Shilpa Ananth – Overcoming Hardship To Find Success, Teaching At The Berklee College Of Music In Abu Dhabi, Songwriting Inspiration In Hard Times, Finding Calm, And Advice For Singers (Ep 255)

My guest for this episode is Shilpa Ananth. Shilpa is an Indian vocalist, songwriter, and performing artist based between the US and the UAE. 

Her sound fuses the dreamy landscapes of South India with Soul, Jazz, and Electronic influences. Shilpa brings together 3 of the oldest Indian languages - Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi - with English, creating a sound that transcends borders and cultures.

After graduating with honors from Berklee College of Music, Shilpa released her debut EP "Indian Soul." Shilpa has recorded and performed with Grammy award-winning composers A.R.Rahman, Bobby McFerrin, Bill Whalen, Chandrika Tandon, and Javier Limon's Original Quartet.

She has also toured extensively with Serbian female vocal group ROSA, The Berklee Indian Ensemble, Women of the World, and the Bollywood Boulevard musical production, performing at several prestigious venues around the US, such as Boston Symphony Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Apollo Theatre, NJPAC, Wolf Trap, and The John F. Kennedy Center, to name a few.

Shilpa is a featured vocalist on the recently Grammy-nominated album "ONA," by Thana Alexa. She was a recipient of the award for Best Independent Artist at the Blue Rhymez Entertainment Honorary Awards 2020.

Shilpa is also a recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), Women's Fund for Media, Music and Theatre 2020, and the 2020 Music Grantee for the Café Royal Cultural Foundation, New York.

Shilpa is currently completing her second EP of original music titled "Reproduction," set to release in fall 2023. Her latest single "The Search" will be featured on the forthcoming EP and can be heard on popular music platforms.

In this conversation, we talk about Shilpa's pandemic-driven departure from New York, overcoming struggles to find success, teaching at The Berklee College of Music in Abu Dhabi, how a new song emerged from inspiration in hard times, finding calm, getting mileage out of our music releases, and best advice for singers.

Please enjoy my conversation with Shilpa Ananth.

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Mentions and Related Episodes

ShilpaAnanth.com

Shilpa Ananth feature in Rolling Stone India

The Search, by Shilpa Ananth (video)

Shilpa's 3 Easy vocal warm-ups post on Instagram

The Search, by Shilpa Ananth 

Resources

The Unstarving Musician’s Guide to Getting Paid Gigs, by Robonzo

Music Marketing Method – The program that helps musicians find fans, grow an audience and make consistent income

Bandzoogle – The all-in-one platform that makes it easy to build a beautiful website for your music

Dreamhost – See the latest deals from Dreamhost, save money and support the UM in the process.

More Resources for musicians

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