Trish Toledo

Trish Toledo has become one of the most distinctive voices carrying classic old school pop and soul ballads to new generations. Raised in Carson, California, south of Los Angeles, in an Ecuadorian-Guatemalan family with much older siblings, she absorbed music that existed long before her time, guided by her father, a musician whose tastes shaped her childhood even as his “musician’s life” kept him largely absent from the family. She began by singing cumbias and ballads before finding her true connection in timeless pop and soul ballads, drawn to lyrics that were simple and performances that were raw and clean.

Her path to music was anything but linear. As a teen parent, Trish set her own aspirations aside to raise her son. In May 2017, when he was 11 years old, her son recognized the void music had left in her life and encouraged her to return to singing. That push relaunched her career: she now selects songs to record based on how faithfully their themes mirror her own experiences, and she records the way her predecessors did — in one take, all the way through, without punch-ins or overdubs.

Her catalog has grown to include collaborations such as “La Fama” with Cota, and her cross-generational appeal bridges older listeners who grew up with these songs and young fans hearing them for the first time. “People are so happy that I’m reviving this music,” she says. “Bringing it back — so that a new generation gets to hear this.”

Beyond performing and recording, Trish explores art shows and has a deep appreciation for Chicano art, with multiple tattoos reflecting her love of shapes and colors — a visual identity as distinctive as her sound.