Nirvana Goberdhan grew up in Deer Park, New York, about 45 miles east of Manhattan. Her parents are from Guyana, at the southernmost end of the Caribbean. From early on, Vana was surrounded by soca, calypso, dancehall, reggae music.
For Christmas of 2014, her mom gave her a ukulele and a few years later, she began covering songs by her favorite artists like Sublime, Slightly Stoopid and Pepper. The combination of the ukulele and her soft voice put a unique twist on some reggae-rock staples. Artists like 311, Rebelution, Stick Figure and Tribal Seeds shared Vana’s covers across social media platforms. See her Youtube for videos of these covers.
After gaining some traction, in April of 2018 Vana signed withPepper’s LAW Records and released her debut single “Show Me” with the help of musician Nick Gudzan and producers Greg Shields (Kash’d Out) & Josh Saldate. Subsequently, she pulled together a backing band based in Long Island (Cody Stern on guitar, Logan Whaley on bass, Steve Shaw on keys/piano and Michael Celano on drums). In July, Vana hit the road on her first tour playing direct support for Kash’d Out during their Always Vibin’ Tour. Shortly after Vana’s second single “When It Feels Right” was released.
In August, Vana released her third single “I Don’t Care What You Do” with her first music video. The video has a 90’s old school feel and the locations show some of the highlights of New York. The next month Vana toured the west coast for the first time supporting KBong of Stick Figure and Kash’d Out.
Vana’s latest single “Surface” was released October 7th in honor of Mental Health Awareness Week. She decided to use her platform to talk about her personal struggles and become a voice for mental health. She released the song with a statement and video that share her story to let people know they aren’t alone and she hopes to inspire others to seek the help they need.
In November, Vana left for her third tour playing direct support for The Expendables during their Raw Acoustic Tour. This year Vana has opened up for bands like Pepper, Ballyhoo!, Oogee Wawa and Tropidelic.
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