PBH / Colombia / Forums (active) Travelguide Cheap hostels Pictures

Colombian singer songs doing well in Texas

Singer-songwriter Chura Montgomery hails from Colombia and lives in Red Deer, but has seen her songs climb Latin music charts in Texas.

“My song Me Mata tu Querer (Your Love is Killing Me) is No. 9 in Houston,” said a beaming Montgomery, who’s also had success with her tune Volve (Come Back). She explains friends took her CDs south of the border and introduced them to local radio stations, where they are now getting regular rotation.

The diminutive songstress, who will perform her original material on Friday, Sept. 11, at The Matchbox theatre, says she grew up in a musical family in Barranquilla, Colombia. “My father and my brothers are all musicians. Since I was a kid, I loved music.”

Montgomery regularly sang on local radio stations in her hometown and performed various concerts. But she took a necessary hiatus from music after marrying young and raising five children with a Canadian she met while he was vacationing in Colombia.

The family moved to Canada in 1980. Montgomery composed her first song in 1984, and has been jotting down music and lyrics ever since.

She put out her first CD of English and Latin songs, Momentos de Amor, in 2002.

Her second CD was unexpectedly created in 2007, after Montgomery returned to her native country for her father’s funeral. She recalled sitting on the front step of her sister’s house, playing the guitar and singing, when a man approached, saying how much he admired her unique voice and melodic music.

That man turned out to be the owner of a local recording studio. “He said, ‘You want to record?’ I said ‘Yes!’ ”

Montgomery recalls that other people in Colombia’s music industry tried to convince her to stay in South America. “They said, ‘Don’t go back to Canada. You could be the Queen of Barranquilla,’ ” said the singer with a laugh.

But Montgomery felt she had to return because her children are in Canada “and I have lived more here than in Colombia,” she said.

Her songwriting has been inspired by the highs and lows in her life, said Montgomery. “It’s about the hard times, the happy times, everything” — including her divorce a few years ago, and the serious injuries she received in 2000 after being attacked by a mentally disabled client in a group home, where she worked as an aide.

“My doctor told me you are lucky you weren’t killed,” said Montgomery, who spent several months in hospital, had to relearn to walk, and still gets headaches from the incident.

She is now the owner of La Tienda Latina, a cafe and Latin specialty food store on Ross Street that she says has been badly affected by the construction of a 12-storey building next door.

After scaffolding and construction equipment hid her store from the street, Montgomery claims she lost about 70 per cent of her business. Even people who used to shop at La Tienda Latina stopped coming.

“They told me, ‘I thought your business was demolished,’ ” said Montgomery, who has carried on with financial help from friends and her adult children.

She hopes to put some of the concert’s proceeds towards her store’s operating costs.

Montgomery said video footage of her Red Deer concert will be sent to music representatives in Colombia and Mexico, who intend to release it as a music video

By BillBigD on Sep 3, 2009, 12:44 in Friendly Talkzone.

whitewidow says on Sep 3, 2009, 13:15:

Selena was HUGE in Texas. Maybe this lady is helping to fill that void.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selena

I'm no doper! I just play one on TV.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Woodde says on Sep 3, 2009, 15:53:

Too bad I can't find anything about or listen to her songs.

4/9/09

0 funny, 0 helpful.

utopiacowboy says on Sep 3, 2009, 17:20:

Selena was from Corpus Christi, Texas, was a native English-speaker and could barely speak Spanish. This chick is no Selena.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

whitewidow says on Sep 3, 2009, 17:23:

well, all the spics in dallas went ape-shit for her. all their low-riders were a fuckin rolling shrine years after her death. i guess she reached THAT audience. pero, no seguro porque no estoy mexicano.

I'm no doper! I just play one on TV.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

theflatline says on Sep 3, 2009, 17:31:

Selena had a pretty face and a nice giant rump. Which is why they loved her.

And also the reason Sabado Gigante has been on for years.

We is easily distracted by boobs and butts. Even Betty La Fea was full of T and A.

Legaleez for Complete Morons - A book for gringos in Colombia for who think they understand the nature of the law in a country where they cannot speak the language.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

whitewidow says on Sep 3, 2009, 17:35:

she is a legend in texas and struck a chord with lotsa mexicanos here. i have not seen anything like it since her. it will be interesting to see what (who) might come next. i love the colombian influence.

I'm no doper! I just play one on TV.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

theflatline says on Sep 3, 2009, 17:43:

I think the best US Mexicana singer is Linda Ronstadt.

Legaleez for Complete Morons - A book for gringos in Colombia for who think they understand the nature of the law in a country where they cannot speak the language.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

whitewidow says on Sep 3, 2009, 17:55:

did not realize she had mexican ancestory. the 70's was a wonderful era for rock/pop. put on yer skates and go disco......

she sure was cute

I'm no doper! I just play one on TV.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

whitewidow says on Sep 3, 2009, 18:09:

I'm no doper! I just play one on TV.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

utopiacowboy says on Sep 3, 2009, 19:00:

From the wikipedia article on Linda Ronstadt:

"At the end of 1987, Ronstadt released an album of traditional Mexican folk songs, or what she describes as "world class songs", titled Canciones de Mi Padre - "My Father's Songs". Keeping with the Ronstadt theme, her cover art was dramatic, bold, and colorful. For Canciones De Mi Padre Ronstadt was in full Mexican regalia and her musical arranger was famed Mariachi musician Rubén Fuentes.

