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Fiel A La Vega - Other/Rock

Foto courtesy of Fiel A La Vega.com

Perhaps the best and well known Puerto Rican rock band, Fiel a la Vega, was formed in 1994 by Ricky Laureano (lead guitar and vocals) and Tito Auger (composer, lead vocals and guitar). They were joined by the brothers Jorge Arraiza (bass) and Pedro Arraiza (drums), who had led the band called Los Arraizas Voladores, and with whom Ricky and Tito had previously played. These four were later joined by percussionist Papo Román.

The genesis of the band went back to the late 80's when Laureano and Auger played together in New Jersey. They came to the realization that their music had to reflect not just their love of rock but the fact that they were Puerto Rican. Thus began the fusion of their rock music with the clearly identifiable elements of Puerto Rican music.

Upon their return to Puerto Rico and the official formation of the band, they released their debut album, the self-titled Fiel A La Vega, in 1996 on the CPC label. The album was a gold record and included several hit songs, such as "Las flores de Emilio", "Salimos de aquí" and "El wanabí", composed for a Puerto Rican movie entitled "Una noche en Hollywood". Another, added to the album at the last minute, was the biggest of the hits: "El Wanabí", which was also made into a music video along with "Salimos de Aquí".

The next year, they opened a concert in the Roberto Clemente Colesium in San Juan, Puerto Rico for headliners, Enanitos Verdes, a band from Argentina, but ended up stealing the show. They followed up with four concert appearances in the Bellas Artes Center in nearby Guaynabo, recorded and released as their second album: El Concierto Acústico. The recording was a gold record and named "Record of the Year" by the National Foundation for Popular Culture. It delivered various hit songs including the reinterpretations of classic Latin music songs like "Buscando guayaba", made famous by Rubén Blades and "Boricua en la luna", transcribed from a poem written by Juan Antonio Corretjer, and recorded a decade before by Roy Brown.

After issuing A Quien Pueda Interesar in 1998, with hit songs "El Panal", "Bla, bla, bla" and "Al frente", they appeared on stage with bands made famous a generation earlier during the height of the music trend known as the "nueva cancíon" (new song): Haciendo Punto en Otro Son and Moliendo Vidrio. There was no doubt that Fiel A La Vega had reached the level of stardom, despite their roots in rock and not the more typical salsa or merengue genres.

The band then went on to release its fourth album, Tres on the EMI label. The promotional single for that that disc was "Canción en la arena" and the album helped solidify the bands position at the top of the rock music scene.

In 2001, the recording made earlier in 1999, with a symphonic orchestra was released as El Concierto Sinfonico to critical acclaim. The two CD release featured an orchestra, complete with violins, cellos, woodwinds, brass section, piano and percussion. The songs included selections composed by Fiel A La Vega themselves, including  Bla, Bla, Bla and special medleys that paid homage to Puerto Rican music giants: El Gran Combo and Rubén Blades with a special appearance by Danny Rivera joining the band with orchestra to sing one of his celebrated songs.

Other websites by this publisher: jimserrat.com  AND  carletteandjim.com