Author Archive

Luis Villegas, Jake Shimabukuru and Ralph Farris of Ethel

Last week I had the opportunity to perform for one of the coolest conferences ever! The TED conference! TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. I’ll have a link to the TED website below but here’s a sample of the very eclectic group of people that are invited to speak at this conference: Bill Gates, Al Gore, David Byrne, JJ Abrams, Malcolm Gladwell, Jane Goodall, Bono, and Stephen Hawking to name a few. Basically, individuals at the forefront of their respective fields speaking on topics ranging from technology, to business to global issues, etc.

I performed for them along with my friend Ray Yslas and were joined by the likes of Natalie Merchant, L.A. Philharmonic violinist, Robert Gupta, the Ethel String Quartet, ukuleleist Jake Shimabukuru, music composer Carter Burwell and others. It was an honor to play with such awesome musicians!!

Go check TED out at the TED website.

Yesterday I went into the studio with my good friend and pianist Carlos Rodriguez (Juan Gabriel, Antonio Carmona, Juanes). He laid down tracks to two of my songs. He sounded amazing and we had such a great time! As we recorded we let the camera roll capturing his genius. We streamed it live and also recorded it. Here is a video of part of the day. Comment if you like what you hear!

Pictures are up from the Latin Guitar Collective 2009 Christmas Concert at Cafe Sevilla! Check them out in the Multimedia page. Special thanks to our photographer Aurelio Jose Barrera, one of L.A’s top documentary photographers. See more of his stuff at his website www.calaverascallejeras.com

So I noticed that Amazon was selling my “Guitarras De Navidad” CD for a very low price. Lower than my price, in fact! So I said to myself, self, we can’t have that!! How are people going to buy from my site when e-tailers are selling it for so low? What can we do about this? Then I remembered. Although I have no control over Amazon or any other e-tailer or retailer, I have the power to set my own prices on my own website!!

So, today, I hereby announce that I am undercutting Amazon on, not only “Guitarras De Navidad“, but on my entire inventory of CD’s. All of them, on sale for the low, low, low, low price of $9.99 each!!

In fact, if you order now, I will personalize it for you, or anybody else if it’s a gift, and I’ll throw in a signed guitar pick on top of that! What a deal!!

So what are you waiting for? Act now to receive in time for Xmas delivery, and even if it gets there a little late, it’s the thought that counts, right? Operator’s are taking orders NOW!

Visit the Store NOW!

After weeks and weeks of planning and trying to keep hush-hush about it, I am finally relieved to be able to tell you about an awesome concert with my partners in crime, Dan Sistos and Andy Abad, aka The Latin Guitar Collective:

We will be performing music from my Christmas CD “Guitarras De Navidad” as well as original music written by us. Joining us will be Ray Yslas on percussion and Mike Paganini on bass. Cafe Sevilla will be redesigned for this special event.

Cafe Sevilla is adjacent to the City Place Shopping Center so you can continue your Christmas shopping before or after the show.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door although we urge you to purchase in advance. Last time we sold out and people that were planning on getting tickets at the door were turned away. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do anything about it. So please, buy early.

We look forward to seeing you there and sharing a glass of sangria with y’all!!!

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Whether it be playing guitar and singing in a rock-en-espanol band, mariachi or latin lounge gitano surf music group, the beautiful and multi-talented Stephanie Amaro feels right at home and looks good doing it. I caught up with her at the Eastside Luv Bar in Boyle Heights, CA just before she took the stage with the Blue Agave band. In the interview she describes her musical parents, her work ethic and some of the obstacles to look out for in this male-dominated world that is the music industry.

Trio Ellas MySpace Page
The Fresas MySpace Page

What do you get when you mix flamenco and heavy metal? You get Benjamin Woods. A rocker at heart but also one of the best puro flamenco guitarists this side of the Atlantic. Benjamin walked in to Cafe Sevilla where I was performing to celebrate a new CD licensing deal and I had a chance to chat with him.

