Like so many of his compatriots both within and outside the musical community, Hailu Mergia emigrated from Ethiopia at the turn of the 1980's, and settled permanently in the DC area. Once the most important figure in all of Ethiopian popular music, he lived in relative anonymity, working primarily as a cab driver. In the 2010s, New York-based record label Awesome Tapes From Africa began re-issuing his classic Ethiopian records. Since then, Mergia has released three amazing LPs of new material and concert recordings, and we hope there is more to come.
