{"id":12344,"date":"2017-02-27T05:30:41","date_gmt":"2017-02-27T10:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=12344"},"modified":"2017-02-28T07:39:22","modified_gmt":"2017-02-28T12:39:22","slug":"ana-popovic-modern-artist-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/27\/ana-popovic-modern-artist-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Ana Popovi\u0107: Modern Artist (part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The label \u201chot blues guitarist\u201d can be applied to Ana Popovi\u0107<\/strong> in more than one way. The Serbian-born, conservatory-trained guitarist cuts an undeniably striking figure onstage with her short skirts and stiletto heels, but those visuals shouldn’t detract from the fact that she’s a skilled interpreter of a decidedly modern version of the blues.<\/p>\n

Popovi\u0107 has been a professional musician for more than half of her 40 years. She put together her first band, Hush<\/strong>, in 1985 when she was living in her hometown of Belgrade, Serbia (then still part of Yugoslavia). But her immersion in blues \u2013 somewhat unusual for someone born and raised in Eastern Europe \u2013 began much earlier.<\/p>\n

In those days, Yugoslavia was ruled by Marshal Josip Broz Tito; though the country was under a kind of Communist rule, Tito positioned the Eastern European country as part of the Non-Aligned Movement. Yugoslavia was generally viewed as less repressive than the Soviet and East German regimes. As such, Yugoslavian citizens could travel abroad with relative ease. \u201cWe used to travel a lot,\u201d Popovi\u0107 recalls. \u201cI was brought up to be a ‘citizen of Europe.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Ana’s father Milton was a serious fan of American blues; when the family would make annual visits to places like Holland, Germany and Belgium, he would often buy records and trade with other collectors. When they got home, those records would form the soundtrack of many parties with family and friends. \u201cMy dad was like a DJ,\u201d\u00a0 Popovi\u0107 says. She laughs when she recalls that her family was a bit unusual. \u201cI would think that all of the rest of the people were listening to blues as well!\u201d Her childhood was filled with the sounds of blues as well as soul and r&b. \u201cI realized later: yeah, that\u2019s not what the rest of Serbia was listening to!\u201d<\/p>\n

Popovi\u0107’s earliest memories include hearing the music of Stevie Ray Vaughn<\/strong>, Jimi Hendrix<\/strong>, \u201call three Kings (Albert, B.B. and Freddie)<\/strong>, Albert Collins<\/strong>, Bukka White<\/strong>, all of the roots stuff, the Delta stuff, and Chicago blues and Junior Wells<\/strong>, Buddy Guy<\/strong>.\u201d To a young Ana Popovi\u0107, that music was just \u201cthe regular stuff. It was only thing we had in our home; we never listened to Serbian music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Popovi\u0107’s father is a blues guitarist, too, and he encouraged his children to sing. \u201cHe would get us around the guitars,\u201d Ana says, \u201cand so I was singing [songs by] Howlin’ Wolf<\/strong> when I was 3 or 4 years old. I learned those songs way before I could understand what they were meaning, and before I [learned] English in school.\u201d She recalls that while the male members of those family-and-friends gatherings appreciated all of the legendary blues guitarists, the women \u2013 \u201cmy Mom and all our other cousins\u201d \u2013 liked Stevie Ray Vaughan<\/em> best.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was something [about] the production of those records that was different: it was modern,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd I thought, ‘If I ever do music, I would want to have that sort of music [which] will unite not only the players but also people that are not players. People who just enjoy the good arrangements and good sounds. That was something that I [discovered at] a very early age; I noticed the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time Ana was 12, she had already picked up the guitar. Learning songs by Elmore James<\/strong>, Robert Johnson<\/strong> and even modern-day bluesman Sonny Landreth<\/strong>, Popovi\u0107 initially developed her skill as a slide guitarist. She recalls that at her father’s living room jams, \u201cI was the only slide player, so every now and again when they would play a slide song I would be the one to play [that part]. I would take a little part of the jam session. And that\u2019s how it started.\u201d<\/p>\n

In school, Popovi\u0107 studied graphic design; that was her planned career path. But eventually she decided to change course. \u201cI formed my own band when I was about 18, so that\u2019s when I really started playing solo guitar. And then I realized, ‘You know what? I am just going to study music and go for it 100%.’\u201d Soon she left for Utrecht, Holland to study at that city’s Conservatory. But while enrolled, she missed quite a few exams and assignments because of gig commitments. \u201cI had a lot of shows right from the beginning; it was difficult to coordinate both study and playing live,\u201d she recalls. Once her music career took off, she left the Conservatory.<\/p>\n

Ana doesn’t necessarily believe that as a female musician she had to work harder than men. \u201cI can\u2019t say how it is for men, because I don\u2019t have that experience.\u201d She says that her focus has always been on having a unique style. \u201cI didn\u2019t want anybody to think, ‘Okay, she\u2019s good \u2026 for a woman.’\u201d She acknowledges that there are plenty of reasons for people to judge her differently. \u201cBut I wouldn\u2019t know if it was because I was a woman, if it was because I was from Serbia, or if it was because I was from Eastern Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of which, while Popovi\u0107 earns consistently positive reviews for her albums, charges of \u201cinauthenticity\u201d do come up now and then. It’s worth noting that (to cite the most obvious example) Eric Clapton<\/strong> wasn’t exactly born and raised in the Mississippi Delta, but being a musician from Eastern Europe does seem to subject Popovi\u0107 to some skepticism from blues purists.<\/p>\n

But her response to that reality is a bit surprising, too. \u201cI don\u2019t hear that,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is a surprise to me.\u201d She writes off this alleged criticism as nothing more than difference of opinions. \u201cIt’s okay that they like something better than the other,\u201d she says. \u201cI am at all not bothered by it. I invest time in my style, and whoever likes it, that’s great.\u201d And as for those who don’t like her style, Popovi\u0107 suggests that \u201cthere\u2019s a whole lot of other guitar players that you can like.\u201d<\/p>\n

That style of hers is informed by much more than blues, after all. \u201cI have a perfect excuse to be different and to try myself in different genres,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m not born in Chicago, [so] they don\u2019t expect me to be Chicago Blues. I\u2019m not born in the Delta, so I make full use of that. And I am a modern<\/em> artist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here to continue<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The label \u201chot blues guitarist\u201d can be applied to Ana Popovi\u0107 in more than one way. The Serbian-born, conservatory-trained guitarist cuts an undeniably striking figure onstage with her short skirts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12346,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,41],"tags":[2971],"class_list":["post-12344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-interview","tag-ana-popovic","cat-9-id","cat-41-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12344"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12383,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12344\/revisions\/12383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}