Shamina is an emerging talent whose artistry and honesty have captured the hearts of many listeners. In the few short years she’s been recording and playing live, she’s received numerous industry nods for both her ability to write top-shelf original songs, as well as her mesmerizing on-stage vocal performances. Striving to be more than just a voice, Shamina, like her music, is a study of tensions. Her songwriting is hopeful and optimistic, but tempered with thoughtful introversion, urging you to stop and pay attention. Her voice is soulful, yet clean; lilting, yet forceful. Her music is a sweet hurricane of thoughtfulness and raw talent.

It is said that, “every great painter simply paints what he is…” When your father is a classically-trained opera singer, and your uncle is a composer, music’s going to run in your veins. When your family is a religious and ethnic minority forced to flee your native country under the reign of the Ayatollah, that infuses your music with perspective and longing. And when you wind up in California, the land of opportunity, as a first-generation U.S. citizen whose native tongue isn’t English, your music becomes both a retreat and a universal language to connect to others. With conviction in her heart and a promise for her future, Shamina is simply painting what she is. And it’s captivating. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.