Manuel Javier García Herrera (born 1 March 1970) is a

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

-pop Chilean singer-songwriter and guitarist. He has won several awards and has twice received the Chilean National Music Prize, awarded by the Chilean Government (in 2008 and 2012).

Early life

García studied History and Geography Education at the

University of Tarapacá University of Tarapacá ( es, Universidad de Tarapacá) is a university in Arica, Chile. It is a derivative university part of the Chilean Traditional Universities. The university publishes '' Revista Chungará'' a journal on anthropology and arch ...

Arica Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the capita ...

and then moved to

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

in 1994 to study professional guitar performance ("interpretación superior en guitarra") at the

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (''PUC or UC Chile'') ( es, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical universities i ...

with fellow musician Luis Orlandini. His professional career began in 1995 when he founded the band Coré (which also included later members of Chilean band

Inti Illimani Inti-Illimani (; from Quechuan ''Inti'' and Aymara ''Illimani)'' are an instrumental and vocal Latin American folk music ensemble from Chile. The band was formed in 1967 by a group of university students and it acquired widespread popularity in C ...

). However, he left Coré in 1997 and formed his new band Mecánica Popular with Diego Álvarez, Marco Chávez and fellow Coré member Mario Villalobos.

Musical career

Mecánica Popular mixed rock and

trova ''Trova'' is a style of Cuban popular music originating in the 19th century. Trova was created by itinerant musicians known as ''trovadores'' who travelled around Cuba's Oriente province, especially Santiago de Cuba, and earned their living by s ...

styles and were influenced by the "nueva canción chilena",

, rock and even poetry. They released three studio albums between 1999 and 2003 and now, though formally disbanded, they often support Manuel García in his solo performances.

Solo

Since 2003, García has worked on several solo projects, one of the first of which was a documentary about the life of Argentinian musician

Atahualpa Yupanqui Atahualpa Yupanqui (; born Héctor Roberto Chavero Aramburu; 31 January 1908 – 23 May 1992) was an Argentine singer, songwriter, guitarist, and writer. He is considered the most important Argentine folk musician of the 20th century. Biography ...

(2003). The same year he was invited to open the festival Mercat de Música Viva de Vic in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Spain. In 2005, he released his first album, ''Pánico'' (Panic) in collaboration with two members of Mecánica Popular, Christian Bravo y Diego Álvarez. The album received good reviews in the national Chilean media García's second solo album, ''Témpera'', was released in 2008 with a sound closer to trova, and rock, with references to

Violeta Parra Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (; 4 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena (The Chilean New Song), a renewal an ...

and

. His raw guitar sound recalls fellow Chilean musician Chinoy, with whom he has shared a stage on several occasions. His third album was called ''S/T'' (2010). Its electric sound (including guitar solos) reveals a variety of influences, though it is considered a simpler album, free of the complex arrangements seen in the previous two. His final record to date, ''Acuario'', again surprised fans with electronic sounds that sometimes recall

Gepe Daniel Alejandro Riveros Sepúlveda (born September 28, 1981), known as Gepe, is a Chilean singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has released five solo albums in addition to one album as a member of the band Taller Dejao. He has been d ...

Javiera Mena Javiera Alejandra Mena Carrasco (born June 3, 1983) is a Chilean indie electropop musician living in Lavapiés, Madrid. She started her musical career in the Chilean indie music scene in 2001, and achieved wider success after the release of h ...

. ''Acuario'' has been called a well-accomplished twist on García's signature style, without losing the heart that comes through in his lyrics. Manuel Garcia is part of the line-up for the third edition of Lollapalooza ChileLollapalooza 2013 Line-up: Manuel García
Retrieved February 2, 2013. taking place in Santiago in April 2013.

Discography

Studio albums

* 2005 – ''Pánico'' * 2008 – ''Témpera'' * 2010 – ''S/T'' (

Altazor Awards The Altazor Award of the National Arts or simply Altazor, is a Chilean award which is awarded annually. The winners are chosen by the own creators and performers of the arts. They were established in 1958, but were not awarded until 1999. The a ...

winner). * 2012 – ''Acuario'' * 2014 – ''Retrato Iluminado'' * 2016 – ''Harmony Lane''

With Mario Rojas

* 1997 – ''Musi-cachi-lena''

DVD

*2011–''En vivo (Live at the) Teatro Caupolicá''

With Mecánica Popular

* 1999 – ''Mecánica Popular'' * 2000 – ''La casa de Asterión'' (nominated for an

Altazor Award The Altazor Award of the National Arts or simply Altazor, is a Chilean award which is awarded annually. The winners are chosen by the own creators and performers of the arts. They were established in 1958, but were not awarded until 1999. The a ...

) * 2003 – ''Fata Morgana'' * 2005 – ''En plena luz'' * 2009 – ''Mecánica Popular en vivo''

Other appearances

* 2008 – '' Víctor Jara sinfónico'' (with Concepción University Orchestra) * 2008 – ''eXile'' (Festival Mercat de música Viva de Vic,

) * 2010 – ''Música libre'',

Los Bunkers Los Bunkers (Spanish for ''The Bunkers'') is an alternative rock band from Concepción, Chile, formed in 1999 by brothers Álvaro and Gonzalo López, Mauricio Basualto, and brothers Francisco and Mauricio Durán. They are well known in their c ...

Soundtracks

* 1998 – ''Fantasmas de fierro'' * 2003 – ''Las condenadas''

Documentary

* '' Roberto Parra'' * ''La cueca brava de Nano Núñez'', Mario Rojas documentary about Los Chileneros. * '' La ciudad de los fotógrafos'' * ''Catalejo'' * ''Las horas del día'' * ''El mar mi alma''

References

External links

Manuel García websiteManuel García Myspace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Manuel Chilean male guitarists 21st-century Chilean male singers Living people People from Arica 1970 births 21st-century guitarists University of Tarapacá alumni Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni