American Strings: Leyla McCalla

Born in New York City to Haitian emigrants and activists, Haitian-American multi-instrumentalist Leyla McCalla finds inspiration from her past and present– her music vibrates with three centuries of history and influences from around the globe. McCalla possesses a stunning mastery of the cello, tenor banjo and guitar and, as a multilingual singer and songwriter, has risen to produce a distinctive sound that reflects the union of her roots and experience. In addition to her solo work, McCalla is a founding member of Our Native Daughters (with Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah and Allison Russell) and alumna of Grammy award-winning Black string band The Carolina Chocolate Drops.

McCalla’s fifth studio recording, Sun Without the Heat (2024, ANTI-), is playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Throughout Sun Without the Heat’s ten tracks, McCalla achieves a balance of heaviness and light with melodies and rhythms derived from various forms of Afro-diasporic music including Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalismo, and American folk and blues. McCalla’s former release, Breaking the Thermometer, was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites.

McCalla is also currently the Artist in Residence at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, the Founding Artistic Director of the Shockoe Institute, and a former Artist in Residence at the University of Richmond.

Now in its eighth year, PRAx and the College of Liberal Arts at Oregon State University present American Strings, a series of conversations and intimate performances with iconic musicians from the Americas whose perspectives shape our world. Prior guests have included Keb’ Mo’, Rosanne Cash, esperanza spalding, and many more.

Hosted by ethnomusicologist and public historian Kelly Bosworth, American Strings performances offer audiences the chance to hear artists play and reflect on their practice. In conversation, artists discuss process, biography, and the themes of their work. Conversation is followed by musical performance. Guests typically perform unaccompanied, but in select cases may appear with their ensembles.

Dr. Kelly Bosworth is Mary Jones and Thomas Hart Horning Assistant Professor of Public History and Ethnomusicology at Oregon State University, where she teaches courses such as “Social Change and American Popular Music” and “Musical Worlds of the Pacific Northwest.”She works at the intersection of sound, place, and belonging. Her research on music/sound/noisein U.S. history delves into the diverse archives of musicmaking, reconstructing often-silenced histories through the songs and sounds associated with place. Her PhD dissertation (Indiana University, 2024) explored “The Music of Miracle City: Vanport, Oregon and the Sonic Imaginaries of Multiracial Democracy.”