Benjamin Woods Flametal Website
Benjamin Woods Flamenco Site
Godin Guitars
Cordoba Guitars

I first met Dennis Moody way back in 1997 or ‘98 when “Cafe Ole” had been picked up by Domo/EMI Records and we were recording three new songs for that release. Gone was original producer David Scheffler and in was new producer Guillermo Guzman. He brought in Dennis to engineer and mix the album. A year later, the Dynamic Duo of Guzman and Moody returned to work on my second CD, “Spanish Kiss“. Now, about ten years later, we are still coming back to Dennis to add his magic touch to my new CD and even using his own studio for some of the tracking.

I caught up with Dennis during a session and we talked about how he started in this business, the classic songs he’s worked on and the endless list of artists who’ve been lucky enough to work with him.

Give a listen.

Dennis Moody’s website

Eliseo Borrero

I did a gig with the great Eliseo Borrero of Strunz and Farah at Cafe Sevilla in Long Beach, CA last Saturday and had a chance to catch up to him after the gig to ask him a few questions.

In the interview he reveals the secrets to his success, tells us about his new home studio and all the people he’s been working with laltely.

For more information on Eliseo visit his webste. www.myspace.com/eliseolatinmusic

For other interviews visit our Interviews page.

Venice bass player and all-around good guy Mark Harris is interviewed. Listen to his Jaco Pastorius stories, who his famous brother is and what he recommends for new bass players getting into the business making music.

Please excuse the audio on Pt. 2.

Mark was nice enough to encourage questions you might have that he will answer personally via this page. Please add your questions to the comments and Mark will try to answer all of them.

To listen to more interviews visit our Interviews page.

Performing with Mexican artist Joan Sebastian these last few weeks forced me to try out some new equipment which I took out on the road with me.  I didn’t take my trusty Maldonado flamenco guitar for fear of something happening to it.  It’s getting a bit old (10 yrs.) and needs to stay home where it’s safe.  So I took a much more rugged Epiphone SST Nylon Electric/Acoustic.  It sounded and played very well.  But the instrument I really got attached to was a Line 6 Variax electric guitar!  Yes, electric!  For those of you that have not heard of Variax electric guitars, this one guitar can model several different types of guitars including Strats, Les Pauls, Gretsch, Rickenbacker, and even acoustics with amazing accuracy.  I really enjoyed playing around with it along with the Line 6 POD XT Live floor pedal.  They also have a nylon string Variax that I’ve been wanting to try out. Here is a link to the Line 6 website.   Special thanks to my buddy, Mike at Line 6 for letting me take this on the road with me.  We will be speaking about an endorsement deal with Line 6 soon.  Here is a picture of my setup these last few weeks.  Are there any guitars (electric or acoustic) that YOU really like and would recommend I try out? Add a comment!

I just came back home from a road trip with singer Joan Sebastian.  We performed to over 30,000 people at the Centro Historico in Xalapa, Veracruz. They were celebrating Mexican Independence Day so the whole town was abuzz with celebration.  It was very special to me since I have family that lives there.  I took a few pictures with my iPhone and made a small slide-show to share with you.  We might be doing another show next week in Anaheim, CA.  Don’t have much details yet but as soon as I do I’ll post.

See more slideshows HERE

App Store Icon

We are excited to announce that the Official Luis Villegas iPhone app is now available! The App features photos and videos, concert schedule, blog, fan wall and games!

To download the app visit the App Store in iTunes or just
Click Here!

Please tell your friends about this exciting new addition.

I ran into drummer/percussionist Ronnie Gutierrez at Cafe Cordiale a few days ago. We hadn’t seen each other in quite a few months and I took the opportunity to ask what he’s been up to.

He was happy to speak with me regarding what late night show he’s been playing for, what he’s doing with Mariah Carey and what is the most inexpensive way to look good.

Ronnie’s Website www.RMGMusic.com

Listen to more interviews I’ve done with musicians, producers, etc. on the Interrviews page.

I met up with original “United Nations” percussionist Keith Dasalla in Corona, CA. He recalls the earliest days in my band and its original name, how we met and what occupies his time today.