At Work: Anna Rose
Anna Rose has just returned from her fourth international service trip with the Music Is Love Exchange. And while she may be unwinding in Brooklyn with a cup of coffee, she wouldn’t describe herself as tired. Instead, she feels “an immense amount of gratitude” from her weeklong combination of service work, tourism and musical entertainment, all giving back to Guatemala’s remote Lake Atitlan region.
“We do service work during the day and then, at night, the musicians perform concerts for the fans who have come with us. And at other points, we do concerts in Spanish in the villages and nearby hospitals. That’s really where it all meets. Music is the universal language,” she explains. “And now I’ve got about two more weeks until I start to feel really anxious that I’m not on the road.”
Indeed, there’s a certain restlessness to Rose’s spirit. A 2016 diagnosis and ongoing battle with chronic Lyme Disease has given her a new appreciation for her craft, as chronicled on her October 2019 album The Light Between. “I was in a place where my hands were very swollen and I couldn’t feel a whole lot. I had a lot of neurological issues. But I never had more gratitude than when I came back from my first [Music Is Love Exchange] trip. At that time, I was in an incredibly dark spot. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to make music anymore. That trip was my first baby step, seeing if I could physically challenge myself and be OK.”
On the mid-album standout “Sucker Puncher,” you can hear Rose channel her own personal struggles—as well as her challenges in the music industry—through wailing guitars as she sermonizes, “Wrong turn/ Never learn/ Kinda bruised/ Before you prove that I never burn.” Back in Brooklyn, the singer/guitarist—who happens to be the daughter of famed songwriter Alan Menken—eagerly describes an upcoming side project in the world of musical theater but, more than anything, she’s itching to get back on the road with her band.
“I’m very cognizant of the fact that there was a point when I felt I couldn’t do this anymore, so now I’m just excited every day I get to get up and play music. So, if anything, getting sick just affirmed how much I love what I do.”
