MASUMI Acoustic Guitarist from Glendale, CA

MASUMI creates music with the intention of giving hope to others. Her visceral songs are written to console, but also to uplift her audience with lyrical messages that connect all of us through our shared struggles in this tumultuous world of constant conflict. A Child of both the US and Japan, MASUMI was born in Palos Verdes, California. MASUMI moved to Japan when she was five years old, then moved back and forth to the U.S. living in New York, Washington, D.C. and Texas, and returned again to Japan for college where she studied Psychology and Anthropology at the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. MASUMI's life redirected towards music in 2011 when she personally experienced the devastating 2011 Tohoku Earthquake that shook her home country of Japan. She felt the 9.0 magnitude tremors while trapped in an underground cafe in Tokyo and watched on Japanese television as the subsequent tsunami washed away homes and lives in the Sendai region. The emotion of the experience brought MASUMI a clarity of mind and heart, and inspired her to pursue the art that made her feel alive. Driven by her passion to sing, she moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in Los Angeles College of Music. Music has taken her to many different work platforms and projects; from being hired to work with a major game company, EA Games and being a part of their training program, to performing amongst the coffee lovers for the NYC Coffee Project Festival, to supporting women's rights at CSCW and to supporting future youth with the Youth Home organizations. MASUMI was recently hired to perform and talk about her music education and for the GenNext x College Music Society project founded by the NAMM Show. -Sound- Her sound echoes recent contemporaries like Ingrid Michaelson, Priscilla Ahn, and Tristan Prettyman, but is set apart by her soulful contralto voice, which is more reminiscent of India.Arie or Lauryn Hill, adding a sense of realness that draws listeners in and truly communicates the emotion behind her songs. -Setting- MASUMI's performance will be well suited for outdoor parties or weddings baby showers, and other special events consisting of sets that require mellow pretty music. MASUMI also has her own Trio band (cajon & Percussionist and Guitarist ) for a fuller sounding set, if requested.