Home Street Music presents “La Voz Latina” - A Tribute to Latina women’s voices by Austin’s own: Suzanna Choffel, Vanessa Lively, Leti Garza, Stephanie Bergara, Ley Line and more on Saturday, May 5, 2018 at the Cactus Cafe.

Date: Saturday, May 5, 2018 Venue: The Cactus Cafe Doors at 7pm Show at 7:30-10pm Tickets $12 advance / $15 door Student Tickets: $10 advance / $12 door Include show info link: http://cactuscafe.org/events/la-voz-latina-featuring-leti-garza-vanessa-lively-suzanna-choffel-more/

Home Street Music, founded by Austin based songwriter and musician Vanessa Lively will present their debut concert “La Voz Latina - A Tribute to Latin American Female singers,” on Saturday, May 5, 2018 at the Cactus Cafe. The women performing include Suzanna Choffel, Vanessa Lively, Leti Garza, Stephanie Bergara and Ley Line and will be paying tribute to Violeta Parra, Mercedes Sosa, Lila Downs, Lhasa de Sela, Celia Cruz, Isabella Parra, Eva Garza, Selena, Eva Ayllon and more. The show will open with a popular Mexican folk tune sung by one of the Home Street Music participants, Helen Hopkins. She was homeless, but now lives at Community First! Village. A vocal workshop component will also be held on Saturday, May 12th at First Community Village (9301 Hog Eye Rd, Austin, 78724) led by Suzanna Choffel.

Vanessa Lively’s music is an eclectic blend of folk and world music that join heartfelt lyrics with soulful vocals. Margaret Moser of The Austin Chronicle described Vanessa’s music as “folk music on fire with wordly rhythms and a Latin pulse.” She is a true multidiscipline musician, painter, mother and passionate community activist. Her dream was to create a music program for Austin’s homeless and recently homed community, and to empower artists through music to create change within their communities. In May of 2017, Vanessa was awarded the Artist Activist Award by Music2Life - a nonprofit founded by Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul and Mary) and his daughter Elizabeth Stookey Sunde; this grant enabled Vanessa to create Home Street Music.

Home Street Music provides a safe place for artistic expression and musical creation to come to life along with providing the tools to make music and build community. The healing power of self-expression and the caring support of a community based in music are what this program embodies.Vanessa started the first pilot last November at Community First Village with an eight week program offering a weekly musical song circle. In these sessions, the participants would make music together and write songs. Lively states, “I always have carried with me the desire that my music is touching people and helping people in some way. I was thinking of a beautiful open studio space allowing people who are living on the streets, or have lived on the streets to come together and to be creative and musical together.”

This concert is part of a broader season of programming which includes seasonal classes held at Community First Village, public performances in Austin that provide showcase opportunities to participants of the program, and music workshops that are open to the public. This event is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.

Artist Bios

Vanessa Lively: Austin, Texas based (songwriter, singer, musician, painter), Vanessa Lively creates an eclectic blend of folk & world music that beautifully join heartfelt lyrics with soulful vocals. Margaret Moser of The Austin Chronicle described Vanessa’s music as “folk music on fire with worldly rhythms and a Latin pulse.” Lively was honored in 2017 with the Artist Activist Award by Music To Life and was able to start her dream project of creating a music program that works within Austin’s homeless community. She created Home Street Music and is leading the music circles at Community First! Village in East Austin. Artist website: http://vanessalively.com/

Suzanna Choffel: Austin native Suzanna Choffel combines sultry blues-tinged vocals with reggae & folk-influenced guitar rhythms to create a unique blend of pop, authentic, poetic & emotional. Her latest album Hello Goodbye was released in May 2017. Choffel has appeared on season three of The Voice, has earned a major grant from Black Fret (Austin artist development group) and performed before thousands at the January 2017 Women’s March participants at the Texas State Capitol. Artist website: http://suzannachoffel.com/

Ley Line: Four voices coalesce. Rooted in rhythm. The women of Ley Line transcend language and genres to create a sound that seems to emerge from deep within the earth. Dynamic harmonies run like a current through textures of stand up bass, guitar, ukulele and percussion. Raised on the North American traditions of blues, folk and soul and inspired by their world travels, Ley Line creates a global soundscape; blending rhythms and influences from Brazil, Latin America and West Africa. Ley Line’s multilingual performances unite audiences around the world. Artist website: http://www.leylinesound.com/

Leti Garza (aka Leticia Rodriguez): is a professional entertainer in music, dance, and theater and has developed and led a series of long term collaborations with award winning artists of diverse artistic genres, on both artistic as well as production ends. A multilingual world music vocalist, Leti has self produced three albums, been featured on KEXP, PRI, The World and National Public Radio. Through her projects, Leti promotes inclusion and the power of diversity. Artist website: http://www.letigarza.com/

Stephanie Bergara (of Bidi Bidi Banda): Bidi Bidi Banda is Austin's first all-star Selena Tribute. Composed of members of some of Austin's premier latin bands, Bidi Bidi Banda is the refried dream of Stephanie Bergara, a native Austinite who grew up listening to Tejano radio and singing to a hair brush while wearing her mother's red lipstick. The band's interpretation of Selena's greatest hits will leave you belting lyrics, doing the washing machine and reliving greatness of the Queen of Tejano Music. Artist website: http://bidibidibanda.com/

Links: Cactus Cafe: http://cactuscafe.org/ Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1322345957866577/ Add ticket info and Cactus cafe info http://homestreetmusic.org/ https://www.facebook.com/HomeStreetMusic and http://vanessalively.com/ Tickets - Cactus Cafe: https://cactuscafe.thundertix.com/orders/new?performance_id=2029395

Workshop Info: Tickets - “La Voz Latina” Vocal Workshop with Suzanna Choffel at Community First Village, Saturday, May 12, 2018 from 10:00am - 11:30am: http://homestreetmusic.org/events/voice-workshop-with-suzanna-choffel-at-community-first-village/

Community First! Village: https://mlf.org/community-first/

For further information regarding “La Voz Latina” please contact Jo Rae Di Menno, at 512.554.2799 and at jorae@hardpressedpublicity.com