LAS MIL TONÁS

April 22, 2010


Fortunately, the frontiers, those imaginary lines created to separate or delimited cities, towns, regions or countries are really just that, imaginary and nonexistent. Although circumstantial and even administratively try to define the bounders, we have to surrender to the evidences that the customs, the languages or the cultures are not classifiable in such a drastic way. Among the people and the neighboring regions there is always a closer cultural relationship, a much greater complicity. Throughout the years 2008 and 2009, the Cantabrian journalist Maxi de la Peña held a series of 51 interviews of renowned names of the Cantabrian folk, all collected and published in his book, “La tierra de las Mil Tonás”. From the veterans as Lines Vejo, Adela Gómez, El Malvís de Tanos, etc. to younger names as Chema Puente, Begoña Lozano, Miguel Cadavieco or Alba Gutiérrez, having them all participated as witnesses of a musical reality unknown to most of the public. My friend Maxi is a curious person, filled with many inquietudes, throwing him into an unusual fervor to what he is passionate about. That’s what most captivated me of him when we met. Some time ago he mentioned his idea along with Dulce Pontes, Uxía, Luis Delgado, Ana Alcaide and Paco Díez to write a short pretext for his book. This book is a collection of testimonies over the musical human journey in which shows, as well said by Dulce Pontes “folklore is a musical array expression of the people, for excellence”. Maxi de la Peña has done a great job in favor of their traditions and their culture. I hope that this book will be an open door to future projects, to complement the musical cultural map of a region, as rich and varied as ours, in which people from Basque Country, Asturian, Galician, Castile and Cantabrian etc… sharing a common essence and understood in a thousand different ways.


www.kepajunkera.com

SOINUAREN BIDAIA (THE ADVENTURE OF AN ACCORDION)

Febuary 11, 2010


All of us the musicians that we throw our heart into a particular instrument, reaching a special bond with him, doubting if that inert being that seems to be an extension of our body doesn’t have life itself. So after countless hours of travel and experiences with him, we begin to name it, and so on. But even as Annie Proulx´s narrates in her book “Accordion Crimes” that thrilled me to see that in her book she mentions one of my songs “Zolloko San Martinak” in where our instrument can become a protagonist of an amazing story. Edna Annie Proulx was born in Connecticut (USA) 1935. After majoring in history, she became a journalist until her appearance in the literary world. Some of her books have received the Pulitzer or the National Book Award. One of her best known novels is Brokeback Mountain but the book that has captivated me is “Accordion Crimes”. Sicily 1890, a craftsman and his son travel to America carrying with him only, his masterpiece a button, ivory and varnished lid accordion. From there on different characters will be appearing, their dreams and their failures, showing us a stark reality of a country in full effervesces. Africans, Polish, Italians, Swedes, Irish, Basque and so on will provide the fuel for a big lie, that of anyone who knows that becoming an American will reach wherever they longed. The price is a change of a name, a language, a culture, at the end, your personal essence. Those who refused to change suffered the consequences but also who did “sell” themselves for the promise of something better spectacularly failed. The real success is based on the inside pride of yourself and not on selling something that does not exist. Bringing out the magic we have within is the real secret of success and our best weapon is the power of our mind to achieve our goals, because the mind, our mind is the only one that can become whatever we want to be.