Headline: New Millenium, new and improved YOU.
Headline: In the winter of 1999 I knew there was going to be a big shift in the world, literally! it was the new millennium! Soon we will turn from 1999 to 2000.
That’s when I was granted the opportunity to come to NYC to chase my dreams of becoming a singer/ songwriter.
My passion for entertainment started when I was 5. At least that’s as far as I can remember. My father used to compose songs… I remember watching him play the guitar and write verses. He would perform in all family functions and everyone knew his lyrics… we still do….
Growing up in Brazil was very inspiring. Being a diverse country, we have lots of different rhythms. Because of the limiting resources: money and technology, we were forced to come up with the most creative ways to put an act together.
I remember one time, some older kids were putting on a circus act together and charging something like $0.25/ person to watch. There was a kid who could lie down on broken glass, there was a clown and many other different acts. I was only 5yo, but was invited for my ability to jump high and for my flexibility: I could kick high! lol
My sister was a natural dancer, she would often stretch me, I remember being painful, she would put me sitting down, open my legs and sit on my back with her weight until I reach the floor with my chest. She competed as a dancer representing our borough and won a few titles.
My downstairs neighbor was an actress and she would give us different exercises like “pretend you were a tree, growing branches, getting bigger, etc.” She put together a play and my Mom and sister were in it. They performed for my kinder garden. It was awesome.
From my dad I learned to write, compose and sing. My sister showed me the passion for dancing and my neighbor got me into acting.
My parents, at first, didn’t want me to pursue anything to do with entertainment. They thought it was a hobby, a thing and they were concerned I wouldn’t be able to make a living.
I was determined and started performing at school and soon at a local TV show. My older sister would always accompany me since I was only 9 at the time. Soon I got accepted in one of the best performing arts school in the Country and there I studied, dance, singing and acting…
Right before high school, my parents got divorced and my sister got married. It was a very hard time. I lost my best friend who always supported me and was there in every show I did. I also lost my Dad who got a girlfriend with 3 kids about my age…
I my last year in high school, I was cast in a big national production with a main role and got many awards for that. After high school I found out that the government was awarding scholarship in the arts and I decided to apply and won!
That’s how I came to NY. It was a miraculous way. My family would never be able to send me overseas, let alone pay for my studies. I believe it’s all connected, from the family that was born in, the place I was born, to the name I was given: “Hudson” it almost sounds like meant to be.
Internet and social media were nothing like today, back in 2000. I recorded my first demo CD. I was so happy. I wrote the songs and was able to record them… I made about 100 copies and sent them to almost every record label I found in the yellow pages. 99% of the submissions came back, unopened, with a stamp saying : “we don’t accept unsolicited material. Basically, I needed to be represented by a lawyer or agent….
After a while, one of the big names in the music industry contacted me for an interview. I guess he was in the 1% who actually opened the package with my demo. I was so happy and scared. He wanted to send me to Miami. He said there is a huge Latin market opportunity. Shakira, Ricky martin and Enrique Iglesias were crossing over…. By the time this opportunity came, I had my tickets to go back to Brazil. I was done with school. I tried to follow up with the record label, but since I wasn’t physically here… it was impossible, besides I had to stay in Brazil for at least a year because of the scholarship and my Visa.
That’s when the nightmare started. I was involved in a very serious car accident. Don’t worry; I wasn’t drunk, or driving…. I broke both my arms and had to get plates and screws to put the bones together. The doctor said: “You are never going to be the same”…. I said: “who are you to say that!”
It was very difficult having to be like a baby for a while… my mom had to take me to bathroom and feed me, I couldn’t use my arms…. She was so patient and loving that with her support, I was able to reborn, literally a lot stronger than before. I manage to get a job as a dance director and with a lot o pain, I was able to stretch my arms again. I had to show the dancers the movements… I never went to the doctor’s physical therapy, as my real therapy was my will, my faith and my strength to work hard to be ok.
This email is getting too big…I will continue on the next post. I really want to share my heart and soul. I know someone out there can relate and benefit from it, or even share their story with me… we should always back each other up. We are a lot stronger together.
But perhaps even more importantly than all of that, it’s YOU, the listener, that makes all of it matter.
I look forward to many more sometimes hard, sometimes ugly, always worth while experiences along this musical journey. Here’s to hopping that you are part of that journey.
If you’d like to hear the most recent milestone of that journey, click hear to listen to my first album, ‘Burn’.
http://www.hudsonolivermusic.com/burn
Thank you for being a listener and for making it all matter.
Hudson
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Thanks for sharing your heart and the story of your journey…. Seeing you on videos its hard to believe that you overcame two broken arms my friend, your desire helped you overcome the obstacles encountered on the road to your destiny