San Carlos lass heads famous U.S. rock band
SAN CARLOS CITY—A San Carlos-born young lass has broken through the competitive American music industry and now leads one of the country’s popular country rock/gospel bands.
Anna Fermin, who was only a year old when her parents Renato and Nida Peralta- Fermin migrated to the U.S., is now making waves in the U.S. as a song writer, singer and head of the Chicago-based “Anna Fermin’s Trigger Gospel” group.
Described by Greg Kof of the Chicago Tribune, as “one of Chicago’s most treasured voices”, Anna Fermin’s Trigger Gospel first captured the heart of America in 1997 through their music.
Ms. Fermin, who just recently made a homecoming in San Carlos City, is currently residing in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Although she studied classical piano and violin and performed in choirs throughout her childhood and adolescence, it wasn’t after her graduation from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1993 that she wrote her first song.
She set aside her profession as a graphic designer and embarked on a career closest to her heart—singing and song writing.
Fermin names Patsy Cline, Nancy Wilson and Nina Simone—among many others—as the major influences in her music and singing style.
But she says that her father has had the strongest influence on her.
Ms. Fermin recalls how her father, a self-proclaimed Filipino Elvis, used to embarrass her as he sang songs on his karaoke at parties. But she admits that it was this early exposure to his father’s songs that instilled in her a love for music.
Having taught herself how to play the guitar, using a borrowed classical guitar from her ‘tita” (aunt), Fermin started attending local open mikes.
There, she impressed other musicians, including her now long-time drummer Paul Bivans, who, among others, encouraged her to form her first band called “Anaboy”. That was the beginning of what has emerged today as “Anna Fermin’s Trigger Gospel”.
With her band’s diverse influences and varied experiences, Fermin’s music has taken on its own distinctive style.
Their latest releases as of October 31, 2006, with Fermin as singer, were “Where My Heart Begins”, Further Along”, “Softly”, “Romance, “That kind of Love”, “I know You”, “Heaven in My New Shoes”, and “Yellow Rose of Texas”.
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