Paul Pena played blues with the greats: T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, and Bonnie Raitt. In 1995, the blind bluesman became the first American ever to compete in an unusual contest of multi-harmonic "throat-singing" native to the Autonomous Republic of Tuva.
Tuva, wedged between Siberia and Mongolia, has for centuries been isolated from the rest of the world by jagged mountains and Soviet restrictions. Only recently has the Tuvan art form of throat-singing become known to outsiders.
Pena discovered Tuvan throat-singing on a shortwave program of Radio Moscow. For the next nine years he worked to produce similar overtones with his own voice and to incorporate throat-singing into his blues music.
Unexpectedly in 1993, Pena discovered that Tuvan throat-singers were on their first concert tour of the U.S. After their performance, the deep-voiced bluesman broke into his own self-taught style of throat-singing and serenaded the musicians with Tuvan traditional songs! The throat-singers were amazed by Pena's mastery of the Tuvan art form and likened his rich voice to the sounds of tremors in the earth. They insisted that "Chershemjer" (Earthquake) travel to Tuva for the next triennial throat-singing contest which would be held in 1995.
Eleven years after he first heard throat singing, Paul Pena entered the National Theatre of Tuva to make history. The blind bluesman's performance was so well received, he became the 1995 throat-singing champion in the style of kargyraa. He also captured the "audience favorite" award for the week-long competition. The Tuvan people had never seen or heard anyone like him.
— Courtesy Calabash Music
