West Coast Member Anthony Arya Releases his Second Album, The Road
Anthony Arya first joined West Coast Songwriters for the 2017 Fall Conference when he was just turning fifteen. At that time he had a handful of catchy tunes and was thrilled to discover an organization with a community of people that were writing and sharing songs. The following year Anthony frequented many of the monthly Song Contest events at various locations, sharing his new songs and making connections with other members including producer Kenny Schick. In Spring 2018, Anthony began a six-month journey with NBC’s The Voice culminating in multiple occurances on national TV. At the same time Anthony kept writing more songs and in Dec. 2018 he released a full length album, Going To California, produced by Kenny Schick at Basement 3 Productions. In 2019 Anthony played hundreds of live shows around the Bay Area promoting his album including locations such as Michael’s on Main, Felton Music Hall, Kuumbwa Jazz, and DNA Lounge to name a few. He’s also collaborated with other West Coast members like Mira Goto and Tayler Rae and jammed with Michael McNevin. In addition he has received so much encouragement from the many West Coast members as well as staff. Ian Crombie gave him help with recording and he’s taken voice lessons with Iari Melchor. Pete Sommer helped him arrange some gigs as well as invited him to perform a showcase at the Palo Alto location. In Spring 2019, the Santa Cruz NEXTies Awards named Anthony “Under 18 Person of the Year.” and he performed at the Rio Theater. In addition to his original music, Anthony has a jazz trio, Life is a Cabaret performing songs from the Great Gatsby era and a Grateful Dead tribute band, Chasing Ophelia. In January 2020, Anthony was selected by the National YoungArts Foundation as a finalist in the category Voice - Singer/Songwriter and went on to be nominated for Presidential Scholar of the Arts. In 2020, Anthony again teamed up with producer Kenny Schick and has just released his second album, The Road.