These canciones were a big part of Ronstadt's family tradition and musical roots. For example, the history of this album goes back half a century. In January, 1946, the University of Arizona published a booklet by Luisa Espinel entitled Canciones de mi Padre.[143] Luisa Espinel was Linda Ronstadt's aunt and an international singer in the 1920s. Ms. Espinel's father was Fred Ronstadt (Linda Ronstadt's grandfather), and the songs she had learned, transcribed and published were some of the ones he had brought with him from Sonora. Ronstadt researched and extracted from the favorites she had learned from her father Gilbert and she called her album by the same name as her aunt's booklet and as a tribute to her father and his family. Though not fully bilingual, she has a fairly good command of the Spanish language, allowing her to sing Latin American songs with little discernible accent; Ronstadt has often identified herself as Mexican-American.[144] Her formative years were spent with her father's side of the family.[145] In fact, in 1976 Ronstadt co-wrote, along with her father, a Traditional Mexican folk ballad, titled "Lo siento mi vida", a song that she included in her Grammy winning album - Hasten Down the Wind. Also, Ronstadt has credited Mexican singer Lola Beltran as an influence in her own singing style, and she recalls how a frequent guest to the Ronstadt home, Eduardo “Lalo” Guerrero, father of Chicano music, would often serenade her as a child.[146]

This album won Ronstadt a Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Performance. The real achievement however is the disc's RIAA double-platinum[101] (over 2 million US copies sold) certification - making it the biggest-selling non-English language album in US music history. Another achievement is that the album and later theatrical stage show, served as a benchmark of Latin cultural renaissance in North America.
"(I obtained) enough clout and....after years and years of making commercial records, I was entitled to experiment..the success of the (Nelson Riddle albums).. entitled me to try the Mexican stuff."
—Linda Ronstadt [147]

Ronstadt produced and performed a theatrical stage show in concert halls across the United States and Latin America to both Hispanic and non-Hispanic audiences, including on the Great White Way. She called the stage show by the same name Canciones de mi Padre. These performances were released on DVD. Ronstadt elected to return to the Broadway stage, 4 years after she performed La Bohème, for a limited run engagement. PBS Great Performances aired the celebrated stage show during its annual fund drives and the show was a hit with audiences, earning Ronstadt an Emmy Award for Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program.

She recorded two additional discs of Latin music in the early 1990s. Although their promotion, like all her albums in the 1990s, was a quieter affair for Ronstadt, where she appeared to do the "bare minimum" to promote. They were not as successful in terms of sales as Canciones De Mi Padre, but were critically acclaimed. The first one she recorded was Mas Canciones, a follow up to the first Canciones. For this effort she won a Grammy award for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album. The same year she stepped outside of Mariachi genre and decided to record well known "afro-Cuban" songs. This disc was titled Frenesí. Like her second Latin recording venture, this third Latin album won Ronstadt another Grammy award, this time for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album.

In 1991, Ronstadt participated in La Pastorela, a musical filmed at San Juan Bautista. It was written and directed by Luis Valdez, of Canciones de Mi Padre fame, and like Canciones, the production was part of the PBS "Great Performances" series. It currently exists on VHS format but has not been released on DVD."

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

theflatline says on Sep 3, 2009, 20:39:

They are rocking this style in Colombia right now. Like 1970s Hollywood Blvd hookers.

linda_ronstadt_usa_10.

Legaleez for Complete Morons - A book for gringos in Colombia for who think they understand the nature of the law in a country where they cannot speak the language.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Simon says on Sep 3, 2009, 20:58:

"well, all the spics in dallas went ape-shit for her."

Who are you calling "spics" you white piece of trash! FU!!!!

"Just an honest, decent Colombian trying to do the right thing."--Simon

0 funny, 0 helpful.

theflatline says on Sep 3, 2009, 21:08:

I think the preferred nomenclature for mexican americans is beaner.

Legaleez for Complete Morons - A book for gringos in Colombia for who think they understand the nature of the law in a country where they cannot speak the language.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

whitewidow says on Sep 3, 2009, 21:21:

hey simon. are you a spic? if so, no offense you maggot.

TFL - i like the big labowski reference

I'm no doper! I just play one on TV.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

theflatline says on Sep 3, 2009, 21:23:

Hey whitewidow, I am spic-dago with a dash of dutch-kike thrown in. I am not offended.

My mother is a white cracker just like you, and she let me sleep in the house some times.

Legaleez for Complete Morons - A book for gringos in Colombia for who think they understand the nature of the law in a country where they cannot speak the language.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

whitewidow says on Sep 3, 2009, 21:24:

i slept in the same bed as my momma, till i was 12. then my daddy told me to get the fuk out!

i'm german/irish with a mix of indian. my great grandaddy was an apache mescalero.

I'm no doper! I just play one on TV.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Simon says on Sep 3, 2009, 21:25:

"I think the preferred nomenclature for mexican americans is beaner"

No, that's also a slur. You mean 'chicano'!

"Just an honest, decent Colombian trying to do the right thing."--Simon

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Simon says on Sep 3, 2009, 21:29:

"hey simon. are you a spic? if so, no offense you maggot."

None taken, honky.

"Just an honest, decent Colombian trying to do the right thing."--Simon

0 funny, 0 helpful.

whitewidow says on Sep 3, 2009, 21:31:

long live the rebel south. i prefer "white devil", but honky will do if your into the whole brevity thing.

http://www.mytrailerpark.com/

I'm no doper! I just play one on TV.

0 funny, 0 helpful.