Biography

Phousa is an acoustic singer-songwriter based in Oxfordshire. Her soulful, intimate songs are influenced by artists such as Damien Rice and India Arie.

Phousa’s breakthrough came in 2007, when she attended a songwriting workshop mentored by established musicians Anita Wars, HKB Finn and Ben Parker. She impressed them with a performance of her song ‘Time to Let Go’, and won a place to play as part of a songwriters’ showcase at The Vortex Jazz Club, London. This confidence boost was the turning point in Phousa’s singing career and sparked a love affair with London’s music scene.  The wide-eyed artist performed her songs to the ‘big smoke’ in various venues like The Windmill, The Spice of Life and The Hope & Anchor, as well as co-running Mysoiree; a night for musicians and friends to share their music.

Born to traditional Lao parents in small-town Witney, Oxfordshire, Phousa is the second daughter of three. She managed to escape the stereotypical ‘middle child syndrome’ by picking up the guitar at ten years old and has been performing ever since. During her school days, Phousa wrote songs with friends and tried out the pop group route, but it was in her university years at Southampton Solent when she braved being a solo artist. After a nudge from a friend, she was introduced to the Southampton live music scene. She did everything from being the in-house live entertainment at The Willows Cafe - singing along to a chorus of clanging cutlery - to being part of a line-up of new local talent at the trendy Mono Bar.

After two years of living and loving London, Phousa is settling back on home soil and has since performed at great venues such as Fat Lil’s, Café Cocos and Café Tarifa as well as local events like Witney Music Festival, Faringdon Arts Festival, Cowley Carnival and many charity fundraisers. Phousa continues to write and sing about love, life and its lessons whilst making her mark on the Oxfordshire live music scene.