Rodrigo y Gabriela

When I was a little kid I spent a lot of time at my grandparents house.  I distinctly remember that when grandpa was home, he was usually down in the basement drinking beer and listening to the radio.  I don't know what station it was, but it was pretty much all Mariachi, all the time.  I can remember the sound of the guitars, the violins, the trumpets, and an occasional accordion (which for some reason always seemed oddly out of place to me).  Grandpa loved this music, but it never really appealed to me.  I wonder what Grandpa would have thought of this.  There is no comparison between Rodrigo y Gabriela and Mariachi except that they both come from Mexico.  

I was watching the Today Show last Friday morning (actually it was on in the background as I was working on the computer).   I heard the sound of music, and it caught my attention.  Within seconds I had turned to the t.v. and was looking for the remote to crank up the sound, because this is what I heard.

Okay, okay, forget about how totally idiotic Hoda and KLG are.  Focus people!  Also, you can quit with the wise cracks about me watching their show.  The point is that they are fantastic, no?  If you are not totally blown away by this, well then . . . I don't know what to say because I immediately became enthralled with Rodrigo y Gabriela (from here forth to be known as RyG, but I refuse to call them RodGab like their web address.  They're not Bennifer after all.)  My family can attest to this because I talked to, and emailed, all of them about RyG that very day.

I then spent a large portion of the day reading articles, listening to interviews, searching websites, and watching many videos about and by RyG.  I suppose some might consider the day wasted, but I felt that it was a thrill to discover them.  Here is another video of them that I really like.

As soon as my six-year-old came home from Kindergarten I showed him the video and he proclaimed them, "Pretty Good", which in six-year-old parlance means that they were pretty near to "Awesome".  In fact, I'd say "Pretty Good" is one step down from "Awesome".  If there had been some cartoon characters, or explosions, or monsters of any kind in the video (KLG doesn't count) I'm sure it would have garnered an "Awesome".  I'm excited to have some new music to listen to in the car.

Check out the website for Rodrigo y Gabriela.  There's lots of really cool videos on there and also lots on YouTube.  They've even posted videos on how to play the guitar!  (I'm pretty sure you at least need to know how to hold the thing before you can play like them.)  So, go check them out and I dare you not to be totally impressed by the pair.

I leave you with a final video, which when you watch it seems a bit bizarre, but if you try not to be too concerned for the guitars you might find yourself liking it.  I'm sure that there's a hidden message here, but that kind of stuff goes way over my head.  I'll stick to just appreciating the musicians.