WEST END MUSICIAN RIDES THE WAVE
THE NEWS: Your Community Newspaper
Thursday, January 22, 2004; Pg. 20
By Jane Mosgrove
For west end resident Ana Miura, putting her musical talents to work at local venues including open mic sessions, was a natural progression of daily life where music is always present.
As a singer, songwriter and guitarist Ms. Miura likens her sound and style to cross between Norah Jones and Lisa Loeb, with a bit of folk, jazz, pop and blues mixed together.
With a current wave of successful female Canadian musicians in the music industry, such as Ottawa’s Kathleen Edwards, it is a good time to be doing what she loves, Ms. Miura said.
“There could be five people or 100 people (in an audience) but if I can see one person paying attention, it adds meaning to the music,” she said. “As long as people want to listen I’ll be on stage, I’m just riding the wave of opportunity.”
Ms. Miura, 24, said she will always have a musical passion with her, regardless if she is playing a gig for a crowd or with friends at home.
“I’ve had music throughout my life. It was always there and I love it,” she said.
Ms. Miura studied piano through the Royal Conservatory of Music from the age of eight to 15. She also participated in choirs and bands throughout high school, running a gamut of genres including concert, jazz and blues.
“I remember thinking, it was easier to take around than a piano,” Ms. Miura said with a smile, explaining her altered focus to guitar over piano.
Ms. Miura began playing in public with her friend Meghann Woods in the late 1990s. Together they did cover songs for a couple of years, including one of their first gigs – an open mic session at Greenfields Pub & Eatery in Barrhaven.
In 1998, Ms. Miura left her Baseline ward area home, where she has lived since childhood, to study psychology at Queen’s University in Kingston. Ms. Woods also went to Kingston, allowing the pair to continue to play together until Ms. Miura decided to return to Ottawa in 2000.
She now studies psychology at the University of Ottawa and plays solo, in addition to raising her two-year-old son, Evan. When she completes her studies in psychology in two years, Ms. Miura said she is considering a career in music therapy, depending upon how her own music career progresses.
One of her favourite venues to perform at is Café Dekcuf on Rideau St. In addition to regular gigs there, Ms. Miura played at a Breast Cancer Action Ottawa fundraiser last summer. She has also played at locations such as the Elbow Room on Elgin St. and sand back-up for the band Seismic at Barrymore’s.
Ms. Miura said she is most inspired by other local, independent musicians.
Among those she noted was Lindsay Ferguson.
“I really like Ottawa musicians. I find them really receptive. It’s really a family atmosphere with different levels of ability,” she said.
With the new year underway, Ms.Miura said she will be in studio to create a more professional demo tape than her first one. Then it will be time to “shop it around.”
“I tell people who want to start getting gigs to network like crazy,” Ms. Miura added. She noted creating posters, tickets or anything that shows venue owners that you are serious and makes a difference.
Ms. Miura’s first major gig of 2004 takes place at Ottawa University’s Café Nostalgica, but she expects to book a few others before then as well.
Music is something I take seriously, but I’m not doing it waiting to get famous. I don’t allow myself to flip out about it. I just try ot keep it in perspective,” she said.
To learn more about Ms. Miura, please check out her web site at: www.anamiura.com.