Karmnu Xuereb In-Namru
Karmnu Xuereb In-Namru
was an improvised verse folk singer. He was born on 21st January, 1911 and hailed from Qala, Gozo.
At 22 he left Malta for Tunisia, where he lived for some years until emigrating to the United States in 1939, where he was active within the Maltese community society.
Always wearing a jacket and tie, and sported with a black hat, definitely not the attire that folksingers' sing in, Xuereb invited several established folk singers from Malta to perform in the United States. These included Toni Fenech Skalambja, Karmnu Fenech Il-Ħandrolla and Żaru Mifsud Il-Għaxqi.
After fifty seven years of living in the United States, he returned to Gozo. Prior to his return to his native country at the ripe age of 84, a folk music event was held on the 27th March 1994 in his honour at the Malta United Society premises in Windsor, Canada. He summarized the pleasures of a life immersed in folksinging, as such:
Bdejt nisma' l-kitarri jdoqqu
Għax l-għana titla fi griżmejja
Kemm għaddejt ħajja sabiħa
Bil-għannejja dejjem ħdejja.
He passed away on the 17th March 1997. His contribution to keep għana alive in Detroit and, to a certain extent in Toronto, is still officially unrecognized by the Maltese government.