Artist Spotlight: Musician Ian Villafana

(InthekNOwla) -- NEW ORLEANS | Our culture couldn't exist without it's many talented artists. And InthekNOwla.com was privileged to chat with one of those artists, musician Ian Villafana.

Born and raised in Trinidad, Ian has been around music all of his life. His initial interests in music were sparked by his father, also a musician, and at the age of four, he received his first guitar from his uncle. Like New Orleans, Trinidad is a "melting pot" of people, resulting in a diverse and vibrant culture. Therefore, Ian was able to develop his skills from the variety of influences that constantly surrounded him. "On Sunday mornings, I'd wake up and my dad would just be coming in from doing a gig the night before. He would sometimes bring band members with him along with their instruments. Imagine waking up to that almost every weekend. I spent a lot of time in the studio along with my mom just hanging out with him. As I got older, I earned a small role in the band with percussion and that really ignited my passion for music. When you're on an island with only a million people, it's hard to escape the music. It's all around you."

Ian's pianist father played a variety of music styles, including calypso, jazz, Latin, reggae and pop which were some of his earliest influences. Furthermore, during his childhood, Trinidad was still a British colony. Consequently, music from that side of the world made it over to Trinidad and was instrumental in Ian's musical development. As he explained, "We were a British colony until 1962. When I grew up, we still had pounds and shillings and a lot of the music was mostly British. I grew up on the Beetles and Elton John and artists of the like. One of my very first music books was a book of Beetles music. My dad also played a lot of George Gershwin stuff and since I listened to it so much, it somewhat became a part of me. I remember listening to a lot of great composers like Burt Bacharach, and later in my teens, I was really heavily into Carlos Santana since Latin America was so close to Trinidad. The background that I gained from the different genres that I was exposed to really helped me a lot in my musical development."

Because of all these different genres of music, Ian's style changed greatly throughout the years. Later on, he became heavily interested in the emerging American genres of R&B, rock and funk. He recalls watching Woodstock in the movies as a teen and being captivated by the music and the people. This experience prompted him to want to focus more on his studies as a guitarist. However, he hit a little snag before beginning to study formally. Ian stated, "Woodstock and watching artists such as Elvis Presley perform on film made me focus more on American type music. I started to really get into Motown and R&B. During my high school years, I had a little band and we would perform a lot of Motown hits and songs by the Isley Brothers and Stevie Wonder, who had a huge impact on me. But, I totally lost it when I was first introduced to James Brown and the funk. I was into a lot of rhythm at the time and to play funk, you really have to feel it. I lived in James Brown music and when he came to Trinidad, we lined up for hours to see him. I wasted quite a few years on funk music before returning to my studies. I knew that if I really wanted to play like these groups, I had to hone my skills on the technical side."

During his twenties, Ian began to spend more time in the studio and he eventually met up with some very accomplished musicians that had toured through America and Europe. These returning artists brought a different type of sound back to the island. "When I met these guys, I realized that they were playing something different," Ian says. "I was in the studio doing the calypso thing at the time, which can be very repetitious, but these guys were taking the calypso and mixing it with jazz. That was it for me". Ian got involved with the group, who helped him improve his skills and allowed him to play different gigs throughout the island. However, he knew that if he was truly going to make it, he needed formal training in America. So, he decided to try to save up enough money to move to the States and attend Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Although Ian made it to the US, he dreams of attending Berklee had to put on hold. In need of money for tuition and living expenses, Ian made his way to New Orleans, where a friend of his father's lived, hoping to make enough money to start his formal training. However, his hopes of attending Berklee slowly slipped away. At the time, Ian was engaged and hadn't seen his fiancée in 9 months and sent for her to come to New Orleans. After this, life intervened: marriage, house, children, and consequently, Berklee slowly became a memory.

Not to be deterred, however, Ian spent a lot of time here in New Orleans exploring the culture and learning from the local musicians. He continued to study on his own and play mostly R&B gigs when time permitted. Years later, he met saxophonist, Quintin Gerard W., and Ian was able to collaborate with Quintin on a few recordings on Quintin's second smooth jazz album. Ian also let Quintin hear some of his recordings. As Ian explained, "I gave him a copy of some of my stuff and he asked, 'What are you doing with this?' He told me that I needed to take this to the next level and urged me to go commercial with my music. We started working on the album at his studio and we really took our time with it. He kept telling me that we couldn't rush it." The result of this collaboration resulted in "Epiphany," Ian's first solo studio album and is the culmination of years of hard work, cultural and artistic influences, and many genres of music.

Ian describes the music of Epiphany as music that expresses that sudden realization of true romance. "Epiphany touches a place down deep inside the listener. It soothes your spirit and caresses your soul with its deeply sensual rhythms and melodies that transport you into another time and place. This music transforms your mood instantly, allowing you to relax and escape the pressures of your day. It has it all – acoustic guitars and smooth, well orchestrated tracks with exciting variations," says Ian.

 We asked Ian about his goals and aspirations for Epiphany and he explained, "I would like to get the opportunity to have Epiphany reach many listeners throughout the world, recognized on the charts and having my compositions used as background scores in the film industry. My goal is to break down the barriers between modern music and the standards left behind by our great composers and musicians of the past. I plan on experimenting with blends of my native calypso and genres of American music using the guitar as the main voice."

So, be sure to listen to samples of Epiphany on Ian's website. With its smooth rhythms and melodies, we're sure it'll be pleasant to your ears! In addition, Ian also endorses Boulder Creek acoustic guitars from Morgan Hill Music Company as part of an artist agreement.

Epiphany can be purchased directly from CDBaby.com and downloads on iTunes.