She considered quitting music right before she won Tiny Desk. Īfterwards, Amador performed on the Tiny Desk Contest On The Road national tour at WAMU, KEXP, WABE, LAist/ KPCC, and WFUV. It was the first show to be recorded in the original NPR Tiny Desk studio at Boilen's desk in two years. Bob Boilen called her, 'a powerful voice whose tender performance commands attention and fosters connection.' Īs her prize, Amador flew to Washington D.C. In 2022, Amador submitted to Tiny Desk for the fifth time and was chosen as the national winner. She was chosen by Tiny Desk as one of their favorite 2021 entries. Grateful Web complimented Amador's talent on Narratives for 'sparking connection across both listeners and musical styles'. In 2021, she released “Timing', ahead of her album release, Narratives. She performed for the benefit livestream concert, All In For Chelsea. She released the tracks “Red Balloon” and “Milonga Accidental'. In 2020, she won an Iguana Music Fund grant to help buy recording equipment. She was featured in WGBH's series, 'Bands You Should Know'. She regularly played gigs at Club Passim. In 2019, Amador performed at the Cambridge Arts Council River Festival and at Club Passim's 60th anniversary celebration at the Shubert Theatre in Boston. WBUR stated, 'It was clear from the young singer’s deft musicianship that she was an artist to watch.' In 2018, Amador submitted to NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest for the first time. In 2018, she graduated from Bates College with a Bachelor of Arts degree. At age five, she began performing as the band's backup singer on tour. Music career Origin Īmador is the daughter of Latin folk musicians, Rosi and Brian Amador of the band, Sol y Canto. Her family has roots in Puerto Rico, Argentina, and New Mexico. Her parents only allowed her and her twin brother to speak Spanish at home so they could maintain connection to their culture and communicate with family.

Early life Īmador was raised in Cambridge, MA. In 2022, she won NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest with “Milonga Accidental,” the first Spanish language song to win the contest. This article was originally published on December 09, 2020.Alisa Amador is a jazz, funk, and alternative folk musician. You could still listen to the track via the streaming service embed above. Note: The audio for The ARTery's music premieres comes down after the track is released. “Little by little, I'm realizing that I don't have to hide any parts of myself when I share what I've made.”Īlisa Amador's ' Red Balloon/Milonga Accidental' is out Dec. “I'm in the process of making a home in my multitudes of music,” Amador says. “Cuando sentiré mi hogar en mi voz?” she sings over a syncopated milonga rhythm.

“Milonga Accidental,” which is written in Spanish, addresses some of these worries. “I just used to worry about fitting into a box,” Amador says. The experience was formative, as was “seeing how seriously my parents took their work as composers and interpreters and the intense presence that they had with each song,” Amador says.īut life as New England-based, Latinx folk singers was not without its complexities. The family used to go on tour together, with Alisa and her twin brother singing backup to her father’s bilingual children’s songs. The Cambridge singer grew up in a musical and multilingual household her parents, Brian and Rosi Amador, founded the Latin-roots band Sol y Canto. Amador seemed for all the world like a budding neo-soul belter in the mold of Amy Winehouse or Emily King now, she shares more with quiet, probing folk of singers like Adrianne Lenker or Joan Shelley.īut Amador says that, rather than reflect a shift in her songwriting, “Red Balloon” and “Milonga Accidental” are simply expressions of her polyglot influences. They’re quieter, more contemplative, than the songs on her 2018 EP “Salt,” which showcased a big voice and jazz-inflected melodies. “Red Balloon” and its accompanying “B-side” single, “Milonga Accidental,” are Amador’s first releases in nearly three years. “And the song just takes it right out to the surface.” “Songwriting, for me, is like going to the bottom of the well, like the thing you buried the deepest inside of you that's troubling you, but you don't want to face,” Amador says. Cover art for Alisa Amador's 'Red Balloon/Milonga Accidental.' (Courtesy)Īmador wrote “Red Balloon” to process her blossoming feelings for someone. The song is about the apprehension that comes with falling in love: it’s beautiful, but potentially destructive.

“I pray it hits the beach,” she sings, as a string ensemble swells above whispery finger-picked guitar. Catching sight of a balloon rising in the distance, Amador worries it might land in the ocean. The first thought in Alisa Amador’s “Red Balloon” is fear.

Alisa amador