Anna Richey
Anna Richey was born with music running through her veins. She got her singing genes from both sides of her family, but more particularly from her father, Rich (Richey) Gibbons, who was on his way to pursuing a solo vocalist career in the early 90’s until he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Anna never had a chance to know her father because he passed away 5 days before she was born. She was born the day after her father’s funeral, and her mother named her Anna Richey Gibbons, after her father.
Anna is part of a rich heritage of talented singers and musicians. Her grandfather, Lee Roy Gibbons III sang in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for over 20 years. Her uncle, Barry Gibbons owns the very successful “Platinum Sound & Mastering” music studio in Bountiful, Utah. Her aunt, Felicia Sorensen, was named “the most listened to female voice in LDS music,” and there are many other aunts, uncles, and cousins, all of whom sing like angels.
Anna’s Father Rich (Richey) Gibbons
Anna’s maternal grandmother, Kay Holker, played the stand-up bass in the Salvation Army band that her parents and siblings were in while she was growing up. She also sings, plays many instruments well, and put together a singing group with her children who sang all over the country as a family.
Anna’s mother, Tami Schlappi, was in “ShowTime Company” at Ricks College in the early 80’s (equivalent of BYU’s Young Ambassadors) and toured with them for two years. Tami’s sister, Angie (also a ShowTime Company Alumni) , has two daughters named Jaeden and Taylor Vaifanua whom Anna sings with in trios on YouTube. Anna also loves to sing with her cousins Jordan Reynolds and Dana Sorensen. She recently sang “Barton Hollow” with Jordan on her YouTube channel. Her older brother, Joseph, is in Concert Choir at Brigham Young University (BYU) and loves classical music and opera. Sharing the love of music with her brother, they often sing and perform together. She also enjoys singing with her cousin, Kamryn Worthington.
Throughout her childhood, Anna was constantly acting and singing. She performed in many of the local community theater plays, but it was her Junior High choir teacher, David Leavitt, who recognized her talents and had her sing solos in their school concerts. When she was 12 years old, he approached her about a singing competition called VocalSport. She decided to enter and he played the piano for her. She won her division and was awarded many great prizes. Because of that great accomplishment, and several more years of competing, many doors were opened for her. Anna’s mother remarks, “We LOVE VocalSport and the gal who runs it. . .. Sherri Whitehead.”
Anna was awarded a music video from Celadora Studios as one of her prizes, so she recorded her first music video, “Team“. She also won a prize to write with Nik Day which turned out to be an amazing connection. Nik asked her to sing and write a song for the 2015 Mutual Theme for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and so they collaborated on a song called “Fragile.” The Church made a music video of the song, and put it on their youth.lds.org website.
There have been several other amazing people along the way who have helped Anna achieve her potential in music. She worked with Abe Kaelin (piano/vocal teacher) who helped her learn chords which enabled her to play anything that she wanted to sing. She also met Rich Parkinson, a songwriting coach/mentor, with whom she has been working for almost two years, and who has helped her songwriting skills soar. Together they co-wrote “Broken” (Anna’s first original song) which is a song about being bullied/hurt by some of her close friends. Last summer, Anna got to walk the red carpet at the YouTube Space in Los Angeles, California for an awards ceremony for the NO BULL Challenge. It was an awesome experience and she had the opportunity to meet lots of YouTubers, actors, and singers. She was nominated for 3 awards and won the “Best Directing” award for her music video “Broken.”
Anna has won several songwriting competitions with her song “Broken.” She was a finalist in the 16th Annual Great American Song Contest out of nearly 1,700 songwriters around the world that entered. Her music video to “Broken” is also featured on several national anti-bullying websites. And, she was also honored to win “Best Music Video” at the CLIFF Awards.
Her vocal coach is Anjanette Mickelson, another amazing talent who has broadened her horizons, taking her voice to notes she only dreamed of a few years ago. Anna is eternally grateful for all the wonderful people she has been able to work with along the way and has been so blessed with many life-long friends.
Anna loves to write music all the time. It really is her first love, as well as singing, playing piano, bass Uke, and guitar. Her other interests include acting and photography. Her favorite thing to do to relax is watch a movie or shows on Netflix. For fun she loves to go 4-wheeling, fishing, snowmobiling, and indoor rock climbing. She loves to eat Spaghettios, homemade pizza, ice cream, Kit Kat or Twix bars, and drink hot chocolate. She also loves singing with her friends at Rest Homes and hospitals, hoping to make the patients’ day a little brighter. But what is most important to Anna is her love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. She knows where her talents come from, and hopes to go wherever the Lord wants her to go with her music career, and when she turns 19, as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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Anna Richey on the Road to Success
Anna Richey is a 17-year-old singer/songwriter. She wrote her first song when she was 8 years old and has loved songwriting ever since. Music has always been a big part of Anna Richey’s life. She inherited her singing genes from the father she never had the chance to...