The Music Ninja Premieres First Single From Kawehi's ROBOT HEART, Announces Tour Dates

By: Jul. 01, 2014
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One-woman band Kawehi will release her new EP - Robot Heart - on July 15, and she's partnered up with The Music Ninja to give fans a taste with the premiere of her first single, "Anthem." The 7-song EP was recorded entirely at Kawehi's studio in Lawrence, KS, and everything you hear on Robot Heart was written and created by Kawehi. Each of her releases focuses on a particular idea or sound. With Robot Heart, Kawehi wanted to make music from a robot's perspective - a female robot, to be exact, who wants to partake in all of the joy and disappointment that comes with being a human. In a recent interview with Philthy Mag, she explains her creative process: "Every EP's always completely different. Like, I'll do an all pop EP, and then an all beat-box EP, and then an EP of all songs written on toys, so they never sound like anything I've already put out." When asked about Robot Heart she admitted creating this new identity added another layer, saying, "A lot of my cathartic release is through writing and writing about my own experience, so it was cool for this one to write from a different perspective and things I'm influenced by. Like, sci-fi is a big one." Kawehi launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Robot Heart EP and not only hit her goal, but she surpassed it, reaching nearly 10x her original goal.

Kawehi has been previewing music from Robot Heart on her summer tour, her band being Ableton, a midi-keyboard, guitar, and beatboxing to create loops/layers. She kicked things off with a sold-out show at Jammin Java on June 17, followed by a sold-out show at New York's Rockwood Music Hall on June 19. On June 22 she played to thousands of fans at the Firefly Music Festival in Delaware and made her way to Milwaukee on June 26 to play Summerfest and then Chicago to play Schubas on June 27. Kawehi returns home to Hawaii for a few shows over the 4th of July weekend and later this month, she hits the west coast where she'll play the Northern Nights Festival on July 18 followed by shows in San Diego, Los Angeles, Dallas, Austin, San Francisco and more. On top of these dates, she'll also be taking part in the TEDconference in Kansas City on August 9 at the Kaufman Center for the Performing Arts. All tour dates are listed below, and be on the look-out for Kawehi to hit international waters this fall with a confirmed show and festival date in Singapore, with more being confirmed shortly.

Kawehi has made quite the impression on the music world in the last few months since releasing the video for her cover of Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box." The video has been picked up worldwide since becoming a "Staff Pick" on Vimeo. Coverage of the song began popping up everywhere - People Magazine, Spin, Huffington Post, Elle, Esquire and more. The folks at Esquire loved it so much, they asked her to do an exclusive recording of another cover for their site. This isn't the first - or last - time the singer has made a splash. She was also featured on Music Connection's list of Hot 100 Unsigned Artists & Bands in 2011, was a Selected Artist on Fuse TV, and CBS News included her in their line up of Most Viral Videos.

"Here's the best thing on the Internet this week: Kawehi, a one-woman band based in Kansas, covering Nirvana's 'Heart Shaped Box'
with a keyboard, drum machine and a glass of wine."- Huffington Post
"The multi-instrumentalist, all by her lonesome, covers Nirvana's 'Heart Shaped Box' brilliantly."- Elle

Kawehi Tour Dates:
July 18 - Piercy, CA - Northern Nights Festival
July 20 - Santa Ana, CA - The Constellation Room
July 21 - San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
July 22 - Los Angeles, CA - Bootleg Hifi
July 24 - Austin, TX - Empire Control Room and Garage
July 25 - Dallas, TX - Prophet Bar
August 19 - Wichita, KS - Botanica Gardens
August 23 - San Francisco, CA - SF Conservatory of Music
August 24 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
Auguest 25 - Seattle, WA - Barboza



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