On Thursday, August 20, Houston singer-songwriter Carol “Cece” Estrada will return to the stage with An Evening of Music & Friends, a free live concert and recording at The Aurora Chapel in the Houston Heights, the intimate historic space formerly known as 14 Pews.
The evening will feature two performances: an English-language show at 6 p.m. and a Spanish/bilingual performance at 8 p.m. Estrada will share original music from her upcoming bilingual EP, joined by local singer-songwriters and worship leaders Ashla Jaye and Omar Aguilar, who will open the performances with some of their own upcoming original music. Award-winning producer and guitarist Chris Rocha, who is producing Estrada’s new recordings, will also make a special appearance on guitar.
Admission is free, though reservations are encouraged due to limited seating.
But the evening is about more than the return of one singer-songwriter. For Estrada, it is the beginning of a much bigger vision: creating a place where Houston artists can share original music, build an audience and support one another.
A Songwriting Season That Wouldn’t Stop
Music has been part of Estrada’s life since she was a teenager, but for more than a decade, recording and releasing her own music remained on the back burner as life took her in other directions.
She built a career in interior design, spent nearly 20 years living and working in the Heights, remarried, moved to The Woodlands, became a bonus mom to Isabella and Hunter and welcomed a little Chihuahua named Frankie. She and her husband also began renovating a 50-year-old house in Grogan’s Mill.
And somewhere inside that old house, the songs started coming.
Over the past few years, Estrada began waking up with songs seemingly arriving all at once — verses, choruses, bridges and melodies already formed. She would grab her phone and record a voice memo before she could forget them, or begin writing them down.
Then it would happen again.
And again.
She now has more than 30 songs from this season alone, along with numerous songs from earlier years that remain partially recorded.
“I wasn’t sitting down saying, ‘I’m going to write a new song today,’” Estrada says. “I would wake up and it was just there. The verses, the chorus, the bridge, the melody. I would grab my phone and record it.”
Eventually, Estrada says, she could no longer dismiss the experience as simply creative inspiration.
“It became evident to me that this was a God-given gift,” she says. “And eventually I started asking myself: If God keeps giving me these songs, what am I supposed to do with them?”
For years, many of those songs remained lyrics, voice memos and unfinished recordings while Estrada focused on family, her interior design career and renovating the house.
But eventually, she felt a responsibility to finish them.
“If these songs could encourage somebody, give somebody hope or help someone through something they’re experiencing, then I needed to be obedient and share them,” she says.
From a Studio Invitation to a Bilingual EP
The opportunity to finally record arrived unexpectedly.
Just two months ago, Estrada was invited to award-winning producer and guitarist Chris Rocha’s studio to sing background vocals for another artist he represents. What began as a simple invitation eventually led to a conversation between their families — and Rocha encouraged Estrada to consider recording her new EP in Spanish.
The idea had never seriously crossed her mind.
“But when Chris suggested it, I didn’t have to think about it very long,” Estrada says. “It just felt right.”
Within two weeks, Estrada was in the studio recording vocals for the first six songs that will become part of the EP. Songs she had carried with her for years suddenly had a producer, musicians and a plan.
What began as an idea to record in Spanish soon evolved into something even more meaningful: sharing the music in both English and Spanish.
And then came another question: Why quietly finish the recordings and release them online when she could invite people into a room to experience the songs together for the first time?
That question became An Evening of Music & Friends.
More Than a Concert
Both August 20 performances will be professionally recorded, with footage intended for future music videos, live recordings and social media content surrounding the EP’s release.
Estrada intentionally chose to make the event free because she wants people to experience the evening without the barrier of admission.
Guests who would like to support the project can make a voluntary donation and receive exclusive music downloads. Contributions will help cover the remaining recording, musician, video production and content costs associated with bringing the project to a wider audience.
But the concert is also an experiment in something larger.
A New Stage for Houston Songwriters
Estrada’s envisioning of An Evening of Music & Friends as more than a one-time event.
She hopes it can eventually become a recurring Houston concert series where emerging singer-songwriters have a place to perform original music for an attentive audience.
The Aurora Chapel, a small historic church in the Heights now rented for concerts, art shows and special events, feels like the perfect setting. Its intimate atmosphere offers something developing artists particularly need: a listening room with an old-school church revival feel.
