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18 September 2008
Songwriter Kareem Salama Combines Muslim Faith and Country Music
Everyone finds his mix of country music and Islam remarkable except him
Washington — For Kareem Salama, home is the American Southwest, where country music provides much of the soundtrack to daily life. But home also meant growing up in a devout Muslim household and studying the rich textures of classical Arabic literature and poetry.
So when Salama, 30, started writing and singing his own songs, it was quite natural that he would combine a sensibility rooted in his Muslim faith with a compelling voice and a distinctive Southern accent — even if others find the combination startling.
OKLAHOMA AND MUSIC
Salama's parents are Egyptians who moved to Oklahoma, where they raised him along with two brothers and a sister. As a child, Salama traveled to rodeos, county fairs and Indian powwows, and he was exposed to traditional bluegrass and country music in places like Branson, Missouri, and the legendary Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.
“Oklahoma, like me, is a place where cultures meet and dance,” Salama wrote on his Web site. “Oklahoma is a hybrid of southern, western and Native American culture, and thanks to my mother's insatiable desire to learn and experience new things, she made sure that I and everyone in my family were immersed in it.”
FAITH AND MUSIC
At the same time, Salama's parents didn't neglect his Muslim religious training. Despite his distinctive Southern accent and American music style, he is serious about his faith and draws on its rich religious and cultural heritage in his compositions. (See "U.S. Musicians Put Their Own Twist on Popular Persian Songs.")
His songs are neither overtly political nor religious, but they do reflect his remarkable background, which the Web site alt.muslim.com calls “a living dichotomy” on the American musical landscape.
In one song dealing with the theme of tolerance, for example, Salama quotes the proverb of the noted Islamic scholar and poet Imam Shafi'ee: “I am like incense — the more you burn me, the more fragrant I become.”
He acknowledges how his father's example shaped both his outlook and music: “He lives the maxim, ‘Be hard on yourself, but easy on others.’”
He finds the songwriting process deeply intertwined with his faith. “I pray before and after I write a song,” he said in a University of Iowa interview. “I choose each word carefully. I try to be very honest and hope that God brings this song into people's hearts.”
COUNTRY CONNECTIONS
Salama's perspective on country music can be surprising, especially for those familiar only with the dominant commercial strain that leans toward lyrics celebrating the open road, honky tonk bars, and lost loves.
“There is a kind of soul in country music ... something that comes from deeper down. ... You can still hear something very old and very traditional,” Salama said in an alt.muslim interview.
In fact, Salama is drawing on a much older tradition that hearkens back to the roots of so-called bluegrass from the Appalachian region of the southeastern United States. (See “Bluegrass and Honky-Tonk.”)
Salama also studied English literature, especially a celebrated spiritual poem by John Donne (1572-1631), “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” for which he wrote a melody to help himself memorize it.
COMPOSING AND PERFORMING
Salama wrote songs and lyrics while earning an engineering degree at the University of Oklahoma and then attending law school at the University of Iowa, where he met musician Aristotle Mihalopulos.
In a quintessential American moment, the sons of Egyptian and Greek immigrants decided to collaborate on American country music. Over the next several years, Salama performed before predominately Muslim audiences in the United States and Europe, accompanied by Mihalopulos on the guitar. (See “Kennedy Center to Showcase Artistic Traditions of Arab World.”)
With his trim good looks, conservative haircut and country-classic black cowboy hat, Salama recognizes that people may come for the novelty of a Muslim country-music singer. He hopes they'll stay because they find his songs compelling.
He may be succeeding. On his summer 2008 tour in Europe, Salama played to enthusiastic Muslim and non-Muslim audiences in London, Berlin, Paris (at Euro Disney), Rome, Genoa, Italy, and Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Salama's first album, Generous Peace, appeared in 2006, followed by This Life of Mine a year later. His song “A Land Called Paradise” provided the soundtrack for an award-winning music video celebrating the diversity and vitality of the American Muslim community. (See “Muslim Filmmaker Looks at Social Issues with Humor, Warmth.”)
He is now working on a commercial debut album that will feature the best material from the first two albums and several new songs.
But Salama is not focusing exclusively on a singing career. Having completed law school, he is preparing for the licensing (bar) examinations, and is interested in practicing patent law.
He summarizes some of his thoughts about his music on his MySpace page: “My hope is that my words will fall upon ears and hearts that may be seeking the same thing I am seeking … the inspiration to live a virtuous life that is pleasing to God.”
For more on this subject, see American Music on America.gov.
