Celebrated Gospel musician Mercy Wairegi shines in the industry, aims higher

By JAMES WANZALA

Mercy Wairegi is not only a famous gospel musician with two albums on her belt, but also a pastor in her House Of Grace Church in Nairobi.

Born in Nakuru town 28 years ago in a family of two, she started singing at the tender age of five in the Sunday school at Deliverance Church.

It is at this age that she was inspired by the South African gospel queen Rebecca Malope after watching her performance on TV.

“My mother also used to work at a music shop and she would come home with tapes of popular musicians like Munishi and Mary Atieno, which helped develop my career,” she recalls.

 Maize cobs

She adds, ‘‘I started with practising using a maize cob as the microphone — sometimes climbing on the table to imitate musicians.’’

She attended Flamingo Primary and Menengai High schools.

Wairegi sang in the children’s choir while in primary school and joined church choir after Form Four.

“After high school, I asked my parents to enroll me to a music college but they refused because they wanted me to do other lucrative careers like medicine, teaching among others. I was then forced to do some manual jobs in Nakuru town to record my songs that I wrote while in Form One,’’ says Mercy.

She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Purchases and Supplies Management from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).

Her first single, Kama sio Wewe, was released in 2007.

Audio album

‘‘In 2008, I released an audio album called Kama sio Wee with nine songs including, Never be the same Again, Wanipenda , Kama sio Wewe, Hautaniacha, Ila Wewe, Call, Nimetambua, Sina Mwingine, What Peace and another instrumental album,” she says.

While at JKUAT, she used to head worship sessions in conjunction with Nairobi Chapel, which exposed her to singers such as Kanji Mbugua, Chris Adwar.

This took her to another level of professional and commercial gospel music. Her second album is called Nuru, which was recorded 2011 by Bill Frank and released in 2012. The album contains ten songs: Nakutazamia, Wewe ni Nuru, Nitumike that has been a hit in many churches, TV and Radio stations, Ayala-(Deer) derived from Pslams 42, All Praise, Halleluya, sang in Kikuyu and Ningwendete (I love you). Others are; Above All Else, How could I Live, which was a collaboration with Eunice Njeri and Bill Frank. To Mercy, music is a language of the heart.

‘‘When music is sang and you connect with it, it can move you, change things in your life because it has power in it,’’ she says. However, she says that difficulty in the distribution of the music and piracy are till challenge to many Gospel musicians.

‘‘Piracy promotes us and at the same time kills us. It deprives you of what is rightfully,’’ she opines.

 She is working round the clock to release another hit before end of the year.

 ‘‘My three songs were nominated in the Groove Awards. But with all this kind of recognition, she says:  ‘‘I keep my celebrity status simple and humble by reminding myself that I am still the simple little girl from the villages of Nakuru,’’ she concludes.