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Panama has always been a convenient shortcut for travelers on their way somewhere else. The Spaniards used it to haul treasures from Peru. Prospectors used it to race by rail to California for the Gold Rush. And the whole world still uses its canal, the fastest way to move cargo and cruise ships between oceans.

Poor Panama. Always a detour, never a destination.

But I didn't come here earlier this month to cross the canal or even to look at its locks. I came to explore something that has been as overlooked as the country itself: its music and culture.

My guide to this largely undiscovered world was Rubén Blades, Panama's most celebrated pop culture figure. The acclaimed salsa singer and songwriter, who ran unsuccessfully for president here in 1994, now serves as minister of tourism, a job that, like his songs, he has undertaken with creative spirit and a sense of social purpose.

Today, he may be the country's second most recognizable name — after Gen. Manuel Noriega. But Blades bristles when reporters ask him about the dictator whom U.S. forces ousted during a military invasion almost 17 years ago. Time to look at Panama in a different light, Blades says.

Noriega's exodus sparked a surge of creativity and a corresponding nationalism among Blades and some of his contemporaries, motivated by a new faith in their country and its promise for the future.

That artistic energy and sense of purpose were evident during a performance I attended on my first night in the now-booming Central American capital, part of a six-day stay.

The show featured Rómulo Castro, a stirring singer-songwriter who had gone into self-imposed exile in Cuba during the Noriega regime. It was a dark and depressing period for him and his young nation, both politically and creatively. Castro returned just in time to see his homeland invaded and occupied, another blow to the national psyche.

Yet it was shortly after the 1989 invasion that Castro wrote his most famous song, "La Rosa de los Vientos" (The Rose of the Winds). Blades recorded the poetic, uplifting number on a 1996 album of the same name, which went on to win a Grammy for best tropical performance.

The title song is an expression of hope, Castro told friends and fans during the recent show at Xoko (pronounced sho-ko), a Spanish restaurant in the central district of El Cangrejo, where he regularly performs with Tuira, his rousing Afro-Panamanian group.

"Rubén was supposed to come tonight, but I guess Martín didn't let him," Castro cracked between songs.

He was referring to Panamanian President Martín Torrijos, who made Blades his tourism czar two years ago, elevating the singer and the post to his Cabinet. Blades hasn't performed publicly since he took the job, hoping to avoid criticism from political opponents.

By largely giving up his recording and acting careers, Blades is sending a signal that there's more to Panama than we may have thought.

And he's right.

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