Francisca Valenzuela

All Music Guide:

Francisca Valenzuela is an American-born Latin pop singer, songwriter, and pianist from Chile who broke through to mainstream success there in 2007 with the smash hit single "Dulce." Born March 17, 1987, in San Francisco, CA, she began studying music at a young age, learning both classical piano and acoustic guitar. She also began writing at a young age; most notably, a book of her poems, Defenseless Waters, was published in 2000 by El Andar Books with a prologue by famous Chilean author Isabel Allende. Around the same time her book was published, Valenzuela moved with her family from the United States to Chile. In 2004, as she was completing high school, she began performing her music in the clubs of Santiago. A couple years later she began hosting her music on MySpace, and one of her songs, "Peces," was picked up for radio airplay. Meanwhile, she was offered a recording contract with the label Feria Music and collaborated with producers Mauricio Durán and Francisco Durán of Los Bunkers on her full-length debut album, Muérdete la Lengua (2007). On the heels of "Peces," the single "Dulce" was given an official release in December 2006; moreover, its promotional video was released in January 2007 and eventually picked for rotation on MTV Latin America in March. One of the most popular songs of 2007 in Chile, "Dulce" went all the way to number two on the national singles chart. A series of follow-up singles was released in its wake, including the Top Ten hit "Muérdete la Lengua," the Top 30 hit "Afortunada," and "Muleta." In 2008, amid the continued success of Muérdete la Lengua and its long run of hit singles, a deluxe edition of the album was released with a bonus track remix of "Muleta" by Jorge González of Los Prisioneros and a bonus DVD comprised of promotional videos and live recordings.

Wikipedia:

Francisca Valenzuela (born March 17, 1987 in San Francisco, California) is a Chilean-American singer, songwriter, and composer of Spanish and English songs. Valenzuela was born and raised in San Francisco, California, where she resided until the age of 12, before moving to Santiago, Chile. She gained to popularity in Chile and Latin America, following the release of her debut album, Muérdete La Lengua in June 2007. Her sophomore album, Buen Soldado followed in March 2011. Valenzuela has earned both gold and platinum album certification in her native Chile.

Early life [edit]

Francisca Valenzuela was born in San Francisco, California to Chilean-born scientists, Pablo DT Valenzuela and Bernardita Méndez. She is the fourth oldest and only daughter of five children. At a very early age, Valenzuela demonstrated an interest in music and began taking music lessons at the age of 7. By age ten, she was playing acoustic guitar and continued studying classical piano. She lived and attended school in San Francisco and Berkeley, California. During summer vacations, she and her brothers would travel to Santiago, where they would visit relatives. Eventually, the family would make the permanent move to Santiago, when Francisca was 12.

In 2000, Francisca published her first book,"Defenseless Waters" a collection of her poems. She released her second book,"Abejorros/Madurar", which was distributed in Spain and Latin America. As part a promotional tour for "Defenseless Waters", she brought her guitar and keyboard to venues in northern California, where she gave poetry readings and performed songs of her own composition. Valenzuela is fluent in English and Spanish, and often composes songs in both languages. Although she and her family still live in Santiago, Valenzuela often returns to San Francisco to visit.

Career [edit]

2004-2007: Debut album: Muérdete la Lengua [edit]

Shortly after the release of her first book, Francisca and her family moved to Santiago, Chile when she was 13. While residing in Chile, Francisca took part as singer in school festivals, where she performed her original songs. In 2004, she attended an intensive jazz program at the Berklee College School of Music in Boston.

In 2006, Valenzuela released her first solo single, "Peces", which she wrote at age 13. Within a few months after its release, "Peces" gained popularity on Chilean radio. "Peces" was recognized by Rolling Stone magazine in Chile, as one of the best 100 songs of the year 2006. Due to the success of her first unofficial single, Valenzuela began recording her debut album in Santiago. Brothers Mauricio and Francisco Durán of Los Bunkers produced the album. Towards the end of 2006, she released her second single "Dulce". "Dulce" reached number two on the national charts in Chile.

To add more achievements to her short musical career, on May 19, 2007, she was invited by Julieta Venegas to open her concert at Teatro Caupolicán. On June 30, 2007, her debut album, Muérdete La Lengua was released in Chile. The Chilean press quickly dubbed her as The Princess of Rock, calling her, " new musical revelation". Soon after its release, the album was certified as Gold in Chile. Valenzuela performed in New York City at the annual LAMC conference in July 2008. This was Valenzuela's first musical exposure in the US and gave her an opportunity to showcase her music outside of Latin America. To promote her debut album, Valenzuela performed at various venues across Chile, as well as Mexico, Argentina, and other countries throughout Latin America.

2009–2012: Second studio album Buen Soldado [edit]

In early 2009, Valenzuela began the pre-production stages for her second album. She contributed to the Chilean water conservation documentary H2O:Cero, by composing a new song called "En Blanco" for the film. She has also participated in the album tribute for Violeta Parra, recording a new version of "Run Run Se Fue Pa'l Norte" as well as recording a version of Inti-Illimani's song "Vuelvo".

In 2009, she collaborted with Chilean rapper, Latin Bitman for his album Colour; Valenzuela co-wrote and sang two songs, "Help Me" and "Someday". "Help Me" was later released as a single in the United States and Chile and a music video was also filmed in Los Angeles in November 2009. In August 2010, Valenzuela began recording for her second studio album in Santiago. Production on the album was completed in late 2010. On January 1, 2011, Valenzuela released in digital formats her first single "Quiero Verte Más" from her second studio album called Buen Soldado; the album was released on March 3, 2011 in Chile as a physical and digital release.

2012-present [edit]

In addition to embarking on a national tour in Chile, Valenzuela also promoted her album internationally at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas in March 2012. She also performed at Midem in Cannes, France, representing Chile. Valenzuela had previously performed at the festival in 2011. In January 2013, Valenzuela announced that she planned to begin working on her third studio album sometime in during spring of the same year. In March 2013, production on her third studio album began in Los Angeles, California, following the conclusion of her national tour in Chile.