Won't Twerk for Fame

Rueben Rubio, Ana Echeverria and Steve Hilferty are Posse Cafe.

She would never twerk, even if that’s what it would take to be famous.

Ana Echeverria says she sings for the love of music and will continue to perform even if fame never knocks at her door.

“I fulfill my love of singing by performing at free musical events. I feel like I am giving something back to the community,” said Echeverria, a supervising human services specialist for the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA). “It means a lot when people sing out loud to our music.”

Echeverria, 30, has been singing since the age of 10. Her love of music, she says, comes from her family. Her father Antonio also plays the keyboard. Her mother Jeronima also sings.

She grew up singing the songs of Mexican icons such as Pedro Infante, Lola Beltran and Juan Gabriel. It wasn’t until later that she discovered soul music is her true passion thanks to her two older sisters who always bought albums of the best of the oldies.

“I sing soul music because it is the music that I feel in my heart,” said Echeverria, who has worked for HHSA for the past six years. “Singing is my way to express myself and my feelings.”

About two years ago, mutual friends introduced Echeverria to guitarist and singer Rueben Rubio—who is now her boyfriend and also works for HHSA—and Posse Cafe was born.

The Chicano soul group got really lucky and kept winning the lottery that allows musicians to perform along the Prado in Balboa Park.

Along the way, Posse Café added percussionist and bass guitarist Steve Hilferty. The group has been performing at free community events and social gatherings and weddings, but only of friends and people they know. They last performed at the NAMI Walk and Live Well Expo in early May.

“We don’t perform often because we’re very busy,” said Echeverria, who shares lead vocals with Rubio and plays the piano and keyboard.

Word of mouth and their Facebook page have given Posse Café some attention, and the group, who is looking for a drummer, is now recording its own music and some covers hoping to land more gigs, especially at free musical events. They are also looking for more opportunities to perform.

But Echeverria says she loves her job and fame is not really what Posse Café is looking for.

“Ruben might disagree with me,” she said. “Never say never, right? But if fame ever comes, I’d have to really think about it.”

She admits she auditioned for American Idol 10 years ago but did it mostly at the urging of friends and family.

“I do not relate to the current music industry. They mold you into what they think it’s going to sell,” Echeverria said, adding that she would never be like Miley Cyrus or Rihanna. “I am not twerking. I am not that person. I take a lot of pride in my singing. It’s a gift.”