Jorge Anaya: An Inspirational Musician
By hola | Published | No Comments
Music has been a constant presence in the life of guitar-playing singer-songwriter Jorge Anaya. His father was also a musician. When he was growing up, seeing his father perform inspired his own musical aspirations.
Anaya put those dreams into action in 1974 when his father brought him to Washington, D.C. from his native country, El Salvador. At the time, he was a 17-year-old with long hair and a determination to become a rockstar, but today he says it feels only natural that he has made a name for himself performing Latin American music for all ages, writing and recording music for adults and children alike.
He has an album titled “The Songs of Jorge Anaya.” Being the songwriter of his album has allowed Anaya to mix different musical genres and rhythms he finds meaningful and representative of his backstory growing up as a musician. He’s also written children’s music in Spanish to help kids learn the language. But it hasn’t always been easy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was one of many musicians affected by the Stay-At-Home Order issued by Mayor Bowser on March 30, 2020.
“It was horrible,” Anaya recalls. “All the different gigs were stopped, and contracts [were] canceled. So it was a very uncertain time.”
Anaya has experienced many significant events during his career. He’s performed at the White House, and for a former President of El Salvador, Elías Antonio Saca González, where Anaya was recognized as an outstanding Salvadorian in the United States for inspiring the community through music. In the D.C. area, Anaya has also connected to the community through his performances in places such as Teatro de la Luna and Gala Hispanic Theatre.
Anaya continues to be an inspiration for future generations interested in the world of music. They can use his journey as an opportunity to learn how far one person can go to pursue their dreams and achieve their goals.
How did you get into playing and making music?
Well, making music has been around me all my life, since I was 8 or 9 years old. I was singing in school and in different places. Once I came to the United States, I went to Duke Ellington School of the Arts to finish high school, which was also in the music area. While I was going to school during the day, I would work as a singer/guitarist in local restaurants, and I haven’t stopped. I’m still doing that all these years [later].
Coming from El Salvador, how does it feel to be recognized in the United States and to inspire others through music?
It definitely helped me grow as an individual and also grew my confidence in learning a new language. Following my father’s background and getting into the different Latin communities in the area, I started learning about all types of Spanish and Latin music. Ever since then, I’ve been playing Spanish music, Latin music and singing.
Did your father bring you to the U.S. to be part of his band? Was the idea that you would play together?
Yes. He always played at home with friends back in El Salvador, but once he came here, he found other musicians that also played his type of music. When I arrived in ‘74, he said, ‘There is this gig that we can do, the three of us, with Luis Gonzalez, a Mexican musician, my father Efrain and me at this restaurant called La Fonda. And the rest is history.
Tell us what your album, “The Songs of Jorge Anaya,” means to you.
For the first time, there was an offer to help me pay for the album. As you might know, it takes money to go to the studio and record. I came across someone who helped me get that money from El Salvador. That’s what gave me the inspiration to start writing songs. I figured, ‘Okay, I’ll write songs with rhythms that mean something [about] growing up as a singer/musician,’ something that was part of my past. I picked different genres: bolero, balada, cha-cha-chá and ranchera. I put together a mixture of genres that I thought were relevant to my growth as a singer.
Is there a creative process that you go through when writing and making music?
Yes, and my understanding is that it could be different for different songwriters. I don’t follow just one way of writing a song.
I could have an idea about what the song should be about. I write the main idea of the song. Then, I may write the rest around that main idea. I guess a way of explaining it would be that first, you write the part you think is the heart of the song. Then you write the other parts around it. You give it a head and a couple of legs to walk.
What is your favorite song off the album and why?
“Mi Querida Tierra” is my favorite because it was the first time I was able to put living and growing up in El Salvador into words and music. [In the song, I’m] saying how much El Salvador is still dear to me, and that’s why I called it “Mi Querida Tierra,” My Dear Land.
What does the song, “Puede ser,” mean to you?
That’s [from] another exciting part of my life where I was, for the first time, part of a song competition that gives you an opportunity to write your [own] song and make it part of this international competition called OTI, which stands for Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana. Participating here in D.C. gave me the opportunity to participate nationally at the Miami Convention Center. Being one of the winners gave me so much confidence that I could actually write songs and that I could get a response from people. I didn’t have that confidence before that competition as a songwriter.
You also write traditional children’s music. What inspired you to write that type of music for children?
I met a friend from Mexico. His name is Pablo Talamante. He’s a great singer, coming from the U.S. Army Chorus. He asked me to play guitar for him because he had the opportunity to sing children’s songs. We were on our way to the recording studio. Halfway there, he decided that I should be the one singing the songs because he thought my voice was more appropriate for children’s songs. I said, “Sure, I’ll do it.” The very first CD that we recorded had traditional Mexican songs or Latin American songs, and eventually, that turned into me writing children’s songs for the next CDs. They were also used for videos where children can learn Spanish from the music and lyrics they see on TV. The name of that company is Whistlefritz. I’m still working for them here and there, but the pandemic, of course, stopped all the work that we were doing. Now, it’s slowly starting up again.
Which of your performances do you think is the most significant in your career and why?
There have been different ones for different reasons. When I was called to the White House during Obama’s administration, they were celebrating Halloween. I was the only Latino there, and they had all kinds of entertainment in the garden, along with other performers. They had jugglers, clowns, trapeze artists and different bands. For me to be the only Latino there singing Latin music, I thought that was very significant. I thought that was great.
But also, singing in a song contest where big names were the judges, big artists, and being one of the winners, that was also very significant. So, the way I’d put it is that I’ve had more than one “15 minutes of fame” sporadically throughout my life. I can’t just pick one because they all mean something special to me.
What has been the most surprising or unexpected thing about your career playing Latin American music in the U.S.?
To me, the most surprising part was that I never became a rock musician. When I first arrived, I had long hair. I thought rock music would be my direction because that’s what I really liked at the time. But then, my first gig was with my father playing Mexican songs. From then on, he just went into South American folk music. Then I was singing with local bands, singing dance music, all in the same Latin genres. I guess my surprise was the change of mind where rock music was no longer as important as I thought it would be when arriving in the U.S.
It’s funny how your national identity becomes more clear to you when you live in another country. Do you think that was part of what happened?
Yes, because coming from El Salvador, I wasn’t seen as a Salvadorian necessarily. I was a Latino or a Hispanic guy, so that would pull me towards the Hispanic or Latino community. And then, because I’ve been singing all my life, I didn’t mind learning all these different genres and eventually working and making money with music. Of course, it ultimately was the most fulfilling part to get paid for something I actually enjoy and have been doing all my life.
In one word, can you describe Latin musicians in Washington, D.C.?
“Rich.” [Laughs] Not rich in money, but rich in culture.
Visit Anaya’s website for more about him and his music.
*This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.
– Interview by Gloria Osorio, Cristela Bonilla,
Claudia Peralta Torres and Christine MacDonald
– Story by Gloria Osorio
– Edited by Amelia Woolley-Larrea, Michelle Benitez,
Rafaella Mufarech and Jordan Luz
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