“She has an ancestral aura with her. It sounds like someone locating herself in a story much older than migration, career or genre.” - Colin Perch
echoes of homE
Made in Kenya, Based in Manchester
Macharia makes music that is a needle to the heart
Macharia makes music that acts as “a needle to the heart; very precise in the strings it tugs, not a gut punch.” A Kenyan singer-songwriter and storyteller now based in Manchester, her sound is an immersive blend of contemporary Swahili and English songwriting, rich acoustic textures, and deeply rooted folk traditions.
Her music doesn't just entertain; it locates itself in a story much older than migration or genre. Weaving ancestral cultural memory into a vibrant, contemporary space, Macharia's performances are deeply intimate yet celebratory. She blends live instrumentation, spoken narrative, and striking visual elements to explore what it means to search for belonging.
Following a completely sold-out headline performance of her show Soul Safari at Manchester’s Contact Theatre, Macharia is preparing to release her highly anticipated debut EP on 24 June. Written as a series of vulnerable sonic letters to family, to former love, to home, and to herself; the project marks a major evolution in her artistic identity.
“I had to leave my country to love my country,” Macharia reflects. “Soul Safari is about returning to yourself, your culture, and your sense of home. It’s an open conversation between where I come from and where I’m going.”
This profound artistic reckoning was catalyzed by a 2025 Develop Your Creative Practice award from Arts Council England, which allowed Macharia to return to Kenya to reconnect with family, oral histories, and musical lineages. That grounded, inherited truth now forms the backbone of both her recorded music and her rapidly expanding live presence.
While her sound has already carried her from intimate acoustic sessions in Switzerland to major UK festival stages like Manchester Jazz Festival and Manchester Folk Festival, Macharia’s art remains tethered to community. Whether mentoring young creatives or flying the Kenyan flag on international stages, her voice carries a resonance that lingers long after the final note fades.
Press photos
Macharia at her Homecoming performanc in Nairobi, Kenya
Macharia at Soul Safari at Contact Theatre
Macharia Headshot