Monique Golding, 40, moved to Chicago in 2017 and quickly became enmeshed in the city’s music communities. She’s a member of vocal group Mosaic Soul, which recently self-released the live album Blessed. She also sings as part of the Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble, whose second-full length, Now, is due via International Anthem on April 9.
I sang for the first time onstage in my high school for a Christmas performance—this was back in my senior year of high school. People would say, “Wow, you really have a nice voice.” Hearing other people sing and comparing my voice, I realized, “OK, I seem like I’m a little more advanced in that area than some other singers.” And it’s because it was something I was always doing, and just really because of the compliments that I received from other musicians and artist friends reassuring me. And I’m always like, “Are you telling the truth? You guys are lying.” I realized, “Wow, this is actually bigger than me just doing it and loving it.”
One of the performances that I remember was for Bethany Pickens. This was for a dedication service for her father, Willie Pickens, a legacy jazz artist. I was performing with people like Dee Alexander. We performed at the Fine Arts Center.
- Rayna Golding sings on the Black Monument Ensemble song “Rebuild a Nation”
We can harmonize, and she can harmonize her own note. This girl, she has it. She has it going on, so it’s exciting to share the experience. She’s teaching me, I’m teaching her, and she’s branching out into her own sound and developing her own voice.
