Grammy Award winning duo Rodrigo y Gabriela grew up on an eclectic mix of classic rock, heavy metal & flamenco, a rare alchemy of influences that still informs their work today. Not long after the dissolution of their first band, the two musicians set off with their acoustic guitars and ended up in Ireland, where they soon ran out of money and began busking on Dublin’s Grafton Street — a turn of events that led to their crossing paths with Irish singer/songwriter Damien Rice, who then asked them to open for him at an early headline show. As they developed their distinct breed of guitar music, Rodrigo y Gabriela quickly gained recognition for their extraordinary live show and made their full-length debut with 2002’s ‘re-Foc’. Along with turning out eight additional acclaimed & kaleidoscopic albums over the years: including Area 52 (a 2012 effort made with a Cuban orchestra), 9 Dead Alive (a 2014 release that spotlighted their more rock leaning sensibilities) and the 2020 Grammy winning Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, ‘Mettavolution’, the duo has cemented their status as a globally renowned live act. Among their many successes: performing at The White House for the President and First Lady of Mexico at a 2010 event hosted by Barack Obama; headlining the Jazz World stage at Glastonbury; selling out major venues like the Hollywood Bowl, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, London’s Royal Albert Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and the Sydney Opera House; and performing to massive crowds in such far-flung cities as Tokyo & Paris. 2023 sees the release of their most ambitious project yet, ‘In Between Thoughts…A New World’, which features their signature dual guitar attack augmented by a full orchestra, and a corresponding world tour. This eagerly awaited and first full-length collection in four years,
I had the amazing opportunity to have a conversation with Gabriela Quintero ahead of the June 14th Rodrigo y Gabriela event here in Madison at The Orpheum Theater. We started out by giving major props ot the entire crew on this tour for being able to put forth a most elaborate stage setting, that follows the story of the album and the music. Then we dive into what the show will feel like for those in attendance to go with those visuals and the story. Now, I will always say “Don’t miss when Rodrigo y Gabriela are in town, you’ll be blown away by the entire package of the event, but this one, based on the drive of this new record, the stage scenes and the artists, will take a new piece of cake for our enjoyment. We spend a good amount of time discussing the new record. it is not every day an artist tells you they didn’t really consider what fans/others will think of the music since the end of the world was coming. That was part of the approach on some, let’s call it research and development that went on with this album. The went electric at times, even!! We talk about the making of the ‘Descending To Nowhere’ video and the meaning, and energy that went into its creation and the practice of traditional Eastern spiritual meditation as a tool in the toolbox as artists, world travelers and people of plant Earth. I waiting a long time to finally catch up with one of these two great people and it certainly did not disappoint and with this new album, I think the timing for me was perfect.
