SON Estrella Galicia
SON Estrella Galicia to celebrate its 10th anniversary
2019 was a special year for SON Estrella Galicia and for music lovers in Spain in general: the 10th anniversary of the musical project of beer brand Estrella Galicia that since 2009 brings many of the most interesting artists to theaters across the country and innovators of the national and international music scene.
The brand has been characterized by the discovery of talent and its commitment to quality and modernity by supporting and providing unique and different experiences to all beer and music lovers.
4 years ago, the brand successfully launched an own record label. The small 7” vinyls of SON Records were one of the most celebrated publications that emerged in this decade of life of SON Estrella Galicia. And, SON Estrella Galicia has prepared a very special recording project: 10 years, 10 songs, since this project joins the 10th anniversary tour that is being carried throughout Spain.
These five singles, each with two songs, are unpublished collaborations of both national and international artists and are mainly carried out by women and musicians that have experienced with flamenco and other popular music in recent years.
Fernando Vacas produced four of the five recordings in his studio in Cordoba. Thus, the two tracks of the first single are performed by Rocío Márquez, Fernando Vacas and Florent of Los Planetas, while the second joins Soleá Morente with Howe Gelb in eureka studios. In the third, it’s Vega and Julián Maeso who join forces in Cordoba and the fourth single gets together La Bien Querida and A Band Of Gypsies, all of them guided by the production of Fernando Vacas.
The fusion of Rocío Márquez, Florent Muñoz and Fernando Vacas
All paths return to flamenco. Rocío Márquez opened up from classical flamenco towards experimentation. The producer Fernando Vacas and the guitarist Florent Muñoz, from Los Planetas, went from rock to Andalusian roots.
Rocío Márquez, one of the voices called to revolutionize flamenco and Florent Muñoz, a key figure in the recent history of popular music in Spain, joined their talents to create two songs: 'El Estanque' and 'Muera Cupido'. "The music has the magic and the strength to unite us all," reflects the guitarist of Los Planetas in a recess of the recordings, but it also takes someone who gathers and cooks the necessary ingredients to achieve a masterful result.
On this occasion, the alchemist is Fernando Vacas, another veteran of what was called indie in the nineties, and that, like then, brings the risk that undoubtedly must be assumed when facing new challenges. "Risk is something very flamenco," he says.
El duende of Soleá Morente and Howe Gelb
Fernando Vacas brings together Soleá Morente and Howe Gelb at the Magdalena Church in Cordoba, Spain, where the three musicians record two songs for the tenth anniversary of SON Estrella Galicia in the very same temple where the producer recorded 'Rompiendo el silencio' for Remedios Amaya.
Actually, what Vacas has done is nothing less than to expand his universe a little more. In the place where he produced the album for Remedios Amaya, he keeps on evolving on the hybridization of flamenco and rock.
Vacas was also a pioneer in this when he produced in Córdoba in 2010 'Alegrías', the album that joined Howe Gelb, a member of the Giant Sand band and one of the most relevant voices of American music in recent decades, with 'A Band of Gypsies' formed by Raimundo Amador, Lin Cortés y El Panky.
As for Soleá Morente, the Granada-born singer comes from juggling with her flamenco heritage, electronic music and disco aesthetics in 'Ole Lorelei', although from what can be seen, the collaboration with Vacas and Gelb do not point toward dance music. The middle daughter of Enrique Morente and the leader of Giant Sand met in Cordoba to shape “Mi padre y mi madre” y “El Presumptions”.
Vega and Julián Maeso, rewriting nostalgia
For the third single we go back to the beginning of December 2019. On a sunny Tuesday morning, back to the streets of magical Cordoba, where time seems to have stopped. The team is headed to eureka studios where Fernando Vacas is once again the brain of a most peculiar recording.
Vacas is ready to finish off a session with two protagonists: the also Cordovan Vega, total and independent artist; and with Julián Maeso, master of the hammond, a soul lover in constant evolution. Together they have put together a single for SON Estrella Galicia, which comes with surprising versions.
One of the chosen themes was ‘Dime’, by Lole and Manuel, a fundamental duo in the history of Spanish popular music. The B side is no less surprising. In this case we travel to the 60s with the legendary country musician Willie Nelson and the American singer Patsy Cline, who popularized ‘Crazy’.
In the eureka studios, located in a delightful Andalusian patio, a haven of peace, time passes differently. With the silence and calm necessary to polish any kind of additional detail.
“I loved the spirit of his studio, which breathes naturally. You can record calmly, without pressure, and I think the result shows that”, Vega explains.
La Bien Querida and A Band of Gypsies (Lin Cortés and Juan Fernández “El Panky”) sing Massiel
The fusion of La Bien Querida with Lin Cortés and Juan F. Panky has made this single a fusion of talent, flamenco, music and passion. Their voices give life to "La, La, La" de Massiel. Also "Eres", another one of the best known songs of the artist, which has been putting a soundtrack to tenderness since 1981. In the words of Fernando Vacas himself, "the voice of Lin Cortés and Ana 'La Bien Querida' blend like curd and honey."
"Fernando Vacas called me. He usually calls me for something fun, tells me a little about the project and then I show up and I find out the rest on the fly", jokes Lin Cortés about how his immersion in this project came along. And it was that during the recordings it was all on the fly, improvised and fluid, as the producer Fernando Vacas says: "The flamencos already have a lot of improvisation in their music, when they improvise they are alive, for bad or for good. Things may turn out fatal, but they are alive for sure."
On the other hand, and in the words of Juan F. Panky, who puts his hands at the service of the guitar, "working with Fernando is like entering another world. I like all kinds of music, but yes it is true that Fernando and I discuss a lot, but in the end what he does really nurtures me."
Press releases for the 10th anniversary recordings of SON Estrella Galicia
