Daniel Goguen, a Canadian singer from a little town called Cocagne, in the Province of New Brunswick, one of the first areas in North America to be explored and settled by Europeans, especially by the French, reason why its constitution says that this piece of land still recognizes French and English as official languages in its territory. This is the reason why half of Daniel’s third album, called Les backroads is in French. We’ve just listened to “On veut juste avoir un good time”, translated “We just want to have a good time”. And definitely that’s what I’ve had listening to this wonderful piece of work by this Canadian from the East Coast of that vast nation.
Let’s listen to a couple more songs from this album published in 2017. This time one in English, and the other in Canadian French. “Miss you just the same”, and “C’est à cause de moi”, translated “It’s my fault”.
Many people will agree with me that real country music must be sung in English, but that is not exactly true. There are beautiful country songs sung both in Spanish in Tex-Mex in the frontier with Mexico, and especially in French in the area of the bayou in Louisiana, in cajun style, where the influence of the cajun fiddle or violin is just beautiful. So I think it’s about time to listen to a couple of cajun songs in this show. One of them, sung in French, is called “Mon cœur ne bat que puir toi”, translated “My heart beats only for you”, and the other is “Finalement la fin de semaine”, translated “The weekend, finally”. Two songs to make your heart beat faster with real fiddle and steel country music from a Canadian singing cajun in Canadian French. Quite a mix.
This singer songwriter has been performing for more than 25 years between 1999 and 2010, years in which he recorded and released three albums, called “It goes on like this”, “Another season”, and “Just you and me”. It is not until 2014 that his musical career did take a new turn when he launched the song Les Backroads as a single for the radios. This song was selected as the #1 song of the year 2014 by the New Brunswick Association of Community Radio Broadcasters. He released the album we are listening to in 2015, and then he re-released it in 2017, winning a counple of nominations for some Awards in Canada. We’ll say goodbye to Daniel Goguen listening to two more songs from this fantastic album. The song that changed his fate, “Les backroads”, and “Bartender”, two songs where the steel guitar cries deeply. What a jewell we’ve just reviewed today.
Rick Trevino is a Grammy-Award winning Mexian American country music artist. Trevino has charted eleven singles on the Billboard Hot country songs charts including three #1 and top ten singles on several lists. Trevino has recorded nine studio albums including three with the Grammy award winning all star group Los Super Seven. His last album, from 2016, “Long Coyote Gone”, was co-written and self-produced in Austin, Texas, and it included this song “I am a Mexican”, bringing his Texas guitar and his take on this Latino moment in America. He was born on Buffalo -bayou, in Houston, Texas, a third-generation Mexican-American who just wanted to sing straight ahead Texas country music. This song isa homage to his Mexican roots, as well as a statement about how Mexican immigrant workers are viewed and treated, and the problems they face. The song features legendaty accordionist and seven-time Grammy winner Flaco Jiménez, also Texas-born, adding with his accordion much to the Mexican feel of the track.
Few if any artists in Tejano music have received the level of critical acclaim Flaco Jimenez has enjoyed over the course of a career that’s spanned six decades, and it’s certain that no one has taken the accordion-fueled-Tex-Mex sound to a larger audience than he has. Without compromising his musical vision, Jimenez has introduced the traditional conjunto sound to mainstream pop and country listeners thanks to his collaborations with bands and singers such as “The Texas Tornados”, Dwight Yoakam, and “The Mavericks”. He was born in the State of Texas in 1939, and raised in a musical family. His grandfather, Patricio Jiménez, was his inspiration as an accordion player who embraced polkas and waltz tunes, and his father, Santiago jimenez Senior, was a pioneering Tex-Mex musician who cut one the first tex mex records ever to be recorded. His main influence was zydeco master Clifton Chenier, and at 15 he formed his first band. After listening to his accordion in the song we’ve just listened to next to Rick Trevino, I thought it was fair to listen to a couple of songs and I have selected an album called “Los Reyes del Norteño”, where he shares with other Mexican-influence talents this piece of work. The two songs we’ll listen are “La historia de nuestro amor”, and a “Carolina”, this one a beautiful instrumental accordion waltz. Flaco Jiménez.
Aaron Watson just played his song “Vaquero”, included in his 11th album of the same name. Watson is a proud Texan (to be honest, it’s very rare to find a Texan who isn’t), but Vaquero navigates the territory between tradition and modernity, sounding strong and open, never making concessions to pop but never adhering to a rancid notion of country, either. Watson is hppy to play with familiar sounds, filled with songs that recall everyone from George Jones to George Strait, but it always returns to the present. Much of the album is about being in a long-term relationship. Let’s listen to a couple more songs from this wonderful Texas country album from 2017. This time the songs are “Take you home tonight”, and “They Don’t make em like they used to”.
There is no doubt that Aaron Watson is an old-fashioned singer/songwriter, but he applies his traditional values to the present, and that’s what makes “Vaquero” seem fresh. I said this is his 11th album, but actually his 3rd one since he started making waves on the Billboard charts. When one listens to some of his early material, one realizes he has evolved towards something a bit more sophisticated and pop in certain songs, but we’re going to skip those ones, which actually don’t even make a handful.
To be honest, Aaron Watson always makes for an interesting discussion point. Here’s a guy who is completely independent. He owns his own record label. Aside from some regional stuff in Texas, he’s not really on the radio, or at least not on mainstream corporate ones. Usually independent artists also tend to have a bit of a tortured soul thing going on within them, while mainstream country artists are more even and amicable. Aaron is kind of a mix of these two things. He writes his own songs, and sometimes with the help of others, but usually relying on himself as the primary contributor. This is a very common practice for an independent-minded musician.
Let’s listen to a couple more songs from the album, this time with the always beautiful background vocals of Lee Ann Womack as a contributor, in the song “Big love in a Small town”, and “One Two step at a time”.
Generally speaking Vaquero is what you should expect from Aaron Watson, now 11 studio records into his career. There are some deep songs, there are some songwriter songs, there are songs tha make you think, and some songs that allow you float away on a catchy rhythm and melody. In an ideal world, Aaron Watson would represent the norm for mainstream country radio: sensible, accessible, smart at times, sentimental in others, and fortunately he never makes you feel stupid like much of country radio does today.
We’ll say goodbye to this great piece of work by Aaron Watson with two more songs. The first one “Diamonds & daughters”, a pretty song showing off Aaron’s sentimental side, and “Rolling Stone”.
Comentarios