Silvana Estrada Brings Her Poetic Folk Ballads to GroundUp Music Festival

Last year, Silvana Estrada's 2022 tour brought her to Miami for the first time, where she performed at the Citadel as part of Escala Sonora's concert series. She described it as her favorite show of the tour, largely thanks to the captivated audience.

Since that Miami show, the 25-year-old has released Abrazo, a four-track EP that followed her breakthrough debut album Marchita. She also won a Latin Grammy for "Best New Artist" and scored a nomination for "Best Singer-Songwriter Album." For her "Best New Artist" win, Estrada tied alongside 95-year-old singer Angela Alvarez, the oldest musician to win and be nominated in the category.

"It was impactful for me because sometimes I feel like an outsider, especially in that world, because most of the time I'm not in that Vegas or Grammy universe — I'm touring. I go to Europe. In Mexico, I'm independent, and my label is in New York," Estrada shares. "I've been doing things quite differently and, sometimes, I feel like I don't know if I'm doing it right or wrong, but then to see Angela doing something completely weird like releasing her album at 90-something and then watching me at 25 years. I felt so proud to give visibility to the difference."

The Mexican singer-songwriter is set to return to South Florida as part of the GroundUp Music Festival on Friday, February 3, at the Miami Beach Bandshell. The three-day event also features Estrada's collaborators Michael League and Snarky Puppy, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, folk-rock act Madison Cunningham, and Australian musician Nai Palm.

Estrada grew up in the culturally rich city of Veracruz, Mexico, where her parents handcrafted instruments. Within her community, she participated in fandangos and sang at public events. Early on, it seemed like her musical path was carved out for her — yet her unconventional curiosity led her to where she is now.

"I remember being 5 years old and listening to Miles David with my dad, and he said, 'It's incredible how this is all improvised,'" she shares, citing the memories that inspired her youthful drive to be a jazz singer, including the time her mother gifted her a Billie Holiday greatest-hits album.

"When I decided to study jazz, I was really into it, and I did want to be a jazz singer, but I felt like it wasn't my thing. I was spending the whole day singing in English," says Estrada, who learned English in her teens and now primarily writes lyrics in Spanish. "It was lovely but weird in a way because I was trying to say my own stories, and I wasn't able to."

After picking up the Venezuelan cuatro string instrument, Estrada skipped jazz classes to keep practicing, slowly finding her voice and technique influenced by the Mexican son jarocho style she grew up with.

Growing up reading classic Latin poets like Pablo Neruda and Nicanor Parra, Estrada's lyrics read like poetry brought to life by her melodic voice and are usually accompanied by her cuatro.

Estrada's jazz studies led her to guitarist and composer Charlie Hunter, known for his collaborations with artists including Frank Ocean, D'Angelo, John Mayer, and Norah Jones. In 2016, the pair collaborated on Lo Sagrado, Estrada's first album, at a studio they cobbled at her childhood home.
While exploring New York City's jazz scene under the guidance of Hunter, Estrada met and collaborated with Mexican drummer Antonio Sánchez, Michael League, and the Snarky Puppy family. Recalling the advice she received from the many jazz cats she met, Estrada laughs and says, "They were like, 'Dude, do your thing. We don't need any more jazz singers.'"

After quitting school, Estrada dove into Mexico City's music scene, gaining a loyal fanbase and collaborating with prominent artists such as Natalia Lafourcade, David Aguilar, and Julieta Venegas. Those collaborations helped gain mainstream attention.

Recalling her first international tour, Estrada shares, "I first had many sold-out shows in very random cities, and then I had an album. At some points in my life, I've been feeling like, OK, maybe I'm not doing the right things, but everything has been the way it is, and I'm grateful for that."

In 2020, Estrada signed with New York City-based label Glassnote Records. Last year, she released her debut solo album Marchita, redefining Latin alternative music with her unusual folklore and honest lyrics.

"Marchita was a post-break-up album, but more importantly, it was a healing process. Every time that I'm doing something that's important to share, it's because I have an urgency to say it and an urgency to understand it," she says. "Marchita is a very lonely process of where all this pain is coming from and what I'm gonna do with this pain, and what I want to be after this. I think that's why people get moved about what I'm saying because it's my heart speaking or trying to."

Last November, only a month after her Latin Grammy win, Estrada received news that her best friend Jorge Tirado and his brother, Andrés, were found murdered in their homes in Mexico City.

After touring and working most of last year, Estrada shares she had ambitious ideas for 2023, but she is giving herself time and space to rest, compose, and work on recording her album.

"I really need to figure out how to live with this, and then I need to create — after all, creation will be the only solution to actually heal," she says.

Silvana Estrada at GroundUp Music Festival. Friday, February 3, at Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; groundupmusicfestival.com. Tickets cost $109 to $845.