Laetitia Tamko, better known by her stage name Vagabon, is a Cameroonian-American self-taught multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and music producer based in New York City.

Biography

Early life

Laetitia Tamko was born in

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,50 ...

, Cameroon. At age 13 her family relocated to New York so her mother could attend law school. Having come from a French-speaking country, Tamko learned to speak English and was soon able to attend Westchester High School. Tamko later attended City College of New York and graduated from the

Grove School of Engineering The Grove School of Engineering (GSoE) is the engineering school of the City College of the City University of New York (City College), a public university in New York City. It is one of the five schools of City College and CUNY's primary school ...

in 2015.

Career

At age 17, Tamko's parents bought her a Fender acoustic guitar from

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation (Trade name, doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only Big-box store, big-box retail stores (warehouse c ...

. She taught herself to play by watching instructional DVDs. In 2014 she started uploading her music to

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

under the pseudonym Vagabon. In addition to vocals and guitar, Tamko played drums, keyboard, and synth on her 2017 album ''Infinite Worlds''. In 2018 she was invited to open for

Courtney Barnett Courtney Melba Barnett (born 3 November 1987) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. Known for her deadpan singing style and witty, rambling lyrics, she attracted attention with the release of her debut EP ''I've Got a Friend Call ...

on her North American summer tour. Her self-titled second album (Nonesuch, 2019) is self-produced and explores new sounds. It features digital sounds and synth strings alongside her delicate acoustic guitar. Most of the songs are written and played by the artist herself. "We reserve the right to be full when we’re on our own", she sings on her song "Every Woman". Released as a single and official video which can be seen on her website, the song is a young feminist's manifesto. The album also represents a move beyond the indie-rock scene, the shift in sound a "rejection of being pigeonholed." In 2021 Vagabon was inter alia part of the

Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a foca ...

in July.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

Infinite Worlds Infinite Worlds may refer to: * ''Infinite Worlds'' (book), 2005 nonfiction book *''GURPS Infinite Worlds ''GURPS Infinite Worlds'' is a supplement for the Fourth Edition of the '' GURPS'' role-playing game, published by Steve Jackson Games in ...

'' (Father/Daughter Records, 2017) * '' Vagabon'' (Nonesuch, 2019)

EPs

* ''Persian Garden (EP)'' (Miscreant, 2014) * ''Vagabon on Audiotree Live'' (Audiotree Music, 2017)

External links

Vagabon's Bandcamp website

Official website

Musician's profile Vagabon
at

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

References

{{Authority control Living people American singer-songwriters Cameroonian emigrants to the United States City College of New York alumni Nonesuch Records artists 1992 births 21st-century American singers Father/Daughter Records artists Feminist musicians