Introducing Kholaa, a Charismatic and Talented Musician in the Music Industry
In this article, we turn our attention to Geary Ann Welch, or commonly known as Kholaa. I was fortunate enough to witness Kholaa’s ability to perform years ago in the beginning of her career, she has the unique ability to own the stage and captivate spectators, she truly has entertainment embedded in her spirit. I asked Kholaa a series of questions, below you can find our Q and A.
Tell us a little about yourself, where your from, grew up, what H.S./College you attended, etc.
I am a Rochester Native, who grew up on the very creative, vibrant and artsy side of town, The East side. I attended Benjamin Franklin High and studied health careers during that time.
What inspired you to get into music? Early experiences worth sharing?
So, I’ve been told by my mother, that I would sing wherever we went, when I was a child. Everyone would stop and say ” oh my gawd, that little girl can sing”. My mother was and still is very proud of me. I also remember times cruising to school with my older brother, Jawara (the.imperial.Dj.messiah) who DJ’s. He would ask me if I wanted to go to school, or, watch him Dj at the day parties.” I wanna go wit you”, I’d say .He also had a bunch of cool vinyl’s and cassettes, graphic t shirts from popular hip hop groups and other cool memorabilia from the hip hop era, that he stored in a huge green trunk in our mothers basement. I would enjoy rummaging thru his things and listening to and sometimes messing up his cassettes, lol. I’m almost sure that frame may have been what most was impacted me as a child, to gravitate towards music. I did enjoy music a lot. Eventually, I would sing in school talent shows, city wide and national competitions, and even attended some college (MCC) and private lessons (at Hochstein School of Music for voice. I absorbed music at a very quick pace, once I understood my love for it.
Talk about a time where you have faced adversity/conflict and have triumphed.
In this business, you do come across a lot of no’s and for me, that was often in the earlier parts of my music journey. Some of the competitions I competed in: American Idol, X factor, The Voice and even theRoc Awards, I experienced a lot of feedback about my voice not being strong enough to compete, or my personality wasn’t big enough for T.V. I guess back then, I didn’t having a personality type was apart of my dream jobs description. I learned quickly though to just be myself and that was good enough.
What do you believe sets you apart from other musicians in show business?
What makes me different than other artist, in my opinion is that I embrace the doubts that I have in myself. I took notice that when I’m in doubt, I pressure myself to be greater than the extent of great I believed I was already. My doubts make me work harder. Many musicians are afraid to fail, but I am not.
Do you have other interests or hobbies?
There are a few things I’m interested in, aside from music. I love writing about other upcoming artist, interviewing artist for a show that I host called Rap, rhythm and news. It premieres on Mediamovement.net every Sunday at 8p.m I also enjoy vlogging about my music journey on YouTube, traveling with my family,
and lastly, cooking, but of course that one is essential to my well being, lol.
Any projects you have out or or currently working on?
Currently, I have some collaborations that I’m working on with some very prominent instrumentalist in our area and I’m looking forward to sharing the music, soon. In the meantime I have some songs available on all streaming platforms. I actually co produced on one of the songs, lie again, It’s produced by fairwthr who I found in my online search for producers, also who helped produce my song is prince O, who’s an artist as well. This song is one I am very proud of myself for.
Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years?
I would enjoy nothing more than to be traveling with my husband, Josh and our son, Kingston, while still pursuing a full time career as an entertainer. Still being in my band, Shine, would be nice. We’re a wedding band and we have so much fun performing together, since we’re all friends. In the future, Hopefully, I’ll have won an award by then. That’s not the ultimate goal for me, but it would be nice to achieve that level of my career. It would mean something, I think to the world, when it comes to my name and legacy; I already feel that I’m valid.
What advice can you give in regards to individuals looking to enter your line of work?
Know what you want from this business, don’t let them decide what is best for you. Stick to your visions and even if you don’t follow them exactly to the T, still make sure you execute them all. There is definitely more than one route to get yourself to the finish line, you need to start with what your heart truly wants and not what everyone else thinks is best for you.
How can we follow along in your journey? YouTube? Social media? Sites?
You can follow me on social media @theworldisyourskholaa or Kholaa on streaming platforms. I chose this name because I know that anything I’m after in this world, I can have with Gods blessings, his will for my life and my own will and hard work.
