Ana Popovic

Ana Popvic, at first glance, has the look of a pop singer. There's a sweetness to her look, an almost sugary appearance that you might expect to see in a heart breaking starlet. And at the same time she has the smoldering intensity of an up and coming jazz chanteuse. But when she slips the glass bottle slide onto her ring finger and sends her hand along the frets channeling the sprit of Elmore James, her musical identity is clear. This woman knows her blues and knows them well. But she's more than a superb blues musician.

She's a performer.

She was born in Belgrade, Yuogslavia in May of 1976 while the area was still under Communist control. Music was always vital to her family, her family home filled almost constantly with loud and energetic music. Her father Milutin, a credible guitar player in his own right, was a devoted music fan, favoring the blues specifically. According to Ana, her father would often invite others to their home for late night jams and Ana would stay up late and listen to the people play. It also helped that her father had a huge record collection that Ana would indulge in whenever the opportunity arose.

"When I was growing up, I got into the blues. My father had a huge blues collection and was into the blues probably before most American blues players started, I remember when I was 2 or 3 years old there was always blues playing. Way before I knew what the songs were about I was singing them and playing them on a small wooden guitar. The only music I remember was the blues," she told Guitar Girl D in an interview.

But it wasn't until she turned 15 that she turned her attention intently to music and began to seriously study the guitar. Once she reached the point where she tapped out her fathers knowledge and skills, her parents arranged for her to take private guitar lessons. She took threw herself into them. When she had completed her grammar school education (the equivalent of our high school), she faced a difficult decision and rather than head onto a musical education, she opted instead to follow her fathers footsteps and study graphic design at the University of Belgrade. But music was still at the forefront her heart and she formed a band called 'Hush' while in school and the band practiced furiously in a garage in Belgrade. It didn't take long for the band to take shape and within three years, Hush was playing gigs all over Belgrade and on local television, With the fall of Communism in 1998, musicians were finally free to travel easily across borders and Ana and her band were playing over 100 shows a year as well as many festivals across Europe. They also recorded their first album 'Hometown'.

At this point, Ana reached a sort of cross-roads, She had been accepted to study design in Utrecht and was prepared to move on with her chosen career. But a few weeks before the course was set to start, she decided to send in a tape to Utrecht Music Conservatory. She was immediately accepted and the switch to music was made.

By 1999, Ana was studying music at Utrecht in the Netherlands and formed yet another band. They were an immediate sensation on the local blues scene and once again Ana found herself facing a choice. She decided to quit school and become a full-time musician. While in the Netherlands she had a chance to see blues guitarist Bernard Allison at a club in Germany. By the end of the show, Allison had asked Ana to join him on stage for a jam session. He was so taken with the young guitarist, he invited her to join him on tour. Ana declined saying that she had to return to school. Allison asked for a copy of her record which he then sent off to Ruf Records in Germany. Ruf Records was blown away by the guitar work and seamy vocals that they contacted her to be a part of a blues tribute album to Jimi Hendrix (which Ana recorded a version of Hendrix's 'Belly Button Window'.) It was solid enough of an effort that Ruf then signed her to a record deal.

In October of 2000, Ruf sent her to Memphis, Tennessee to record her solo debut which she entitled 'Hush' after her first band. The record was produced by producer Jim Gaines who had worked with guitarists Carlos Santana and Stevie Ray Vaughn. The album was well received by blues fans and critics alike and launched her on a tour with the man who helped speed along her career, Bernard Allison. After touring both the U.S. and Europe, Ana secured three nominations in France; Best Singer, Best Guitarist and Best Album.

By 2003, Ana and band were back in the Memphis to record their second album for Ruf Records, 'Comfort To The Soul'. 'Comfort' was a little more diverse than the first album mixing blues with rock, soul and jazz. Yet despite it's more varied fare, the album brought them more attention from American blues fans and critics earning her a W.C. Handy nomination for Best New Artist (the only time a continental European was ever nominated for the award). She returned to Europe for another round of touring.

She returned to the United States and hit the ground running, touring the U.S. and Canada three times as well as returning to Europe yet again. Showing her range of style and ability as well as her influences, Ana won the prestigious Jazz a Juan - Revelation 2004 in Juan Le Pins, France.

In 2005, she released her first live album 'Ana! Live in Amersterdam', her final release for Ruf Records. From there it was an invitation her and her band to play on the Blues Cruise in 2006. IN 2007 Ana hopped to Electro Groove / Delta Groove Records for her release 'Still Making History' which debuted on the Billboard Blues charts at #8 rising eventually to #3. According to Ana, the disc was written as a bit of an autobiography about growing up in Serbia. "... I wanted to give hope to people born in third world countries. I hope that this is an inspiring record to women born in third world countries trying to follow their dreams."

On May 5th, 2008, Ana gave birth to her son Luuk. A month later, Ana with baby in tow, load up and head back out on tour for five weeks sharing the stage with Johnny Lang, Ronnie Earl and Los Lobos.

In July 2009, Ana released her second disc for Electro Groove 'Blind For Love' which, by October, becomes the #1 played album at the blues radio airplay charts 'Roots Music Report'.

In early 2011, Ana moved to New Orleans to record her 6th studio disc, a more pure blues effort than the last two for Electro, 'Unconditional' which is a more blues affair than she had been doing in quite some time. "I wanted to make the guitar shine more in the record, rather than the guitar just serving the song. My style and phrasing that I play is different than other guitar players. Someone told me recently as a compliment that when they hear me play, they cannot predict where my songs are going ... I thought that was really cool so I tried to make a record like that."

We may not be able to predict which way she's going but when you're following Ana along her path, it's always well worth the trip.

Image by: By Juan Francisco Lladó Sabater - [email]xisco@zigazaga.net[/email] (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons