AASHID HIMONS BIO
(Archie Himons, Go Ayo, Little Archie, Akigo Haamu, West Virginia Slim)

He was born on September 22, 1942. Aashid was just three, sitting on his mother's knee, when he started playing the piano. At five, he picked up the drum and became an instant celebrity by appearing on various radio and TV talent shows, including the Today Show with Dave Garroway at age 10. As a child of four he began singing and playing piano in the church. He was only 13 when he left home, hitchhiking to New York City with a dollar in his pocket and an adventurous spirit. In 1959 he joined the army and after a brief and negative tour of duty, he moved to Washington, D. C. and resumed his musical journey. After a few years of duwop music and life experiences on the mean streets, he got together a band, Little Archie & The Majestics, a rhythm & blues group that played smoky bars and private clubs. He and the Unpredictable Parliaments went to New York City to record for Sue Records in 1962. Aashid (Little Archie) signed up with Buddy Killen's Dial label in 1966.

The late '60s had it's own flavor and Archie was comfortable strumming his blues guitar in coffee houses and on street corners and huge outdoor festivals across the USA. In '69 he went to Toronto and along with Jim Byrnes formed the duo, God & I. After experiencing too many Canadian winters, he flew south to Mexico, became bilingual and felt very much at home playing with Three Souls In My Mind (a blues band) in the barrios of Mexico City. It was in a Honduran coastal town in 1972 that he first heard the sounds that would radically change his outlook and his music. Count Ossie and The Mystical Revelation of Rastafari was a band of holy men from the mountains of Jamaica and they opened a new door for Go Ayo. By the time he came back state-side, his music was an intriguing fusion of blues, soul, mariachi and reggae Niyabinghi. And his outlook was very harmonious.

West Virginia Slim returned to Nashville in July ,1979 and within a year Aashid had broken new ground in Music City by forming his very popular and legendary reggae band, Afrikan Dreamland. As the driving force of Afrikan Dreamland, Aashid was among a handful of pioneers that helped to shape Nashville's alternative music scene. With the help of many of the city's best engineers and studio owners, he produced six albums for his band during the years 1980-87 as well as a solo album, Kosmic Gypsy. He was the first to produce a long form music video in Nashville. Afrikan Dreamland was the first stateside reggae band to have a video air on MTV.

In 1986 & in 1987, The International Film & TV Festival of New York nominated two of his videos, Apartheid and One Heart, for Outstanding Achievement in the Audio-Visual Media. Both were produced with the help of director Lou Chanatry.

After a near death encounter with pneumonia in the summer of '87, Aashid gave up his hectic road warrior schedule but continued to perform locally for special events and continued to produce reggae albums with his new band, Aashid & The New Dream. In 1990 & 91 Aashid received awards from The Metro, Nashville's music magazine, for best reggae band and best reggae artist. Even his solo space music album, Black Holiness, was highly acclaimed as the most innovative message of One Heart and One Love and it was this theme that inspired the awesome Mind Orbit spectaculars which were two multi-media music events coordinated by Aashid and performed by Aashid and his new revised band, Akasha . It was about this time that The Metro awarded Aashid a Hall of Fame honor, recognizing his contribution to Nashville as an outstanding performer, producer and promoter.

Having gained some video expertise during the production of the Afrikan Dreamland videos, Aashid realized the broad range of this media as another avenue for communicating his ideas. He ventured to produce a series of one-hour music videos and documentaries. His name became well known at Community Access TV and his show Aashid Presents, still airs weekly on cable.

Many years of experience in sound and video studios progressed into the natural desire to help other aspiring artists get themselves seen and heard and in 1997 Aashid coordinated the release of Black Music City - Phat Youth, a CD dedicated to the alternative black music of Nashville. It was produced for SOBA, the Society of Black Artists which Aashid himself had founded earlier that year, but an organization that lost its momentum due to the political aspirations of many of its members. Nevertheless, one good outcome was this showcase of exciting new talent compiled into a convenient package. In January of 1998, the CD received an award from Leadership Music for Exceptional Creativity & Excellence as Rap Recording of the Year. Another current compilation coordinated by Aashid in late 1997, One Heart Fiesta - World Music City, highlights the international flavor of Nashville and is a preview of what Aashid is planning to introduce into Nashville as an annual event premiering in 1999. His last release, The Leaders , which is a double CD featuring Aashid & Afrikan Dreamland was also nominated as best independent recording in 1997.

Aashid Himons has traveled a long and windy road from the shelter of the hills of West Virginia to the Tennessee Valley. Stopping sometimes only long enough for a song, his universal appeal has touched many people from the quaint gas-lit clubs of Vancouver British Columbia to the dusky barrios of Mexico City, along the open beaches of Belize and beyond. Whether performing, interviewing, producing, directing or organizing, Aashid manages to remind everyone what the bottom line is - One Heart!