Ayo was hit by another family crisis when she was six. Her mother developed a drug habit, forcing Ayo to live with her father (who was a part time DJ), an older a sister and two older brothers. Despite the troubles, Ayo never severed ties to her mother who Ayo describes as "strong, despite all her shortcomings."
Looking for shelter from the storm, Ayo began soaking up her dad's record collection. The young girl fell under the spell of everything from Pink Floyd, Nigerian legends King Sunny Ade and the late Fela Kuti and Bob Marley. The vintage soul and R&B of the 50's and 60's that she loved so much would later inform her own compositions-she describes her sound now as "soulreggafrofolk," combining her love for that vintage soul, reggae, funk and folk music.
Music became more than something she listened to, and by the time she was a pre teen, Ayo began to play the violin and piano, and eventually taught herself the guitar, an instrument she was drawn to because it was "more direct and aggressive in the best possible way." Ayo's own unique rhythmic guitar skills are the result of a kinship she forged with the instrument. "It is an extension of me, a way for me to communicate with the outside world. I even have my own term for how I play-guitarology," she says with a soft laugh.
After finishing school, Ayo moved to London with some of her dad's family. She was 21 and needed to find and express herself and knew that staying in Germany would impede her journey. Yet once she moved to London wanderlust took over. "Moving around the world has allowed me to develop into who I am. I'll never be happy being sedentary, I'm too spontaneous and I know that I will always be able to start from scratch wherever I end up."
Following London, Ayo spent some time in New York City recording, and in 2004 went to Paris, where the French-creative community embraced her. Accompanying herself on guitar, Ayo gigged often, opening up for UK soul man Omar and American rock/soul singer Cody Chestnutt. She continued to play and record, eventually ending up with an EP that made its way to numerous insiders and eventually was signed to Polydor France and Universal records for the world. Despite signing a record deal, Ayo was dissatisfied with the state of affairs in the music scene in Paris. However, in 2005, Ayo's life changed dramatically and gave her cause to rethink her path. She became pregnant and later gave birth to a baby boy who she named Nile.
During her pregnancy, Ayo sent an impassioned email to the head of Polydor France, Jean-Philippe Allard, one of the legendary music figureheads in Europe, expressing her distress in the music business and how she would rather give up her music and be a mother at that point in her life. Jean-Philippe Allard responded immediately with words of support, giving Ayo the spark she needed to recharge and return to the studio. Coupled with the birth of her son in 2006, Ayo felt invigorated. "Having my son opened me up to so many possibilities. For a long time I saw music as a sort of therapy; a way of speaking to others, but now I also have my son to confide in."
After taking some time to be with her son, Ayo went back into the studio in 2006, and driven by a new surge of creativity, she assembled a live band and completed and recorded JOYFUL in a scant 5 days. "I gave birth to my son, and then, when he was two months old, I went into the studio and gave birth to my album. His Yoruba name is Abiola, which means luck - and he has brought me a lot of luck," explains Ayo. "I wrote "Never Been" for my son (the only song she wrote on piano)-the song is about the force he gave me to accomplish what I needed to and is a strong reason why this record got finished. I had begun this album before he was born, but after his birth, I returned to NYC and my intuition said the timing and vibe were right."
