BEHIND THE SONGS
La Esperanza Canta
La Esperanza Canta was our first original song, written and recorded in October 2009.
For “La Esperanza Canta,” Colombian singer/songwriter Marta Gomez was inspired by the stories of 3 women in Nicaragua who received microloans and took their first steps out of poverty. Marta was so taken with the idea of Hope Sings, she wrote the song within 48 hours of hearing about the project, on the way out to LA for a Latin Grammy gig. She recorded the demo in her hotely with her band, less than a week later was in the studio recording it.
Marta performed the song in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Cafe, the night before the Latin Grammy's. She's also sung it twice at Joe's Pub in New York City, helping get the word out about Hope Sings.
Hope
Founder Beth Blatt saw Alih Jey perform in NYC at the LAMC in 2009, and loved what she heard. And when she contacted the singer about doing a song for Hope Sings, Alih liked what she heard, too.
“Hope” was inspired by Ildrese Point du Jour, a FINCA borrower in Haiti. She teamed up with friend and frequent collaborator, Ines Gaviria, to co-write and record the song. Producer Fernando Perdomo (Forward Motion Records) gave “Hope” a Wilco/Beatles/ gospel feel.
Sigue Asi
Jose Luis was one of the first writers Beth met when she started Hope Sings, at the Latin Billboard Conference in Miami, 2009. Porfirio Pina from BMI, whom Beth had met just a few weeks before, loved th project and got her invited to the Conference. He took Beth into the Green Room and introduced her to everyone there - including Jose Luis. 18 months later, they were in the studio recording "Sigue Asi."
“Sigue Asi” was actually waiting to be written for years. Jose Luis met little Manuel while visiting his native town of Salta, Argentina. The boy was poor as could be, but he had his flute and his music, and that’s all he needed to be happy. When Beth asked the songwriter to create a song for Hope Sings, Jose Luis responded immediately he knew what he wanted to write. Though the song is not directly about microfinance, it is about the inate optimism of the human spirit.
To sing the song, Jose Luis called on fellow Argentinian Cynthia Nilson, lead singer with the great Argentinean rock band Los Sacados. They recorded the song just after Christmas, 2010. Cynthia was amazing in the studio, laying down one perfectly-tuned harmony track after another to her own lead vocal while Jose Luis engineered - all under the watchful eye of Jose Luis' mascot - Kermit the frog.
