monotheistic faiths.

“My dad got an opportunity to pastor for a small church in Salinas, California so they took me and my brother out west.”

Salinas, California, the setting for the famous book, Grapes of Wrath, served as the base for her formative years. Serafia spent her early years living like a cowgirl in the nearby area countryside where she engaged in all of the usual outdoor activities from biking to running around the town. Tall and different, she often felt the stares from neighbors and others who didn’t understand their blended family, but it didn’t stop her from expressing herself.

For Serafia, music inspired her and served as the soundtrack for her formative years. Everyone from Snoop Dogg and Nina Simone and Garth Brooks served as her musical muses, as she began to formulate her musical palette and envision her path.

Dark Horses

“I’ve been six foot tall since I was thirteen. So when you are six feet and a teenager and muscular, you are going to play basketball.”

As a teenager, Serfia played basketball and earned a scholarship to play in Western Texas for Odessa College and later the University of Texas Permian Basin. It wasn’t long before she suffered an injury that derailed her dreams of playing basketball on the next level. Able to devote her attention towards her first love, she moved to San Marcos, Texas, and began performing in the live music capital of the country, Austin Texas.

Courtesy of @serafia

Immediately, Serefia fell into live music, and country music in particular. At first, she struggled with feelings of uncertainty and doubt, but decided to continue honing her craft, releasing project after project until she found her sound.

“Two years ago I started doing country and roots. I never felt more myself than when I did country. I could take everything I was given creatively and put it into a genre I have loved my whole life. “

The Well

Over the course of the last two years, Serafia has put out several songs as well as a live project entitled, The Flower District Studio Sessions, last year. Distinctive, heartfelt, and authentic, songs such as “Austin Nights” and “Passenger Side” showcase her penchant for storytelling while songs like Dark Horses and The Well blend her storytelling and voice and display her artistry.

As a result, her voice has been featured in shows such as The Bygones on Netflix and also for sporting events. When she isn’t performing in and around California, she also tours and works alongside the Black Opry Collective, a group of predominately black country artists who perform around the country together.

For Serafia, who ultimately desires the national stage, the goal is to not only obtain success, but also to remind people that country music is music for all of America’s people. She credits people like Rissi Palmer and more recently Beyonce, for opening the door for black women’s stories to be told and views it as her job to continue the mission.

“This is an important time to tell this story to audiences that aren’t use to hearing this. I am on a mission. People have no idea how many black country artists are here so we have to tell this story right this time. Black women’s stories matter too.”