Kalistani Major History

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Pop singer La Sol performs for Premier at SpringFest
Young Singer joins wave of Egelian Language performers in Kalistan
Kaliburg, Ananto
May 18, 4880


Soledad Valdes, known to fans as La Sol, performed at this year's SpringFest, attended by Premier of the Republic Beloit

As Kalistani musicians Salgo return with Second Place honors from the International Festival of Music in Terra, the Kalistani Musica Egelian movement has gained steam among fans. Spearheaded by the smashing release of La Mala by KMI artist La Mas Mala in late January, more and more musicians who are interested in putting out music in the Egelian Language have been gaining attention in Kalistan. Much is of this interest is also fueled by the results of FOMAT IX, where Gaduri quintet Los Angeles Rojos, took home top honors.

The new interest in Egelian Language music has benefited one young artist especially. Soledad Valdes, known to her growing army of fans as La Sol, has recorded in Vrassan for years. Her music certainly falls into the dance and pop categories, and as she has grown up, her themes have become more mature, exploring a range of human emotion that typifies the pop music genre. She has also begun recently to explore RF, with the standalone single "Good to You". But the sudden willingness of record companies in Kalistan, including KMI, to record Egelian Language singers has provided her the opportunity to make a name for herself in a Market which is still new and fresh in the Republic.

La Sol has recently inked a record deal with La Tienda Discos, a new Record Company built specifically to release and promote Egelian Language music in Kalistan. Independently owned and managed, LTD signed La Sol as their first artist, but has a number of other musicians that they are scouting right now, as singers make a switch to a more Egelian sound. Her deal includes not only recording and mastering, of which she owns the rights, but also licensing escrow along the lines set up by ARC with the FOMAT record, and all publishing rights. LTD does all promotion and takes a fixed cut of all record sales to recoup costs and provides a nominal profit on the record. A deal along these terms seems to be seen more often for new musicians in Kalistan, and given the degree of talent, what LTD has called an "Associate Deal" may quickly be the norm, while the old style "Affiliate deals" may be more reserved for exploratory, developmental or vanity projects.

The signing with LTD has made La Sol a hot ticket this spring. A lot of her older music is beginning to be heard on commercial radio in Kalistan, and she was recently interviewed for Radio Kaliburg, where she was asked why she wants to make the switch to Egelian Language music. "Well," answered the young Singer, "I mean, it's what people want these days. It's the future of pop in Kalistan. Obviously I can speak both Egelian and Vrassan fluently, and I think you get a lot of different patterns and rhyme schemes with Egelian that you can't really do in Vrassan, because the most of the verbs have standard endings. For example, I can put Tengo, Como, Quiero and Hablo in a verse where in Vrassan, you know, those words wouldn't rhyme at all. It's a new way to express myself in Music, that's how I see it."

Due to the growing promotional push of El Sol by her label, the Singer was recently added to SpringFest in downtown Kaliburg, where she joined a host of other pop singers and musicians in welcoming the Spring back to Ananto. While La Sol was on stage, the newly Restored Premier of the Republic, Marguerite Beloit was in the crowd, taking a short break from her unending work of leading the Government of Kalistan. When asked what she thought of the singer, Beloit was more like a young music fan than the Premier of the Republic: "Oh yeah, Sol and me, we go back. She's from Zappa too [the Zappa City neighborhood of Kaliburg], and we used to canvass together back when we were in High School. She was a good hard worker, and a real champion at getting signatures. I am really happy for her that she is finally getting some recognition for her music now too."

With that ringing endorsement, La Sol begins her assent into the constellation of Kalistani musical stars. Her first all Egelian Language record on LTD is due out in August, and meanwhile, her most recent song, Una Vez Mas is in heavy rotation on Kalistani radios everywhere. Meanwhile, it appears that she will be working with ARC to release an EP of her standalone singles soon thereafter, so that those who are not familiar with her work in the Republic have a chance to listen to her in both Egelian and Vrassan.