As you walk along the school halls, you may think you see just another reserved individual, but you would never expect the talent hidden within them. Valeria Acevedo is one of those individuals, who hid her talents and finally shared it with the world. She has gone through incredible obstacles to achieve the goals she has set for herself, but as she is still a student, she continues to face struggles that interfere with her musical career. 

Seventeen-year-old Valeria first picked up the guitar when she was three-years-old but got her very own at the age of five. Growing up in a financially unstable household, she learned to create music with what she had. She experimented with her first guitar by just strumming on some random strings and putting sounds together based on what sounded right.  

As she randomly created notes, she realized that she was able to produce songs which led to writing her own content. “I eventually bought an electric guitar, broadening new genres for me such as alternative and ’emo’ when I attended junior high,” explains Valeria with a slight laugh upon her discovery of different music-making. She continued to progress on her knowledge of producing and began to learn how to interpret chords, leading her to play the piano and then the ukulele — instruments that she is still learning to play.

But, Valeria did not decide that she was going to have music as a hobby out of the blue, music practically runs through her family! “My uncle who lives in Peru was in a successful band and everything turned out great for him so it inspired me to really go full speed on my own music,” she comments on the inspiration to continue with her passion. However, when asked if she had her parents’ support, things took a turn.

“Yes, and no,” she answered with nervous laughter, “my parents are proud that I am committed and that I found an outlet that has helped me in numerous ways, especially with my social anxiety but they are not quite comfortable with the messages I put in my songs.” According to her culture, she says it is seen as a weakness to express inner struggles and due to her traditional lifestyle, it is difficult for her parents to abide with her music sometimes. Although her songs touch on sensitive but important topics, they have had a bigger impact than expected.

Valeria’s lyrics in her songs send out a message to her listeners that truly tug at the heart strings. Her content consists of emotional and significant topics that include love, heartbreak, self-harm, suicide, and sexual harassment. All in which have had a big and emotional impact on herself and her audience.

Valeria’s first small performance in high school was in her French class during her sophomore year but she had thought nothing of it until she realized that her peers recorded her and they began to discover her true talent. “I felt weirded out when people started to find out and it took a while to get used to,” she truthfully stated. French class was her comfort zone and it was never out of the ordinary when she brought her guitar and performed a song for all to hear.

Because numerous people found out about her musical abilities, her Youtube and Soundcloud accounts were discovered and she rapidly built a following of not only fellow students, but of individuals outside the area. This following has led to Valeria gain popularity which was brought to the attention of an agency who quickly gained interest in her. “An agency contacted me through my social media informing me they had heard my music and noticed how much people enjoyed it and offered me to play at venues around Southern California,” she elaborated on her exciting opportunity.

However, she did not see the message until a month after she had received it which resulted in her losing the chance to perform but fortunately, they were still highly interested and desperately wanted her to play a show. Since the Inland Empire carries a big music scene, there is an abundance of music venues to choose from but since she is still a minor and is unable to drive herself, she suggested a local place called the Legacy Room which is in her residing town, Chino. This was her first legitimate gig and it was so successful that the agency absolutely loved it and wanted to contract her again.

After her incredible success, she began to purchase new equipment such as a Macbook and a good quality microphone so she was able to experiment and broaden her content material. With these new qualities, Valeria has now written a variety of indie songs, including one of her hits: “Lover Boy.” As more opportunities like these arrive for her, she mentions, “I hope to perform more consistently and eventually I can get paid if managers really enjoy having me at their venues.”

Click on the link to listen to Valeria’s song “Lover Boy”: https://soundcloud.com/valeriaacevedo/lover-boy-1

Being a senior in high school, Valeria will soon become busy with college applications and other “senior year” business that must be taken care of with preciseness and hard work. With school overloading her schedule, she loses the time to work on her music and perform. “I am still in school and it sometimes gets in the way of my music which means I won’t be able to perform as often,” she says sadly on behalf of her lost time.

As the long road approaches, she has already decided that she would love to become a professional musician when she is older. Schools and colleges, such as Full Sail University, have contacted her for enrollment based on her musical abilities which she has considered to take on in her future educational path. However, she has this to say about the outcome: “I would love to make it a profession but I am a logical thinker and I have to face reality and make sure I have a back up plan in case things don’t go as planned.”

But as stated before, Valeria has faced challenging obstacles and has always managed to get through the difficulty of a situation which has led her to become the talented and aspiring musician she is today. Her music has benefitted her in ways that has improved her life and inspired strangers to keep going and that they are not alone in this world. Valeria Acevedo knows there will always be bumps in the road but it is nothing she can’t handle.

Check out the following streaming devices below to keep up-to-date on her music:

• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB26pU9O1kuY6zybee0x-rw

• https://soundcloud.com/valeriaacevedo

Listen to the following podcast to find out more about Valeria and hear one of her unreleased songs!:

https://soundcloud.com/user-90058126/spotlight-valeria-acevedo