Instead of competing with televisions, conversations and the noise of a traditional bar or restaurant, artists can perform for people who intentionally came to listen and experience music, worship, reflection, community and prayer.
Estrada envisions bringing together Houston singer-songwriters, professional musicians, families, friends, worship lovers and music lovers to support one another.
“I want Houstonians to support other Houstonians who are trying to record their music and get their songs out into the world,” she says.
The long-term goal would be to keep the concerts free for audiences while local sponsors, donors and voluntary contributions help cover production expenses and compensate the professional musicians who make the performances possible. Recording and videotaping the shows also come with significant costs.
For emerging artists, the payoff could be something just as valuable: a stage, an audience and a place to begin.
“I would love for someone who has been writing songs at home to know there’s a place where they can bring those songs,” Estrada says. “A place where we can sing alongside them, learn to perform our music in front of larger audiences and support one another while we’re doing it.”
Her larger vision is a place for original music, storytelling, worship and praise — a space where artists can share what is on their hearts and audiences can simply come and listen.
The Stories Behind the Songs
Among the original songs audiences will hear for the first time are “Always With Me,” “Altar Call,” and “New Song.” Each comes from a different part of Estrada’s story and reflects the themes of faith, healing and restoration that run throughout the new project.
“Always With Me” began with a powerful childhood memory. Estrada remembers sitting in the backseat of a car when she felt an overwhelming sense of being loved and protected – a message impressed deeply on her heart that although difficult things would happen in her life, God would always be with her.
Years later, that memory took on an even deeper meaning.
In “Always With Me,” Estrada addresses the subject of childhood abuse, something she feels strongly about sharing through this particular song. At a time when so many stories continue to emerge of children who have experienced abuse, she believes she needs to have the courage to use this song to give a voice to those who may not yet have one.
“With so many stories emerging about children who have been victims of abuse, I feel like I need to be strong enough to write this song for them,” Estrada says. “I want them to know that what happened to them does not define the rest of their lives. There can be healing, restoration and hope.”
“New Song” tells another deeply personal part of Estrada’s testimony.
The song came to her one morning, almost unexpectedly. Months after writing it, Estrada was reading the Psalms when she came across Psalm 98:1: “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.”
“I had already written the song,” Estrada says. “So when I read those words months later, it felt like confirmation. God had made me new, changed my life, and in a very literal way, He had given me a new song to sing.”
The moment carried particular meaning because it reflected how much her songwriting – and her life – had changed. Estrada once wrote primarily about heartbreak and love stories. Today, she finds herself writing about restoration, redemption, faith and what it means to be made new.
For Estrada, that transformation is at the heart of this new chapter. These songs are not simply about what she has lived through, but about what can come afterward – the possibility that broken things can be restored, old stories can be rewritten, and after even the darkest seasons, there can still be a new song to sing.
A Season of New Beginnings
What began just two months ago with an invitation to sing background vocals has quickly become a bilingual EP, a live-recording concert and potentially the beginning of a new Houston concert series.
For Estrada, the speed at which everything has come together is part of what makes the moment so meaningful.
“Sometimes when the hard things suddenly become easier to achieve, I think it can be a sign that it’s time to make things happen — to take big steps of faith,” she says.
Now she hopes that momentum creates opportunities for other artists, too.
“We don’t have to wait until someone has thousands of followers to decide their music is worth hearing,” Estrada says. “There are incredibly talented people all over Houston writing songs right now. They just need somewhere to start.”
On August 20, Estrada is starting with one intimate chapel in the Heights, two performances, local singer-songwriters sharing the stage and a collection of songs that began as voice memos in a little old house in Grogan’s Mill.
She’s inviting Houston to come listen.
An Evening of Music & Friends
Thursday, August 20, 2026
The Aurora Chapel — Houston Heights
6 p.m. — English Performance
8 p.m. — Spanish/Bilingual Performance
Featuring Carol “Cece” Estrada, with opening performances by Ashla Jaye and Omar Aguilar and a special appearance by award-winning producer and guitarist Chris Rocha.
Admission is free. Reservations are encouraged due to limited seating.
Both performances will be recorded live. Guests who wish to support the project may make an optional donation and receive exclusive music downloads and sponsorship mentions. Contributions will help support the recording, musicians, video production and future content surrounding the project.