REVIEW: J.S. Ondara @ Café 939 3/23

By Allie Antonevich

On Saturday, March 23, Café 939 hosted a night of quiet, intimate music with artists Cat Clyde and J.S. Ondara.

Opener Cat Clyde, a 24-year-old singer, embodies the soul of a weathered country girl, with bangs that frame her face and a wide grin. Based out of Stratford, Ontario, she hopes to sing classic songs of “yesteryear,” with her guitar and voice working together to produce soft, bluesy tunes.  

She released her album Ivory Castanets in 2017 and has found sturdy footing from within since, releasing two singles in 2019 that are leading to the release of her next album. She shared it’s coming out in June, “but that’s all I can tell you,” she said with a laugh.

She’s a woman of few words, entering and exiting each song with limited explanation. It appeared she felt most sure of herself with song “All the Black,” her eyes closed, and her weathered soul leaving the venue to join the music.

“It’s been a slice,” she said with a shy bow of her head as she walked off stage at the end of her set, with audience members murmuring back her small goodbye amongst themselves.

An hour later, J.S. Ondara took her place, his quiet confidence pouring over the audience. Wearing his classic brown hat and a sharp, light colored suit, with his acoustic guitar in hand, he immediately launched into “American Dream,” his most popular track off of his 2019 album Tales of America.

Ondara added his own twists and turns to the song, captivating the audience with haunting vocals, closed eyes, and soft strumming. Once finished, he opened his eyes and said, “That was a bizarre version of that song, I didn’t know where I was going with it, I was fooling around,” Ondara said, and then spoke a bit about Tales of America. “I’m here tonight to play the full album for you. So we’ll see how it goes.”

Ondara grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, and is has settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He knew he wouldn’t succeed playing his folk music in Kenya, so he travelled to America with hopes of solidifying his career. He shared his gratitude for the journey and his mother.

Ondara followed a set list rather than the chronology of his album, starting off with “Give Me a Moment.” His vocals didn’t waver, and with just his own stage presence, he held the audience’s attention. He explained his own vision for the music video, and spoke about how people are too caught up in the digital world to pay attention to the real world.

He went on to play the remainder of the album with anecdotes of his life nestled in between. Songs “Saying Goodbye” and “Lebanon” were the highlights, as he added his own improvisation and slowed the songs down for them to give them more feel.   

“It’s great when people can come together in this fashion and listen to folk songs, thank you for being here tonight,” he said with a smile. “Here’s another sad folk song to lighten things up a bit.”