Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Orbison
Hi Anna, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a child, I was always interested in music and being creative. I grew up on a dirt road in the mountains of Boulder, Colorado, so there wasn’t a lot going on in the neighborhood to keep a kid entertained other than doing art projects, going outside, putting on shows, playing music, and using my imagination. I attribute a lot of my creative instincts to growing up in that way and not having a lot to distract me from learning how to be a creative person. I began playing piano and flute at a young age and began to sing in high school. I fell in love with doing the musicals and plays in school, so I went to Philadelphia to pursue a degree in Musical Theatre from University of the Arts. While I loved the school, I was eager to start working professionally, so I moved to New York City. I appeared in many Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions as well as in regional theatre and TV while I lived in New York. I then switched coasts and moved to LA and began appearing in TV shows like Jane the Virgin and Lopez Tonight as well as in indie movies and commercials. At this time, I also started a band called The Sound of Ghosts and felt like I got a lot more creative satisfaction from writing, performing, and playing music than I did from the acting opportunities that were coming my way. Once COVID hit and the band could not get together to rehearse or play shows, I started writing songs that were not in the Americana Rock style that The Sound of Ghosts embodies. So it made sense for me to release songs under my own name and get a little more personal with my music, although it was a pretty terrifying step to take if I’m being honest.
Now, I am releasing my fifth single called You Broke Me on August 2nd and I recently played my first solo show at Hotel Cafe. I’m looking forward to playing around town more and releasing more music this fall. It has been so wonderful to write some truly personal music and have people respond so positively to it.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t think it’s ever a smooth road for anyone pursuing a creative endeavor, but yes there have definitely been some struggles. I had certainly hoped to have more of a career in musical theatre and then later in acting of any kind, but I found it difficult to keep memorizing copy for vacuum commercials after doing years of Meisner training. It felt like busting your butt to try to perfect playing classical piano and then only being allowed to use one octave of the piano. Which is in no way meant to discredit all the amazing actors out there doing commercial work and making a living off of it. I’m sure many of them feel the same way and would love to truly show what they are capable of. I also find it hard to feel like your ability to be creative is dependent on other people. You can paint by yourself, play music by yourself, but you can’t really get the same satisfaction from running lines by yourself if that makes sense. you constantly need other people to put together the project so that you can have an opportunity, unless you’re someone who writes and produces your own projects.
As for music, it’s always a challenge to overcome personal doubts about my abilities and my validity as an artist. It has also become so much more challenging to book shows since so many spaces closed down or changed in the last five years. It has really shifted the amount of work that has to go into booking and playing shows. And then of course, there’s the challenge of figuring out how to get your music to be heard once you get it up on streaming sites. There are thousands of new songs released every day, so how do you even get your music to stand out from all of the amazing work being done every day? I still don’t know the answer to that one, but I’m just trying to be consistent and put out songs that I feel proud of and speak to me as an artist and a person.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I strive to release music that combines my intimate personal experiences with indie pop beats, folk inspired vocals, and draws from my wide arrange of musical tastes. I’m very proud of the work I’ve done with my band The Sound of Ghosts, but I’m most proud of these new songs I’m releasing under my name because they are extremely personal. There is something terrifying and thrilling about writing music, putting your name on it, and sending it out into the world. It feels like an extension of you.
As for what sets me apart, I would say the way I put together songs is pretty unique, in that I write a melody and lyrics first and then fill in the rest of the song. And I write using my voice, since it’s my primary instrument, so I almost always write a song singing a cappella, rather than writing something on guitar or piano. I have written in other ways, but I feel like I have more freedom when I write a song using my voice first and then fill in the other parts using players who are way better than I ever could be. Because I write that way, I think the songs end up taking on a different sound than if they were based on a riff or written on another instrument. I also think my lyrics tend to be a bit more meaningful than the average pop song, although there are so many amazing indie pop artists writing songs I wish I had written these days.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
In addition to playing and writing music, I teach yoga around Los Angeles and have been doing that for 13 years. I love teaching and connecting with so many amazing people all over the city. I think creativity and practicing yoga are perfect compliments to each other and I feel so lucky to get to immerse myself in both of these activities and communities daily. I also have three dogs, who are wonderful and keep me endlessly entertained. I love to read, travel, and garden and all of these outlets feed my creative soul so much.
And don’t forget, my new single comes out August 2nd, so pre-save it wherever you stream music!!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://annaorbison.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annaorbison/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anna.hanson.7393/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@annaorbison?lang=en
Image Credits
Photos by: Emily Durkin and Sam Hodges
Main Image: Emily Durkin
Image with pink wall with black dress and silver rhinestone shoes: Emily Durkin
All others: Sam Hodges
