Mon Rovia was born Janjay Lowe in Liberia during the first civil war. (Note his stage name is derived from the capital of Liberia.)He was adopted by a missionary couple, then came to the U.S. He returned during the second civil war, but returned to the U.S. again, settling in Tennessee. Playing the ukulele, he writes songs in an Afro-Appalachian style. Many of his songs deal with deep feelings coming from his own life but that echo in the lives of his listeners. He’s also had some powerful peace songs, so thus the inclusion in our Global Peace Warriors music festival.
“Heavy Foot” has become the theme song for Peace Warriors Dan and Sharon Buttry as they deal with the contemporary struggles in the U.S.:
In his recent “Bloodline” album, Mon Rovia has a song that references the work of Leymah Gbowee and the praying Christian and Muslim women who played a major role in ending the last war in Liberia. Gbowee received the Nobel Peace Prize. This song references the response of those women to former Liberian President Charles Taylor who once said he could “pray the Devil out of hell.” Gbowee said they were going to “Pray the Devil back to hell.” That phrase became the title of the powerful documentary (available from Amazon or for streaming on Netflix) about Gbowee and the praying women. Here’s Mon Rovia’s song:
Here’s a song out of his experience during the war, “I remember it like it was yesterday…I hope we come back alive.”
Mon Rovia is huge on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.