Some singer/songwriters write beautiful songs and offer a strong discourse about community, brotherhood and the gift of hope. Those are great. However, others do exactly the same and throw in actual work. Gina Chavez is a very talented member of this second group.

The beautiful and soulful music is there, but so is the strong will to help, the work done in Central America and a heart so big that it bursts out of her chest and into everything she does. We asked Gina ten questions so that you could get to know her better.

1. When and why did you get started in music?

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved to sing. I was fortunate to have great choir teachers in middle school and high school who taught me how to sing life into notes on a page. But it was when I saw Toni Price with Casper Rawls and Scrappy Judd at the Continental Club when I was 18 that I pulled my dad’s 1954 Martin guitar out of the closet and began writing songs. Since then, I’ve been blessed with incredible people and opportunities who’ve gently shoved me into recording albums and pursuing music as a career.

2. How would you describe your sound to those who have never heard it?

Most musicians dislike being put into a box, but I find you have to give people some clue of what you sound like, so I usually say Sheryl Crow meets Selena or Latin folk-rock. Hopefully that gets people in the door and then they can decide on the best descriptor.

3. Who are your influences and why?

I remember nearly wearing out three cassettes as a child (yes, cassettes!): Lyle Lovett’s "Pontiac," Michael Jackson’s "Thriller" and "The Essential" Little Richard. Later, Patty Griffin and Ani Difranco gave heart and fight to my songwriting, while the rhythmic poetry of Mercedes Sosa, Silvio Rodriguez and Jorge Drexler now bridge my passion for song to my longing for a connection to my Latin roots.

4. How do you approach the songwriting process?

Songwriting for me is somewhat like dealing with a shapeshifter. I used to start with a guitar riff or chord progression, then melody and finally lyrics. These days, it might start with a melodic idea and a lyric or just a rhythmic concept that needs fleshing out. All I can say for sure is I’ve got hundreds of recordings on my phone and a desperate need for more time in the day!

5. What are you working on right now?

My next album! My first studio release was in 2007 and I released a live album in 2009 before leaving the country to volunteer in Central America. I’ve been back for a year and a half and it is time for new tunes, my friend!

6. Tell me a bit about the Austin 4 El Salvador college fund.

In 2009, I left Central Texas for Central America where I lived with nuns and taught English to 300 girls in Soyapango, a gang-dominated suburb of San Salvador for eight months. Upon return, my mission partner and I decided to start a college scholarship fund for four of the senior girls that we’d lived with and come to love as sisters. With the help of amazing Austinites, two of the girls, Marta and Xiomara, are finishing up the second semester of their freshman year at Don Bosco University, a private Catholic college in their neighborhood. We have two more girls who are interested in continuing their education and we would love to tell them "Yes!" A donation of $10 or more gives our girls an otherwise unaffordable education, a priceless opportunity to positively change their world. To learn more, visit www.crowdrise.com/austin4elsalvador

7. What feedback from fans/critics regarding your work has touched you the most?

Every time people listen, I am blessed. Music has incredible power to enter the heart and spirit and I am humbled by the warm reception that I receive from people of every language and race, no matter if I’m singing in Spanish or English, about our homeless brothers and sisters or a short stack of pancakes. It’s a beautiful thing and I’m blessed to have a stage.

8. What role does bilingualism play in your music?

Though I am half Mexican, I didn’t grow up speaking Spanish or knowing much about my Latin heritage or culture. I think the love affair took hold when I went to Argentina for a study abroad and learned Castellano, experienced la chacarera, an Argentine folkloric rhythm, and heard a charango (“the ukulele of the Andes”). I am a firm believer that one cannot fully understand a culture unless they understand the language of that people. Spanish and the language of Latin music are for me links to the deeper parts of myself that perhaps only music can describe.

9. What would you like for people to take from your own brand of Latin folk-rock?

A smile. And a willingness to meet someone who’s different from them… Or at least think about it.

10. Could you describe the Austin music scene in one word?

Community.

You can catch Gina Chavez in action this Thursday, Dec. 1 at 10 p.m. at the Center for Music Therapy on Anderson Lane near the Alamo Drafthouse. She and the band will be playing an unplugged concert for the venue’s opening night. Also, drop by her website here and get her albums. In fact, get a few of them and consider it Christmas shopping.Last but not least, drop by her Facebook page here to stay updated on upcoming gigs.