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Queer, Catholic, and unabashedly fueled by feminism, multi-ethnic native Austinite Gina Chavez has heralded in unheard iterations of Latin music going back to her chart-topping 2014 acoustic bi-lingual record Up.Rooted. A decided shift from the 2007 acoustic folk-pop debut Hanging Spoons, Chavez pushed her sound even further out of the comfort zone with 2018’s R&B-soul-dominated Lightbeam, favoring the twelve-time Austin Music Award winner’s mesmerizing vocals over her once relied-upon guitar. Since starting her songwriting career over a decade back, Chavez’s undeniable talent has given her access to international tours (including appearances as a U.S. State Department cultural ambassador) and exposure through ACL Fest, NPR’s Tiny Desk, First Listen, and All Things Considered, as well as a platform to co-found private college fund Niñas Arriba (which benefits underprivileged girls in El Salvador) alongside her wife.
With a lifetime of experiences marred by critical acclaim and infectious popularity under her belt, Gina Chavez is channeling her observations of women’s oppression into her upcoming fourth release, La Que Manda, or The Woman in Charge. True to its title, La Que Manda sees Chavez’s confidence higher than it’s ever been before, striving to create equalizing Latinx anthems for the gender-downtrodden across the globe. La Que Manda is out May 15th, but just today Gina Chavez shared a Spanish-language single featuring producer Lina Briceno and engineer Fernando Lodeiro, who’ve received two Latin Grammys and two Grammys, respectively. The result is a bold trap beat that bears witness to Chavez like we’ve never heard before and sets the stage for the full album next month, “Ella”!
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