ANA MIURA FOUND HER MUSE IN GUITAR

The Ottawa Citizen, Thursday December 2, 2005

By Fateema Sayani

    Her songs are as arranged as sparse and whimsical odes to the beauty of the passer-by on a sunny day, to dragonflies and other charms of living.  Her voice might be compared to Alanis Morisette's - when devoid of angst - or might recall teh crispness of a vocalist like Ani DiFranco. 

    Ottawa's Ana Miura, 25, can thank her classical piano training for her precise style, and thank her good taste and drive for eventually picking up the guitar. 

    Her mom played guitar and as Miura was growing up, there was always one around the house.  In high school, when the mixed feelings and confusion set in, Miura was drawn to the guitar because it could reflect her teenage feelings in song better than piano. 

    "The piano only appealed to me in certain ways, "she says.  "I couldn't be that creative with it.  I started writing songs on guitar and found it to be more of a creative tool.  There is more free-form learning, as opposed to taking a piece by Bach and interpreting it."

    So she taught herself to play and expanded on her choir-trained voice to explore new musical avenues. 

    "The guitar was cooler and it was a good way to meet boys," she laughs.    

    Fragmented phrases from journals and diaries developed into the songs that make up Miura's set.  Her songs are featured on a demo album and she's wrapping up production on her debut, Tenacious Heart, to be released this spring. 

    She'll send it to radio stations and maybe shop for a label while touring key states and southern Ontario. 

    Ottawa audiences would have seen Miura at last year's Folk Festival.  She was a runner-up for a rising-star competition that gave the premier stage spot to Montreal's Joe Grass.  The judges said her guitar talent was swift, but her vocals hushed. 

    She took the criticism well, working on her performance, but says connecting with her audience - through a wail or a whisper - is the most gratifying part of performing. 

     "When I see a concert, the most special part of it, besides the music, is when the performer gives you a bit of who they are," says Miura, who is finishing a degree in psychology.  That concert would probably be a Jeremy Fisher or Damien Rice show, the two artists she's been listening to regularly as of late.

    So how do the fellas respond to the guitar anyway? 

    "It's a good way to meet boys, definitely, yeah it is," she says, going from chatty to vague.  "I meet my fair share of nice guys" but, she adds, no one in specific.  Well, "sort of."

    "Boys in traveling bands are hard to pin down."