![]() … "Contest" feels like a funny word when it really feels so much more about music community, and building community, and connecting people with each other and inspiring each other and reminding each other that we exist during this pandemic. These are people who have made me who I am, thanks to the Tiny Desk Contest. And we've played together, toured together, written together. Through the contest, and then through your work with WBUR featuring the Massachusetts entries, I've made some of the greatest friends and colleagues of my life. Well, the thing about entering the contest for me is that it was never about winning, ever. You've done it consistently for, like, five years, which they keep bringing up. ![]() It feels like this is what I am meant to do, as cheesy as that sounds. It also just feels like I'm compelled to do this. And then as we prepared for the announcement, I did a lot of soul-searching and journaling and asking myself, “Can I do this? Is this what I want to do?” And, yes, it is. I've never had this much attention at once. 'Cause, especially having just been in the process of stepping away from music, to suddenly be thrown into a national spotlight is, like, a total 180. Like, honored and amazed, but really scared. I was actually really scared when I first got the news. I was told on Thursday evening and the news came out on Tuesday, so there really wasn't that much time and it's been a really quick turnaround. How long have you been sitting on this info? They must have told you a while ago. The win, she told me, came as a shock - not least because she had recently decided to quit pursuing a career in music, an endeavor she described as “wrought with despair.” In our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we talked about Amador’s love for the Boston folk music scene, how she found community through the Tiny Desk Contest, and what it means to belong.Īmelia Mason: I've been hoping for a Boston or Massachusetts artist to win Tiny Desk for years, so thank you for making my dream come true!Īlisa Amador: Thank you! I’m honored. I caught up with Amador over Zoom the day after the announcement. Though she provides an English translation to the lyrics in the video's description, the song's meaning comes across through a melody that's as yearning and curious as its words. She sings directly into the camera, voice low, strumming a quiet, yet insistent, rhythm on her electric guitar. “Milonga Accidental” explores the feelings of not-belonging produced by Amador's cross-cultural identity. For their daughter, music is both a birthright and a source of ambivalence. Her parents, Rosi and Brian Amador, front the long-running Latin folk band Sol y Canto, which draws on the family’s roots in Puerto Rico, Argentina and New Mexico, as well as their connection to the Boston folk music scene. She won with a song that we premiered on WBUR at the end of 2020, called “Milonga Accidental.” It is the first Spanish language song Amador ever submitted to the contest.Īmador grew up in a bilingual household in Cambridge. Amador is this year’s Tiny Desk Contest winner - for the whole country, not just Massachusetts. It turned out the judges at NPR Music agreed. Maybe, I thought, this year would be her year. Amador was always a top contender among the panelists when we sat down to choose a local favorite. These songs are less showy than “Talkin',” but arguably more skillful. Her entries since then have tended to be quiet and introspective, her lyricism subtle. The next year, Amador submitted again - this time, with an acoustic guitar, backed by a standup bass. Amador’s was one of the first of more than a hundred Massachusetts entries that I pored over, and it stuck with me. 2018 happened to be the first year I convened a panel of musicians and journalists to anoint a local Tiny Desk Contest favorite on behalf of WBUR. It was clear from the young singer’s deft musicianship that she was an artist to watch.Īnd watch her we did. Upbeat and witty, “Talkin’” paired wry lyrics about dating in the social media age with a swingy hook and, most notably, Amador’s powerful voice. She performed the song, called “Talkin’,” in front of a classroom whiteboard, electric guitar slung over her shoulder, flanked by a drummer and a bassist. In 2018, Alisa Amador submitted a video to NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest for the first time. Alisa Amador (Courtesy Jacqueline Marie Photo)
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