FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 2, 2015

CONTACT: Rebecca Bailey, Publicity Coordinator/Writer Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College [email protected] 603.646.3991

“Truly a band without borders,” La Santa Cecilia comes to the Hop October 7

Photo: Members of La Santa Cecilia (L-R) Alex Bendana, Miguel Ramirez, Marisol Hernández and Jose “Pepe” Carlos. Photo by Humberto Howard.

HANOVER, NH—Bilingual, bicultural and fronted by force-of-nature vocalist Marisol “La Marisoul” Hernández (“a belter, a crooner, a seductress”—Boston Globe), the Grammy-winning band La Santa Cecilia performs in the Hop’s Spaulding Auditorium on Wednesday, October 7, at 7 pm. The group will also perform a matinee concert for school groups.

Named for the patron saint of music, this tight Los Angeles ensemble of accordion, guitars and percussion churns together cumbia, tango, rock, rumba, jazz and even klezmer behind the vocals of the soulful and charismatic Hernández. Now in their early 30s, its members have gone from performing on the streets of Los Angeles, to becoming the darlings of that city’s club scene, to headlining across the country with music that reaches beyond Latino audiences while remaining grounded in that culture and experience.

Acclaim is loud for this band formed eight years ago in Los Angeles by musicians who had cut their teeth busking on Olvera Street, in the heart of LA’s old Latino neighborhood: Their music is “meant to get listeners dancing and thinking at the same time, embracing a modern sensibility while also evoking the old,” wrote The New York Times. Said the Christian Science Monitor, “La Santa Cecilia is truly a band without borders, seamlessly blending Tex-Mex, bossa nova, tango, and bolero influences – all with a huge dollop of soul…Hernandez delivers spine-tingling vocals.” NPR, on whose various shows the band has delivered numerous roof-raising concerts, wrote that the band “spreads joy every time its members plug in to do a show. They do it one dance step at a time, with cumbias, corridos, elegant mambos and plain old rock 'n' roll.”

Along with La Marisoul, La Santa Cecilia consists of accordionist and requintero (the requinto is a small guitar used in Latin American music) Jose “Pepe” Carlos, bassist Alex Bendana and percussionist Miguel Ramirez—all of them raised in LA as fully bilingual and bicultural. They cite a dizzying array of music that influenced them, growing up: Nirvana, Santana, Rush, punk rock and reggae and, on the classic Latin side, Ramón Ayala, Trio Los Panchos, Los Alegres de Terán, cumbia and boleros. Hernández says she’s inspired by the Mexican actress- turned-singer Lucha Villa, the Argentine folk singer Mercedes Sosa and Janis Joplin.

Releasing its self-titled debut EP in 2009, La Santa Cecilia gained support by playing gigs throughout North America and Mexico—winning fans like English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, who invited La Marisoul to sing on a recent album. Costello in turn appears on La Santa Cecilia's major-label debut, Treinta Días, which won a 2014 Grammy for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album.

Following its Grammy win, the band released its second album, Someday New, produced by multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy award winner Sebastian Krys. From norteño and bossa nova to soul and rock, the album’s rich and diverse mix appeals to a broad spectrum of music listeners. Its seven new tracks include a heartfelt Spanglish rendition of The Beatles iconic Strawberry Fields Forever; the unforgettable new Mexican classic Como Dios Manda; a fresh new radio-edit of their single Monedita; and the full version of their moving, and militant ICE—El Hielo, whose title contains a pun. ''Hielo'' is Spanish for ''ice,'' the initials of the federal government's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, and the song, accompanied by a powerful video that soon went viral, offered a sympathetic portrait of Latino immigrants living in fear of deportation with ''ICE running loose on these streets'' and never knowing ''when they are going to grab us.''

The song has helped identify the band as powerful spokespeople for immigration rights, which is close to their hearts. The band members are from immigrant families that include relatives who, for a time, were in the United States illegally; Carlos was also in that category until last year, when he was able to obtain a work permit and a Social Security card as a result of changes in immigration policy that the White House announced in June 2012. Prior to that, the band's ability to travel and tour had been restricted by the fear that Carlos, taken to the United States when he was 6, would be apprehended by immigration authorities and deported. Band members hesitated to fly together, and when they traveled overland to Texas for shows, they always drove a route that kept them away from immigration checkpoints but added a day to their trip.

Now, performing in new places and larger venues, they’re attracting increasingly cross-cultural audiences to their live concerts, which are legendary for their warmth, energy and showmanship. The group's look is a grab- bag of styles. Hernández’ eye-catching apparel marries the colors of Frida Kahlo with the contours of Minnie Mouse. She favors hoop skirts and tutus in bright colors, and tops things off with retro black glasses trimmed with rhinestones, while her band mates have been known to don guayaberas (the so-called Mexican wedding shirt) or even mariachi attire.

RELEVANT LINKS https://hop.dartmouth.edu/Online/lasantacecilia http://lasantacecilia.com/ http://www.windishagency.com/artists/la_santa_cecilia Download high-resolution photos: https://hop.dartmouth.edu/Online/default.asp? doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=A14ACB33-679C- 469F-9E07-5A08469894E7&sessionlanguage=&SessionSecurity::linkName= CALENDAR LISTING: La Santa Cecilia This Grammy-winning band traverses a musical landscape as diverse as its home base of LA, churning together cumbia, tango, rock, rumba, jazz and even klezmer into its own brand of joyfully explosive international pop. Featuring accordion, guitar and percussion behind the vocals of the soulful and charismatic Marisol Hernández (“a belter, a crooner, a seductress”—Boston Globe), La Santa Cecilia is an emerging musical face of young Latinos—and a poignant voice for immigration reform. Post-show discussion with the artists. Wednesday, October 7, 7 pm Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hanover NH $20/25, Dartmouth students $10, 18 & under $17/19 Information: hop.dartmouth.edu or 603.646.2422

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Founded in 1962, the Hopkins Center for the Arts is a multi-disciplinary academic, visual and performing arts center dedicated to uncovering insights, igniting passions, and nurturing talents to help Dartmouth and the surrounding Upper Valley community engage imaginatively and contribute creatively to our world. Each year the Hop presents more than 300 live events and films by visiting artists as well as Dartmouth students and the Dartmouth community, and reaches more than 22,000 Upper Valley residents and students with outreach and arts education programs. After a celebratory 50th-anniversary season in 2012-13, the Hop enters its second half-century with renewed passion for mentoring young artists, supporting the development of new work, and providing a laboratory for participation and experimentation in the arts.