Yolanda has been singing and drumming for over four decades. She is versatile in numerous styles, which include Blues, Jazz, Rock, and R&B as a vocalist and tight, deep pocket drummer with impeccable meter. She was born and spent her early years on the Southside of Chicago, where she was surrounded by music. She began what she calls her meteoric rise to anonymity and became quite an accomplished boxer, as the result of her experiences as an accordion-playing, African American youth from the south side of Chicago. She studied trumpet and choral music, and performed with numerous ensembles, including a brief stint with the Chicago Youth Symphony, and numerous theatrical productions. A prolific songwriter, Yolanda has also performed extensively as a solo guitarist and singer. She has toured the U.S., Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and elsewhere performing with artists such as Gwen Avery, Alexander Belkin and The Road Band, Mark Fox and Sonic Nomads, to name a very few. Her influences include Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Esperanza Spaulding, Miles Davis, Jimmi Hendrix, Billy Chobham, Chick Correa, Abbey Lincoln, Joni Mitchell, Stravinsky, Claude Debussy, ad infinitum. She currently resides in Upstate New York, where she performs with her latest project, “Yolanda Bush and The Coolwater Collective”.