With the sounds and smells of Hollins market to the left and the yummy goodness of Sweet Tooth to the right, Maya was packed with music and info and good spirits to give an inside look into who she is and what she does.
Her early influences of Prince, Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind and Fire reflects the same passion she strives to put forth in her own music. "What I especially like about those 3 is that their music has social messages but yet they are still mainstream because their music is something to groove, noting that this is something that many mainstream artists cannot afford to do nowadays."
"That's one of the pluses to being an indie artist," Maya says, "You don't have the pressures of someone with a budget tell you what to do and how to do it."
Maya has been blessed with the gift of the pen [being a songwriter] and the gift of voice [being a singer], but if she had to choose between the two...
"Oh man, I guess i would say performing because I like to connect with people. Being able to touch and connect with your audience, I truly enjoy. But, I also like to write because there are specific things I have to say that I want to put out there."
Thus far in her career, Maya has had the opportunity to perform with eastern European artist Gibonni, an experience which led her to win a Croatian grammy. She's also worked with Stephen Marley but she would looove to work with Anthony Hamilton, and who wouldn't?
"His voice is just amazing," she gushed as she reminisced over a time when she shared the same bill as him and he was the first one to give her love with open arms after her performance.
"I would also love to work with The Foreign Exchange and Phonte. I love their latest album "Leave it all behind" [I told ya'll that cd is rockin!]
As for what the future hold for her, she can't really tell. "That's more in God's hands, than mine. I would look at it as more of a mission than a goal, and I would love to perform internationally [Jamaica and South Africa]."
Well, for the near future, Maya is off to rehearsal for her performance tonight in Baltimore, MD at Ram's Head Live. If you're in town definitely look her up, she'll in DC tomorrow and Newport News, VA after that.
Make sure you also check her out on http://www.mayaazucena.com/
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