Pamela

From an early age Pamela Rodriguez—commonly known simply as Pamela—gained intimate exposure to both music and the recording industry because her parents ran the prominent Peruvian imprint Sono Sur. Guitar instruction began for her at age five. When violence and political instability forced the family to leave Peru two years afterward, she settled into a choir in their new hometown of Vancouver, Canada. Returning to Peru at age nine, she took up piano and soon added voice and music-theory training. During her teenage years a contract offer arrived from Sony, yet three years elapsed without any product and the label ultimately withdrew from the Peruvian marketplace. She seized the moment by enrolling at the University of Texas’s acclaimed music program, where encounters with players from many countries introduced her to fresh sonic palettes. After weaving her preferred elements into a personal approach, she headed back to Peru to record her debut album. Released on the Iempsa label in 2005, Peru Blue blended Afro-Peruvian music, jazz, and Latin pop; its sound evoked Norah Jones and earned both critical praise and broad commercial support, remaining on Peru’s Top Ten Albums chart for thirty weeks and securing Pamela a Best New Artist nomination at the 2006 Latin Grammy Awards.