Colombian Culture Posts: Music #1

This last week in response to the Colombia/Venezuela/Ecuador crisis. Colombian Rock star JUANES (which does not mean more than 1 Juan, but rather is the contraction of his first name Juan and the first part of his middle name Esteban) proposed a massive free rock concert called PEACE WITHOUT BOARDERS -- PAZ SIN FRONTERAS. The concert was held last Sunday on the bridge that connects Cucuta, Colombia and San Antonio, Venezuela. It featured many famous singers including 2 Spaniards, 1 Dominican, 1 Venezuelan, 1 Ecuadorian and Colombians -- Juanes and Carlos Vives. Juanes paid for most of the event and requested that the political leaders, like President Uribe, not attend. He told the President not to come as this event was not political in nature, but rather an expression of the common musical culture that links all countries. Juanes is a national icon in Colombia and most Colombians are proud to claim him. He was born in Medellin and is thoroughly Paisa. He decided at age 7 he wanted to become a musician and actually started his professional life at 15 with his band Ekhymosis. (My husband remembers them well and says he really liked their songs). He eventually struck out on his own and chose his own name -- Juanes -- as his musical moniker. He does a lot of humanitarian work promoting the deactivation of anti-personal landmines. He has also spoken at the United Nations and serves as a UN goodwill embassador. Juanes is married to a beautiful Colombian model and has 2 daughters. He won my affection while when watching a news broadcast with my Colombian niece, we saw an interview with him at a US red-carpet event. Some scantily clad women started to hang on him to get their pictures taken and in Spanish he chastized them reminding them he was a happily married man. His music combines traditional Colombian rhythms with rock and pop sounds. He uses instruments that are typical to Colombian traditional music -- like the TIPLE and ACCORDEON. Many of his songs talk about socio-political issues and problems. Here is a link to the videos of the PAZ SIN FRONTERAS concert. [URL="http://www.vive.in/especiales/conciertoporlapaz/home/videos.html"]Paz sin fronteras -> Home Videos - vive.in[/URL] Here is a place where you can find several of his rock videos. [URL="http://www.videocure.com/music-videos/j/d180376a5e947c7c8b5e50394932972a.html"]Juanes Music Videos[/URL]