Our Newest Amerasian Diva: Van Anh

When watching Van Anh perform on stage, in many ways she might remind some of us of Julie Quang.  Others might even say that Van Anh reminds them of Pauline Ngoc.  Or even Jenny Trang.  Whoever this young lady might be reminiscent of, Van Anh still manages to have a unique sound of her own and a very distinct style of performing that has never been seen with any other Vietnamese singer before.

The first time I heard Van Anh sing was during a show in Oklahoma City that had been produced by Gia Dinh My Viet to benefit the Amerasians and their families  still living in Vietnam today.  I had also been booked as one of the performers that night along with Randy.  The year was 2008.  I had never heard of Van Anh before then.  I guess it must have been quite a long time that I had been out of the singing business, and therefor, I was totally out of it because as soon as the emcee announced her name, there was a thunderous applause.  Obviously, everyone already knew who Van Anh was.  Everyone except me.  

When she walked onto the stage, immediately I was impressed.  Just by her looks alone, as she is rather striking with a pair of expressive, somber eyes, auburn skin tone along with her tall and slender, statuesque runway model physique, were more than plenty for Van Anh to leave anyone with a lasting impression after just one glance.  And when she introduced herself on stage before starting her set of songs, I could tell right away that this girl was a pro.  She definitely had star quality.  But then came the best part, which was when she started to sing.  Her voice was sweet like honey, yet defined and powerful.  I especially liked her gestures and how very poised and confident Van Anh remained while on stage during her segment of songs.  Just when she was finished with her performance, Van Anh would be given another tremendous applause by the audience.  As she prepares to exit the stage, she thanks the audience with her closing remarks spoken in the most proper Northern Vietnamese dialect.  How Van Anh is able to build such a rapport with the audience with such style and sophistication usually only happens among the most seasoned performers.  I was really taken aback.  So much so, I had to turn to Randy and ask him, "Who is this girl?  She's fantastic.  With a voice like that, she ought to be recorded professionally."  Randy's response to me was something to the effect of, "You don't know who Van Anh is?  Wow! You have been gone for quite a while."

Needless to say, I felt like an idiot.  Well, that night in Oklahoma City was my very first live performance in over 7 years.  During those years that I was on hiatus from the singing profession, I had also not kept up much with the Vietnamese music industry and therefor, clueless to anything current.  

After the show that night, I had tried to speak to Van Anh but such attempts on my part only proved to be unsuccessful.  As soon as she was done with her set of songs, she seemed to be in a hurry to leave as she gathered all her belongings so she could head on out.  As she was about to leave the venue with her suitcases in hand, I tried one last time to say hello to her.  But she only responded with a brief smile back at me, quite nonchalantly, and quickly proceeded to exit.  I thought to myself, "Just who does this girl think she is?"  

A few weeks later back in Southern California, one night while hanging out at a place called L-8 Lounge somewhere on Beach and McFadden near Huntington Beach, surprisingly I ran into Van Anh again.  This place is now renamed as Q's Lounge and has since been under new management.  Back in 2008, L-8 Lounge was run by Sy Du, the musician, who is also a good friend of mine, and was a favorite underground hangout for Vietnamese singers and musicians.  On our nights off from singing at clubs or shows, Vietnamese singers and musicians would gather there just to "chill and jam", as the saying went.  On that night, I had gone there with Lilian and Jenny Trang.  When Van Anh got on stage to sing, I started to pay compliments on her voice to my two friends.  That's when Jenny Trang said, "Oh, I love this girl.  She's so sweet."  I looked at her and said, "Sweet?  She seemed rather unfriendly to me."  Jenny went on to explain how Van Anh is rather shy and that perhaps the reason I feel that way is because I haven't gotten to know her.  "Let me introduce you to her.  You'll see" said Jenny.

That night, Van Anh sang one of my favorite Vietnamese songs ever, Noi Long.  The way she sounds when she sings this song is nothing short of amazing.  I loved how she was able to give the song entirely a new sound with her rich and expressive vocals.  When she got down from the stage, Jenny whisked her over and introduced her to me.  Jenny was right.  Van Anh is quite shy and indeed a very sweet girl.  When we started talking, I realized it right away.  Van Anh has a rare quality that not many other Amerasians have.  And that is, she speaks Vietnamese with a proper Northern Vietnamese accent.  She's very cordial, yet humble and down to earth.  I like Van Anh very much.

Since then, I've had the opportunity to work with Van Anh on one other occasion in San Jose at another show produced by Randy and Gia Dinh My Viet.  Everytime we run into one another now, I'm always happy to see her with a great, big smile on her face.  I've even gotten to know her younger brother, Alex, and we've become great friends.  I hope we can work together again someday soon.  If anything, just to hear her sing on stage is a real treat.

Van Anh on Facebook