Gentle Soul
BACKSTAGE at the Lincoln Theater in Washington DC, Michael Kiwanuka is ducking in and out of dressing rooms, in search of a phone adaptor. He wants to make sure he has enough juice for this interview. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought this was on the phone,” he says with a laugh as his tour manager makes introductions. “Will it be OK if we sit in one of these rooms?” he asks. “People tend to interrupt.”
Such attentiveness is unexpected from a high-profile musician about to headline a sold-out theatre, but it rings true to Kiwanuka’s core. Amid his meteoric rise, which includes numerous award nominations and a runaway hit, “Cold Little Heart”, that soundtracks the opening credits of HBO’s Big Little Lies, he’s kept his family and old friends close and his outlook modest. He’s brought his wife, Charlotte, on the road with him, and she’s currently out sightseeing. He’s quick to point out that she’s also a musician, with a beautiful singing voice. “I want to make a studio at home, or near our home, where we can make our records,” he says. “That’s the dream.”
After his tour manager assures him that a handwritten sign on the door will deter intruders, Kiwanuka walks down the hallway towards a small dressing room, scanning black and white photographs of jazz icons like Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Cab Calloway on the way. Settling in between an upright piano and a vanity unit, he considers his surroundings. “When I got off the bus there was a coffee place called Busboys And Poets [], and it had a library that promoted a lot of black literature and poetry,” he says. “Now we’re
