Monica da Silva is a Brazilian/American singer/songwriter living in Chicago. Shes been playing and writing music nearly her whole life. Her Brazilian mom started teaching her piano when she was 3, and then when she turned 6 or so, started playing the flute. The family always had music playing. Monica remembers listening to stuff like Vinicius de Moraes, Tom Jobim, Joao Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, Burt Bacharach and the Beatles. 

Since her childhood, shes been pursuing her dream of being a singer and composer. She writes all types of music. "Music really is what drives me and keeps me company", says Monica. "No matter what I’ve gone through in my life, it’s always been with me."

The past few years, Monica has been living in Chicago, but being Brazilian has really influenced her music. "People there are just so alive and happy there all the time, and music is around them and inside them. I love that!", she says. 

Right now, Monica is involved in two projects: One is a Pop/Rock band that plays music in English, Portuguese,Spanish and Italian. She just put out a CD called, “Miles From Nowhere.” If you’re interested, you can pick it up on iTunes or CD Baby. Her music has appeared on MTV, CBS and ABC, and in a couple indie films. She's in the process of doing a couple music videos, and plans on doing versions of the videos in Portuguese and Spanish, as well as English. Her other group, the Monica da Silva Quartet, performs Bossa Nova, Jazz, and Samba. They play both numerous Jazz standards and original songs. Monica has been writing a ton of Bossas lately and is going to begin recording a CD of this material in 2009. 

Also in 2009, she will be playing at a bunch of festivals, such as NACA Mid America Conference, RedGorilla Music Festival and SxSW 2009, and is also putting together a tour of Brazil for 2009.  Stay posted for much more to come...