Many musicians find their creative niche early in their
careers and are content to stay put. Fats Domino never steered far from the
distinctive sound that took him from the Big Easy roadside haunts to Imperial
Records back in 1949. And many of us would have felt betrayed if he had.
On the
other hand, many performers have reinvented themselves so dramatically that
their early musical identities now seem a distant memory. Witness Van Morrison,
who grew up in a gritty Belfast neighborhood that made the Beatles' Liverpool
seem like the Hamptons by comparison. Morrison's early recordings as the lead
singer of Them ("Mystic Eyes," "Gloria") were as intimidating as anything that
came out of the British Invasion. But today, he is the quintessential Irish
mystic, whose discography of the last 40 years as a solo artist probably speaks
more about his obsession with James Joyce and William Blake than his early
preoccupation with the records of Howlin' Wolf and Ray Charles.
Former San
Diego club bouncer and pizza maker Tom Waits (see San Diego Troubadour, January '09) also entered a new era in 1983.
That year, Waits recreated himself on Swordfishtrombones,
shedding his earlier influences of Jack Kerouac and West Coast Jazz. In 2009,
Waits is more likely to be seen performing before a SRO Vienna Opera House than
singing in San Diego and giving a concert shout out to Sal down at Napoleone's
Pizza House in National City.
At age 25,
San Diego's Anna Troy is young enough to be the daughter of either Morrison or
Waits. However, she too has participated in a voyage toward new musical
territory. Judging by the confidence and maturity demonstrated on her current
CD, Wait Another Day, it's hard to
believe that this is the same singer who teamed up with younger sister Lindsey
in a teen-marketed project for Elektra Records back in 2002. For a myriad of
reasons, Elektra never released the CD. In hindsight it provided Anna with time
to visualize what new musical avenues lay ahead.
"I
definitely feel that the Elektra experience paved the way for me to have a
successful career as a solo artist," said Anna, taking time out from a busy
schedule of shows around the city. "I learned so much in the Troys, from
writing with top songwriters in LA like the Matrix, to performing on
Nickelodeon [channel] and making a music video that aired on TRL. All these
experiences gave me the confidence and the knowledge I needed to start my own
career. I feel my experience in the Troys was equivalent to someone my age
going to college, and when I got out of the band, I had a
very well-rounded education in the music industry."
No longer
burdened by typecasting, Anna's future lay in gaining a greater understanding
of the music of America's past. "I feel my detour into blues is an interesting
musical transition, because it is polar opposite from the polished pop stuff I
was doing with the Troys. Although the Troys was a great learning experience,
there was also a darker side to the
whole experience. Maybe this is where I get my inspiration for blues, because
being on a major label as a teenager can be a very difficult and unusual
childhood."
Anna said
she and Lindsey "had very little freedom at the time and did not get to
experience the care free life that most 15-year-olds get to experience. Instead
of hanging out with friends on weekends and going to the beach, we were in LA
every weekend for years, being molded into what Elektra thought were the next
pop stars. We had little control over our outfits, hair styles, band name,
style of music, which songs were on the album, what kind of songs we wrote and
who was in our band. This kind of control over my art and my image was very
stifling for me, and once I broke free of it, I was determined to take my
career and destiny into my own hands."
Tremendously
influential in Anna's development as a songwriter and live entertainer was one
of San Diego's most respected blues performers, Robin Henkel. "Robin has been a
great friend and mentor over the years. I met him when I was 19 at Lestat's
open mic, and the rest was history. We hung out soon after and he was impressed
by my confidence as a guitar player. Within a very short time, he was teaching
me the most valuable things I have ever learned about playing blues. He is an
amazing artist and, I swear, every time I hang out with him I find out about
another talent I never even knew he had."
If Anna
wished to pinpoint the main area of focus Robin stressed in their time
together, it was " the importance of rhythm and the emotion you put into the
rhythm. He taught me that with an impeccable sense of timing and confidence,
you can make even the simplest chord progression into something that will
instantly mesmerize any audience. This is something that I will never forget,
and I feel is the most important element in my blues playing and songwriting."
Anna's
blues musical recital came in the form of 2006's Ain't No Man. The title track, a proclamation of the often-heard
quotation ("Men: you can't live with them and you can't live with them"), received airplay in San
Diego and other markets. The album ended on a raucous note with "Fool for
Tryin'," which sounded like somebody spiked the punch at a catfish dinner
along the bayou.
Two years
later, the Wait Another Day CD was
released, this time featuring the moniker of a group: the Anna Troy Band. Wait Another Day differs from its
predecessor in other ways. Power pop and contemporary indie rock are combined
with Anna's continuing fascination with the south of the Mason-Dixon line roots
music. She is aware of the musical contrast at work.
"I went for
about a year without writing many songs. This period of writer's block spurred
me to start listening to different styles of music in hopes of finding
inspirations there. I delved heavily into the '60s and '70s, listening to the
Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Allman Brothers, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding,
and a lot of rhythm and blues and soul. After listening to record after record
of music from this era I just started writing songs, and my second album was
soon to follow. I feel a lot of the songwriting knowledge that I learned from
working with top songwriters during the Troys days really influenced this
record. I allowed myself to write pop songs again, which is something I avoided
for quite a while."
