Born in Mekelle and raised in Addis Ababa, Hewan Gebrewold is an Ethiopian-based singer, songwriter, and musician renowned for her blend of different musical genres fusing influences of both Ethiopian and International music scales. Hewan initially made her name as a singer with the popular group Jano Band. During her time with them she experienced much success including recording their first album, touring the world performing in places like the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and even receiving an Afrima Award nomination in 2017 for the song “Darign” She released her debut solo album “Hewan” on July 3rd, 2022 to massive acclaim, including debuting at #1 on the iTunes World Music Chart.

To date, Hewan’s videos have accumulated over 8 million combined views, including some of the hits from the album like Shemuna, Minaye, Mn Ytqmehal, and more. To add to the success Hewan was nominated in 2 categories for the 2022 Afrima Awards – Best Female Artist in East Africa and Best Breakthrough Artist. With her captivating image, beautiful melodies, and tireless work ethic Hewan is destined to make even more huge strides as an Artist as she continues to develop a fanbase around the world.

Jano Band is an Ethiopian rock band formed by its entrepreneurs Ermyas Amelga, Bill Laswell, and former manager Addis Gessesse in 2011. It versatilely mixes progressive rock with Ethiopian music. The band includes two female back and lead vocalists, two lead male vocalists, and four musicians who play bass guitar, rhythm guitar, drum, and keyboards.

The band was formed by entrepreneur Ermyas Amelia and former manager Addis Gessesse in 2011. Jano’s debut album Ertale was released in 2012. The album was named as a portmanteau of an active volcano in the Afar Region. The songs in the album were partly written by the renowned Ethiopian lyricist Yilma Gebreab and partly by them. The prominent singles in this album are “Ethiopiawit Konjo”, “Yigermal”, “Irasen”, “Ayrak”, “Irrekum”, “Gude”, “Mariye”, “Mehed Mehed”, “Tazebkut”, and “Anchi Hagere”. This is the first-ever rock album in Ethiopia. The audio and video of the song “Ayrak” from the album became quickly popular among the media in Ethiopia.

After the release of the album, Jano had its debut show in April 2012 with shows at Sheraton Addis and the renowned Club H2O. Before they went on a big tour to Europe and the Americas, Jano had countrywide concerts in November at the regional cities of Bahir Dar, Dessie, Jimma, and Arba Minch, to introduce the unique sound nationally. Starting from mid-December, Jano began a tour covering Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United States, Israel, and the Middle East.