Ana Popovic

Ana Popovic continues to fuse ferocious blues-rock guitar with R&B, soul, and funk. Dance To The Rhythm covers all the bases from the sounds of the disco era to Gary Moore-inspired blues ballads. Popovic is living the artist’s dream. Her band is on point and the songs are killer, but her secret weapon was recently built by Fender. You’ve been mixing genres on the last few albums. I want to bring it all to life. I have a few different formations, but my baby is a big band. It’s 11 pieces and we bring soul, funk, blues, and rock. It’s a powerhouse. Ever since I started writing, I wrote for a big band. I just didn’t have the means to bring it on tour. Even when I don’t have horns, I think horns. If I don’t have background vocals, I hear them. I love big gospel choirs. Was there a concept when you were compiling the tracks for Dance To The Rhythm? We wrote everything just for this record except, of course, “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” The themes came to us. The main thing was not to repeat what I’d already done. There’s a feeling that overcomes you that tells you that you should go in a certain direction. A song like “Worked Up” is something that I have never done before, and I always try to top myself. Same goes for when I write a slow blues like “Dwell on the Feeling,” which was inspired by Gary Moore’s “Parisienne Walkways.” The guitar opens, but I added gospel vocals and I think it’s gorgeous. Then we closed with “Sisters and Brothers,” which has a positive message about living together. I think this kind of message is necessary for the world. I always want to move things forward. I have two dance tracks that I’m super excited about, with background singers and horns and everything. I love clubbing, but those songs never have guitars in them. So, how do you place blues guitar in a dance song? It was a quest for this record. Both dance tracks contain a lot of guitar, and I can’t wait to perform them live. I really wanted people to feel the pocket when I was working on the solos. I wanted to come up with the good licks, but not interfere with the groove. You have new guitar tones on this record. I have a new Custom Shop Strat named Foggy. I made it with John Cruz and Greg Fessler, and it has a Foggy Mirror Chrome finish, ’60s-style single-coils in the middle and neck positions, and a Seymour Duncan 78 in the bridge. It was important to have something different. My favorite is, of course, the ’64 Strat that I’ve been using for quite some time. It’s my road warrior guitar, and my favorite. I wanted something more modern. I haven’t used a lot of humbucker Strat sounds, and Foggy is great for playing slide. The neck has a more-modern feel than my ’64; it has a round, big tone, and it’s inspiring. Which other guitars did you use on the record? I used some Gibsons, including my Les Paul and ES-175. The solo on “Solution” is intense. That’s Foggy, and I did it in one take. I was free and did it in the moment. You don’t get enough credit for your slide playing. The solo on “Sisters and Brothers” is great. Thank you. I enjoyed it. For some reason, my slide work always ends up on the end of the record (laughs). What kind of amps are you using? I like to have a Mesa Boogie in the studio and a few Fenders. I love the Bandmaster. I really enjoy that amp, and I always have a Bassman as a second. But I will always have a Mesa Boogie Mark V; a Bassman and a Mark V is my favorite combination. I’ve used some Marshalls, and sometimes I add that to a Super Reverb and a Bassman, depending on the day. There’s really no one amp that I use. It’s always a mix of amps depending on the track. What’s next? I have a big band cruise coming up, and I’ll get to play all my songs. I get to play a lot of music, which my band is excited to dig into. I have festivals in the U.S. and Europe, and I’m going to keep on releasing music videos. I have quite a few coming out. – Oscar Jordan This article originally appeared in VG’s November 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.