Anthony Arya is a folk rock artist from the San Francisco Bay Area. At age 15, he was a contestant on NBC The Voice with multiple appearances on national TV. Coach Adam Levine praised the young talent saying, “It blows my mind. I’m telling you right now, your whole situation, the way you engage with an audience, the way you sing - you are so special, dude. People are gonna fall madly in love with how you do it.”
Shortly after the Voice, Anthony released his debut album, Going to California, spanning influences of rock, folk, and jazz. Songs from this album earned him the coveted Presidential Scholar of the Arts in the Singer-Songwriter category. The following year, still in high school, Arya started the Anthony Arya Band and soon was playing weekly at hotspots in San Francisco and music-rich Santa Cruz.
His second album was inspired by his love for folk artist Bob Dylan and his interest in the lives of storytellers like Beatnik Jack Kereouc and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Road, released in Spring 2020, encompassed the Beat-Dylan American traditions of love, socio-political awareness, and the open road.
Wallace Baine - Good Times Santa Cruz: “Santa Cruz teenage prodigy Anthony Arya is headed for big things ... His new album is called The Road–a title that, in its simplicity and romance, evokes big themes of restlessness, freedom, longing for an imagined or lost life, the almost limitless possibilities of the future, a Kerouac-ian thirst for experience.” An official music video shot in scenic Santa Cruz was released for “California Air”.
Anthony went on to attend college but continued his trajectory of writing award-winning songs with the release of his third album, Circles & the Flames winning multiple international songwriting awards. “Jaded Rust”, a nostalgic endearing folk song, was selected by Nashville’s The Bluebird Cafe / Taylor Guitars' Golden Pick Contest. A hard-driving blues song, “Ballad of Eugene” earned him a spot as a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition Americana category as well as a finalist in the Telluride Blues and Brews Festival's Blues Challenge. “Lovers of Valdaro”, a haunting love song, was selected as a Finalist in the International Acoustic Music Awards. Radio host and promoter David Bean said, “Anthony Arya is at the forefront of the next generation of singer/ songwriter/ guitar-players once
defined by Neil Young, Tom Petty and other icons from the last millennium”.
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In 2023 finished with college, Anthony went straight into the production of his fourth album, As It Turns Out, live-tracked at historic Hyde St Studios in San Francisco. This release included Arya’s first vinyl pressing along with plans for a music video for “GIMME SOME BREAD, AMERICA!” to be released in 2025. Anthony has since expanded his audience all across the Bay Area playing 160 shows in 2024 at locations from Monterey Bay up to Napa and Sacramento. Audiences are mesmerized by his beautiful voice, engaging stage presence, and skillful guitar playing. Arya’s shows bring the folk rock California sound of Laurel Canyon to a modern era - expect folksy ballads and guitar-slingin rockers. Come see for yourself why fans love Anthony Arya.