The March 4 Nooner brought a soulful concert to Sacramento State in the form of blues artists Jesi Naomi and Jenny Clower.

Naomi, a Sac State alumna, is a Chico native who found her calling in performing the blues while a student here. She described being 22 and feeling low and unsure of what to do with her life.

Naomi turned those negative feelings into poetry and then began turning her poems into musical lyrics.

“I got my start performing at jazz bars, Capitol Garage and Torch Club,” said Naomi.

Clower is orginally from Tennessee and has been writing music for 22 years. The two met at Cafe Flow in Chico when Naomi and her brother opened for Clower.

Together, the two friends combined their talents on the piano and guitar along with their sultry vocals singing about everything from not wanting to fall out of love to having dance fever.

Songs such as “Fig Tree,” “Hard Water,” and their final song that combined with the classic “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” captivated the audience.

While one bellowed the lyrics to a song, the other provided the background vocals and beats showing how in sync they are with one another.

This is one of their last performances together for now, as Clower stated she will be moving back to Tennessee in about a month to be closer to her daughter.

“I’m going to keep writing and singing, it’s always been what I’ve done for a living,” said Clower.

Naomi hopes to continue pursuing her passion of writing and performing. She credits her musical talents to growing up in a musical family. Despite having trouble reading notes, she has no problem learning how to play the piano and guitar by ear.

“I grew up listening to rock, soul, jazz and artists like Muddy Waters and Billy Holiday,” said Naomi, when describing why the blues became the genre she pursued. “I had vocal surgery in 2009 and couldn’t talk so I spent my time just listening to all these music and I realized that blues was in everything.”

Her main goal is to record and travel the world with her music.

“I want to keep practicing my instruments and my vocals, I really got into this from my passion of wanting to see more of the world,” said Naomi. “I’m going to keep turning my poetry into songs for people.”