A DERRY singer who has already found fame in her native country of Zimbabwe is headlining her first gig in the city later this month.
Pearl Natasha spent her childhood in Africa and moved to her father’s home town of Derry at the age of 10.
The family settled in the Bogside before moving to Creggan and Pearl says she was a sporty and studious pupil during her time at Thornhill College, where she dreamed of being a Librarian.
“At school was the biggest a geek,” she admitted.
“I was the athletics captain and netball captain and I loved writing and I thought I would be an English teacher or a librarian.”
The 27-year-old wrote poems from a young age, which she would give to her family as presents, but she never saw herself as a song writer.
This all changed when she was sitting on the ‘212’ bus back from Belfast and she started putting a melody to a poem she had written about her mum.
Her song writing dreams began to take flight and she started penning and singing her own songs.
Just months later a friend encouraged her to enter the Miss Zimbabwe UK beauty pageant and Pearl seized the opportunity to bring her music to a wider audience.
“I saw there was a talent section in it and I thought if I do the pageant I can sing for the talent segment,” she explained.
“I actually ended up winning the title through my performance in the talent segment.”
At 22 Pearl decided to return to her native country of Zimbabwe to meet her relatives and discover more about her culture.
“I needed to go back and find out who I am as a person” she explained.
“I went to language lessons because I wasn’t completely fluent so I was sitting in classes with five-year-olds.”
In Zimbabwe Pearl began writing in the Bantu language of ‘Shona’ and came to the attention of music producers and social media outlets.
Confidence
She was signed to a record label and was getting radio air play, but just as her career was taking off her mum became unwell and she decided to return to Derry.
“I had to start over again and get that confidence back to start singing in public again,” Pearl added.
“I still feel like I’m just starting out
“I’ve gigged around every bar in this town in the last year and a half.”
Pearl’s hard work has started to pay off and she has been featured on BBC Radio Foyle and Highland Radio and countless music blogs.
“I don’t have a manager so I do everything myself,” she added.
“If something happens I made it happen myself.”
Pearl’s show at the Nerve Centre takes place on Friday May 25, doors open at 8pm
Support includes Maya Goldblum, Heidi Heist and Jamie Donaghy.
Tickets are £7 and can be bought from The Nerve Centre.
If you have a story or want to send a photo or video to us please contact the Derry Now editorial team on 028 7129 6600 for Derry City stories Or 028 7774 3970 for County Derry stories. Or you can email editor@derrynews.net at any time.