Bobby Villegas
Bio - was beamed in from Roswell ! ! !
Born in Silver City, New Mexico, Bobby learned all the old
Mexican paisano songs from his parents - both of whom
played guitar and sang - and from co-workers in the onion,
cotton, and lettuce fields. His love of harmony (evidenced in
his music) comes from his parents too. He sang in the school
choir as well as in a variety of quartets and groups, and then
added bass and violin to his talents.
Once Bobby started playing in bands in high school he was hooked
and his career soon encompassed many diverse venues - a tour
through Texas, performances (as a musician that is) in a variety
of strip clubs in the Southwest, and nightclubs in Mexico. Bobby
and his band were the only non-black performers to play in the
Ebony Clubs (nightclubs in Texas whose audience and
performers were only African American) and they performed with
music legends Bo Diddly and Chuck Barry, among others.
Of those years, Bobby says, I learned a lot - including some music...
Bobby learned to specialize on an insturment called a requinto -
the small guitar tuned higher than a standard guitar, mostly used
for romantic Mexican songs. He won two New Mexico music awards
in 2000 for best bilingual song of the year and best duet song of
the year. He was nominated for songwriter of the year 2006.
In 1997 Bobby started a Mariachi school for kids, teaching students
aged 5 to18 to play the various instruments that make up a Mariachi
group. Currently fifty students attend, and those between ages
5 and 10 must bring a parent or grandparent to learn with them so
that they can practice at home. This part of the program is really
satisfying because the child and the adult have to spend time
togeather on weekends and music makes for a special bond.
Once students can play at least 18 songs they advance to the
perfoming group, and the fees paid to the school for performances
are divided among the students and placed in a scholarship fund.
Graduating students then get their scholarship funds for college,
trade school, military, etc.
Bobby’s two CD releases available here are very different from
each other. Consejo del Papa is a moving one song tribute to
Pope John Paul VI. Amor Con Guitarra is an eight selection
compilation of Bobby’s original songs and his translations of
other tunes.
Take a listen.............
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