"Mike test. Check, check! Mike test!" The sound engineer's voice reverberates a concert hall in Los Angeles. Backstage donning their costumes are the dancers, nerves are on edge but excited. The bass drum booms, the lead guitar screams a few bars, and the keyboardist tinkers away faintly. You can’t miss it — the inevitable solo piano introduction of "Tell Me." This is the typical backdrop in the musical world of Joey Albert — who, despite migrating to Vancouver, has kept her following, literally, as scores of Filipino fellow migrants in the US and Canada still watch her shows. From the hushed corridors of Assumption College, a convent-run exclusive school for girls, Joey Albert won the Ms. Dream Girl Filipina contest in 1982, a turning point that steered her towards an illustrious singing career. Her recordings, done in the days of vinyl, dominated the air waves with more than a dozen songs that she popularized in her live performances as well. She also blazed the trail for others to follow, becoming the first Filipino artist to record on CD.
A teacher in Vancouver 
Even abroad, Joey has remained an entertainer — that is, whenever she has the time and the opportunity. "Since I moved here, I have been blessed with shows in the US," she explained in an interviewed conducted via email. "I guess the proximity is a big advantage. It's cheaper to fly me in from here than from the Philippines." But she has also has moved beyond showbiz: She is now also a preschool teacher and the ambassadress to Canada of Gawad Kalinga, a Philippine-based group started in 1995 by the Couple for Christ to build homes for the poor. [For details, visit
www.gawadkalinga.org.] Joey is not new to teaching. Before becoming a singer, she had taught religion at her alma mater, the Assumption, where she got a degree in Communications Arts. But she also went back to school to finish a course in early childhood education. "I have found a wonderful second career as a preschool teacher here," she said. "What I find to be most significant is molding young minds into independent, self-reliant thinkers who will use all aspects of their emotional, intellectual, and moral being, in making the best choices for themselves at the youngest age possible."
Regaining pride and dignity On the other hand, as Gawad Kalinga ambassadress, she has to drum up support from Filipinos in Canada and the US for their less fortunate countrymen back home. “The poor as a very important and dear part of my life as well," she said. She explained the philosophy being spread by the founder of the Gawad Kalinga: "I echo what Tony Meloto said that inspired me to support GK: That no Filipino must die without doing anything for his country. And if they have children, I tell them to do it for their own children so their children will see a country that they can be proud to say they were born in." In conrete terms, the group provides programs for health, education and livelihood so that communities can be self-reliant and regain their pride and dignity. That way, their members can be better citizens. Great faith in the Filipino Joey has greath faith in the Filipino, reinforced by the most frequent observations that she's heard abroad about her countrymen: "That the Filipino is hardworking, and among all other Asian cultures, it is the Filipino who integrates with greatest ease." Even as a Fil-Canadian, Joey continues to hold values such as "love of God, family and country, and true friendship, integrity, humility, and faith." Incidentally, she put in that if given a chance to sit down with US President George W. Bush in private, she would tell him: "Stop playing God." Like most Filipinos, she wouldn't hesitate to welcome any Filipinos who should happen to move in next door. "I'd make friends. I know how it feels to move into a foreign country and have no friends," she said. But she's not a Filipino just by sentiment. In fact, she accepted the invitation of the Vancouver Philippine Consulate General (PCG) to spearhead its campaign on the Dual Citizenship and the Overseas Absentee Voting projects of the government in British Columbia, Canada. In October 2006, Joey herself registered as an overseas absentee voter. Thrill of performing Being a working mother has been rewarding for Joey. "This has made me even prouder of myself than I was at the peak of my career," she said. "Going back to school and reinventing myself has made me realize I can do anything and never be stuck anywhere." The thrill of performing, however, still gives her a lift, an enhanced by her singing stints in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Oman. "I've come to the point when I connect with the audience and the spiritual experience begins," she said. "Through my music, we are all connected — one mind, one heart, one soul. It's being in the right rhythm and the exact same nuance at the very same moment. Just really touching hearts when I'm singing and someone's crying over my song. Someone always cries over my song. I don't know why I do that." Even off-stage, she enjoys the creative side of things, the planning and the conceptualizing. "Implementation is nice when you have an awesome production crew who believes in you," she said. Girl-next-door with a boy’s name Joey — a pet name derived from her real name, Maria Josefina — first hugged the limelight with her colegiala, girl-next-door image, someone you would want to introduce to your mother as a new friend. Top magazines that target working women and mothers capitalized on that image, making Joey a favorite cover girl. The market’s psychographic profile must have indicated that readers wanted someone like her as a friend, a classmate, a colleague, a cousin, or a big sister — though for a while male admirers were miffed because she got linked up with Louie Ocampo, the prolific composer who wrote some of her hits, including “Tell Me." During promotional tours, though, production managers and assistants would protectively billet Joey backstage like a demanding diva. Which she has never been. Timeless Joey's friendly and down-to-earth charm disarm many to this day, and yet, she is, arguably, still the pop queen to beat. She has earned more industry awards — 10 in all — than industry gossip in a career that produced a dozen albums. And baby-boomers who grew up in OPM's early, glorious days in the '70s and '80s are well aware that Joey was one of the first artists that stage fully-packed concerts in big venues like the ULTRA and the Meralco Theater. Here are just a few titles from her rich portfolio of monster hits: "Tell Me," "Over and Over," "A Million Miles Away," "Points of View," "Larger Than Life," "It's Over Now," "Iisa Pa Lamang," "Yakapin Mo Ako," "Ikaw Lang ang Mamahalin," "Sa 'Yo Lamang," "Roses in the Rain." People did, and still do, sing along to these songs, even during her more recent shows. In fact, younger artists have scored hits by remaking some of Joey's old songs. An artist's journey "My journey to becoming an artist was wonderful," Joey said, recalling the old days. "I'm lucky. It was at a time when the stage was set for what I believe was the golden age of OPM. There were good venues to perform in, the patronage of Imelda Marcos paved the way for pride in our own music, the economy was good, and the camaraderie among artists was genuine." And how would she compare those days to the current music scene? "I don't know," she said. "Parang not enough original hits and solo artists." Joey is aware of the Philippine socio-economic situation, as she keeps in touch with her mother and other relatives here. "The music industry is mostly a reflection of the economic state the country is in," she said. "So I think it would be that which I would change and make sure there is a political figure who is a patroness of the arts." Her advice to the crop of artists: "Work hard and take your talent to the next level — the artistic level, beyond the entertainment level. Use your talents wisely. Take your art seriously, never forgetting that you have a responsibility to your listeners. Use your art to uplift and inspire, not just to feed shallow fantasies." Random thoughts Not that she has no time for the ligther side of things, as these random thoughts of her would show: Her favorite time of the year in Vancouver would be summer: "Because it's warmand the sun's out." If she could, she would visit Rome and France more often. She loves appetizers more than main courses. She also loves the movie Sabrina and the TV shows Friends, Frasier, ER, House, and CSI Miami. "And I love singing so much that I put up a band that makes pwesto in a hotel here," she said. And when she does find time to be by still by herself, what does she think of? "Joey Albert dreams her dreams," she said. "I love daydreaming."
The author is a long-time fan of Joey Albert and was one of the composers who wrote fo her album, Brief Encounters. This interview was conducted recently from Quezon City to Vancouver via e-mail. For more on Joey Albert visit her website (www.joeyalbert.com) and inquire about her from an e-group. 
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