Victoria Canal

Canal was born in Munich to Gwen Tinius, an architect and artist, and Francisco Canal, a businessman. She has since lived in Shanghai, Tokyo, Barcelona, Madrid, Dubai, and Amsterdam. Her ethnicity is Cuban and American descent, but refers to herself as Spanish-American because Spain is where she was raised most of her life. At a very young age, her grandmother, a piano teacher, introduced her to music.[1] She started taking classical lessons at 6 years old for both piano and voice. When she turned 11, she discovered songwriting after listening to writers like John Mayer and Gavin DeGraw and decided she wanted to be a singer-songwriter when she grew up. She participated in local and school competitions wherever she could and started booking her own gigs. Her reputation at school was "that singer girl who spends all her time practicing between classes", up to the point that when Victoria moved from Dubai to Barcelona in 2013 (she was about to start 10th grade), she decided to do online school instead to be able to pursue music more professionally. Her inspiration comes from unfamiliar instruments that she doesn't play as well as she does piano, like the bass, loop station, harmonica, etc.

She was born without her right forearm due to amniotic band syndrome. She emphasizes that though it serves as a source of inspiration for people who might not traditionally become performers, people's focus should be on the music and artistic craft. Canal is a supporter of organizations such as SERV, AIS, T-Oigo. She has raised over 10,000 meals for SERV International for people in need.[2]

She cites her influences as John Mayer,[3] Donny Hathaway, Sam Smith, and Al Green. Other artists she has noted include Bon Iver, James Vincent Mcmorrow, Coldplay, and James Bay.

When she was 13 and lived in Dubai, Canal recorded her first original demo CD at JR Studios. She searched out interview opportunities in Dubai and got several placements on MBC, Dubai One, and others. Also at age 13, Victoria was granted a full-tuition scholarship to Berklee College of Music's summer performance program. At age 14, Victoria moved to Barcelona and studied at Jazz Conservatory en el Aula del Conservatori in Barcelona, Spain. She also returned again to Berklee with a second full-tuition scholarship.[4] After studying at the conservatory for a year and receiving her certificate, Victoria began traveling back and forth from Madrid to Atlanta in fall of 2014 to begin training with renowned vocal coach, "Mama Jan" Smith.[5] As their involvement moved forward, Victoria and her mother Gwen relocated to Atlanta in April 2015 so Victoria could go on her first tour and record her debut EP, Into the Pull. She hosted an Open Mic Tour along the east coast with 13 dates, raising 5,000 meals for SERV International for people in need. Over 50 performance in 2015, Victoria played venues like Eddie's Attic (opening for Joan Osborne), the Apollo, the Red Room, the World Cafe Live, and the Troxy Theatre.

Canal recorded her debut EP Into the Pull with Justin Bieber and Usher’s vocal coach, "Mama" Jan Smith, Jesse Owen Astin, and Demond Mickens. It was independently released on January 29, 2016 and she hosted a sold-out EP release show at Eddie's Attic Her debut single, Unclear, was released in August 2015.[6] AXS revealed the track listing for Into the Pull, and is follows: "Unclear," "Wolves (The Other Side)," "City Shoes," "Not Afraid," and "Little Girl."[7] The music video for Unclear was released and received over 50,000 views in less than a week.[8] Victoria said, however, that she had more creative direction with the "City Shoes" music video, which also garnered 100,000 views.[9]

In 2015, Canal embarked on a cross-country, 13 date Open Mic Tour. This was her very first tour. She opened for Joan Osbourne at Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta, GA. She has done 50 performances total in the year 2015.

In 2018, she toured with Michael Franti on his Stay Human Tour, traveling across the United States of America to open for his shows. Franti heard of Canal's music and talents when he was scrolling Instagram.[10]

In 2019, Victoria released her new single Drama. Rolling Stone called it a "Song You Need To Know."[11]

• "Bright future ahead for Dubai pianist". The National.
• "Daily Discovery: Victoria Canal, "Unclear"". American Songwriter.