Summer Of The Red Willow

It’s not often that two immensely talented and well known artists of these men’s stature join forces to create what is known in Rock and Roll parlance as a Super Group, especially if they hail from Indian Country.

Although they had performed together once, live on Channel 7 News N.M. in 1990 and both Industry insiders and their fans have encouraged them to collaborate over the years, Robby Romero and Robert Mirabal had individually achieved so much that there was little reason for them to combine their talents until fate intervened during the Summer of The Red Willow 2014.

Pursued by several Major Record Labels and producers including Johnny Rivers, Van Dyke Parks and the infamous Phil Spector in his teens, Robby Romero early on rejected the notion of being molded into a commercially viable Rock Star and instead signed with the then, still Independent Island Records in 1989. In 1990 after Island sold to Polygram, in keeping with his natural inclination to avoid the obvious, Romero decided once more to follow his own path as an artist and created his own Record Label, Eagle Thunder Records and his Foundation, Native Children’s Survival.

His conscious choice in avoiding the commercial path to rock stardom and instead following the Red Road of his ancestors, has blessed Robby with a rich and rewarding life that allows him to give back and pay forward all he has achieved as an artist, film maker, musician and United Nations Ambassador of Youth for the Environment.

In the Summer of 2014, when Robby had the opportunity to influence the name change of Kit Carson (to Red Willow) Park, he called in Robert Mirabal as reinforcement.

“Robby brought me out of the corn fields of the Pueblo to join in igniting a collective fire and creating a poetic dialogue,” Mirabal said at the time.

No stranger to the spotlight himself, despite his corn fields comment, Robert who happens to be a consummate traditional Pueblo farmer and storyteller, is a two time Grammy Award Winner who got his start in music by appearing at Michael Martin Murphey’s West Fest Events throughout the early 90’s. He was signed to Warner Western Records and after several recordings that showcased what The New York Times dubbed “his exquisitely nuanced flute playing,” his 2001 PBS special and CD, Music From A Painted Cave brought him National acclaim.
Their single Iron Horse is receiving airplay at Major Stations around the USA, crossing over from Indian Country Native Radio and an EP is due out in 2015.

 

We can only hope this is just the beginning of a long and fruitful collaboration between two of the finest Native Rock artists around. Taos is blessed to have them both right here, most of the time.

We will have two more giveaways during this fabulous event on taoStyle so stay with us over the next month of weekends for more details, surprises and much more on these two amazingly accomplished artists.

robby-romero

 
 
 
Photographs by Carol Morgan-Eagle

 

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