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Meet Carlos Naranjo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carlos Naranjo.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was born In Bogotá, Colombia.

During my formative years, I was involved in music learning to play the guitar, the flute, singing in the school’s choir and playing the bell lyre in high school.

I was also passionate about sports like soccer and mainly tennis.

Even though I came from a very artistic family and I had a special bond with music from an early age, music was not my main passion as I mainly focused on becoming a highly competitive tennis player.

After graduating from high school, tennis brought me to the United States with a scholarship to play tennis in college and pursue a career in Business Administration.

After finishing my studies in college, I returned to Colombia and got a job working as a Marketing Analyst for General Motors. Soon after I had begun working, my special love for music and arts started to blossom, and in the blink of an eye, I was playing guitar and performing music live with a local rock band as well as acting in a theater play.

With a couple of years in my job and several live music performances, a strong inner voice spoke to me and helped me realize that my real passion was in the arts and music. It wasn’t long before synchronicity would make its move and a job opportunity brought me back to the United States to work and study Music Composition, Guitar, and Vocal Performance. Little time went by before I found myself performing at bars and venues throughout the Tampa Bay Area at the same time that I was crafting my songwriting style.

In 2009 I moved to California to take my music career to the next level.

I have performed as a solo acoustic act, as part of the LA-based band Freefall Rescue, and collaborated with other artists performing on shows and recordings.  This journey brought me to the pivotal moment of creating and releasing my first solo album “Reflections of an Orange Tree” released on September 2017.

Please tell us about your art.
I am an artist. I write songs, sing and play guitar. I write and perform music to connect to humanity through the language of art, and it is the center point of my journey in life. Music allows me to grow, see the world in a different and often times better way and dig deeper to look beyond the surface.

I hope that my melodies can trigger emotion and inspire hope and change in people’s lives.

With special arrangements, instrumentation, melodies and a message, I hope my music can become a grain of love, an instrument of change and a voice of inspiration for many people.

Choosing a creative or artistic path comes with many financial challenges. Any advice for those struggling to focus on their artwork due to financial concerns?
My advice is follow your dreams, and it all works out at the end. When you follow your dreams, and you align your intentions with your needs and desires, the world has a way to compensate you for the challenges and the difficult times.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
People can listen to my music by purchasing my album from my website or listening to it on Apple Music or Spotify.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Ian Webber, Mauricio Hoyos

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition, please let us know here.

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