On board
for the Wait Another Day was veteran
musician Greg Douglass, perhaps best known for his years with Steve Miller.
"Greg
Douglass and I met a few years ago at the guitar shop where he teaches guitar
in Escondido. Bart Mendoza was doing an interview on him, and I happened to be
hanging out with Bart at the time. I gave Greg a copy of Ain't No Man and, after listening to it, he emailed me and told me
how much he loved the album. He showed an interest in collaborating with me on
songwriting and doing some shows together. It was an offer I couldn't refuse."
Douglass
joined the Anna Troy Band when they opened for the Yardbirds at Canes in
Mission Beach. "The show went really well and after getting together a few more
times over the summer, he offered to play guitar on my new record. At the time,
I only had five songs written for the album, so I asked him if he would help me
write the rest of the record. Excited by the challenge, we started cranking out
these awesome rock songs instantly. Within three months we had co-written
enough songs to have a full length album, and everyone was in awe at how
quickly and easily the songs were coming. We finished recording the album and
ended the summer of 2008 with an amazing CD release show and the best night of
my career so far: opening for America at Humphrey's. The show went so well that
America asked us up for their encore, and the night ended with Greg, Bart, and
me on stage with America singing "A Horse With No Name."
Anna said,
"Working with Greg has definitely been one of the highlights of my career. I
think my favorite moment was the first night he recorded with us down at
Earthling Studios in El Cajon. I had no idea what to expect at this point,
because we had only played together a few times, although he had spent quite a bit
of time on his own, working out these amazing guitar parts for all of the
songs. He laid down the parts for "Catch the Rain" while I was outside talking
to a friend. And once he finished his parts, everyone called me into the
control room to hear what he had done. About two-thirds of the way through the
song I was in tears. His slide playing on that song was truly one of the most
beautiful things I have ever heard, and I realized at that moment that I was
working with one of the legendary guitarists in rock 'n' roll history."
Wait Another Day was released on the
local Blindspot label, Bart Mendoza's company, which is dedicated to getting
San Diego musicians heard globally. Like Henkel, Mendoza is there to offer
feedback and constructive criticism. But with his multiple titles of musician,
record label owner, producer, and freelance writer, he has opened up endless
networking possibilities for Anna and other budding talents on the local scene.
"Not only
is Bart one of the most valuable people in the success of my career over the
past four years," said Anna, "he is also my best friend. Bart has played many
roles in my career from manager, booker, publicist, tour manager, guitar
player, songwriter, and producer to mentor and part-time therapist. He has been
there for me through thick and thin ever since the start of my solo career a
few years ago when I released Ain't No
Man. I give him a lot of credit for the success I have had over the past
four years, and I honestly don't even know if he realizes the extent of the
importance of his role in my life. It all started with him helping promote an
amazing CD release show for Ain't No Man
back in 2006, and ever since then he has been working diligently on a daily
basis to get me press, get me shows at San Diego's finest venues such as the
Casbah, and introduce me to such pivotal members of the music scene such as
Greg Douglass, Tim Pyles, Mike Halloran, Kevin Hellman, and George Varga."
Anna
revealed that wasn't until she met Bart that she "started gaining an appreciation
of the music of the '60s as well. I am constantly receiving mix CDs of his
favorite music. He turned me on to the Zombies, the Kinks, Otis Redding, the
Turtles, the Jam, the Crawdaddys, and, most important, his own bands, the
Shambles and Manual Scan. I love Manual Scan so much that I cover a few of
their songs, and added my own version of ‘31968' to my latest album. His
influence is very important in the evolution of my music over the past four
years, and his endless support has given me the strength I need to push forward
in a career that is probably one of the most difficult avenues to pursue, yet
one of the most rewarding."
Her
tenacious live shows have resulted in Anna earning a residency at the Cat Club,
a popular venue located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. "The residency
in LA has been really successful. LA is definitely a tough scene to break into,
but it also a worthwhile pursuit because of how important LA is in the music
business, " said Anna. " At some of our shows we have had audience members such
as Randy Jackson from American Idol. [We] have gained the attention of Rodney
Bingenheimer from KROQ who was spinning ‘If You Still Want Me' on his radio
show over the month of December. The plan is to continue playing up there as
much as possible and build our fan base not only in LA, but up the California
coast as well."
For the
uninitiated, opportunity awaits. Anna's next CD will be a live album; in
actuality, it's really a selection of performances from her best nights over
the past few years. A CD release party is scheduled for Thursday, August 6, at
Bar Pink in North Park. A recent posting on MySpace showed her current band
lineup, featuring Nam Chi Vu on bass, Dan Diaz on lead guitar, and Kurt Kalker
on drums.
Who knows
what's in store for Anna Troy five years down the road? By then, she could be
into hot club jazz and Django Reinhardt. Whether or not this is the case,
Anna Troy will be aiming for a new musical direction, and her loyal audiences
the lucky beneficiaries.