Rodrigo y Gabriela (Rodrigo and Gabriela) are a Mexican acoustic guitar duo whose music is influenced by a number of

genres Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

including

nuevo flamenco New flamenco (or ''nuevo flamenco'') or flamenco fusion is a musical genre that was born in Spain, starting in the 1980s. It combines flamenco guitar virtuosity and traditional flamenco music with musical fusion (with genres like jazz, blues, roc ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, and heavy metal. The duo's recordings consist largely of instrumental duets on the

flamenco guitar A flamenco guitar is a guitar similar to a classical guitar but with thinner tops and less internal bracing. It usually has nylon strings, like the classical guitar, but it generally possesses a livelier, more gritty sound compared to the clas ...

. Currently residing in Mexico City, they began their career in Dublin, Ireland, during an eight-year stay. They have released five studio albums, three live albums and one EP. In 2011, they collaborated with

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Oscars and four Grammys, and has been nominated for two Emmys and a Tony. Zimmer was also named on the list of Top 100 Living G ...

on the ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'' soundtrack while also contributing to the soundtrack for ''

Puss in Boots "Puss in Boots" ( it, Il gatto con gli stivali) is an Italian fairy tale, later spread throughout the rest of Europe, about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand of a princess in marriage for ...

''. They have toured internationally and in May 2010, performed at

The White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 180 ...

for President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

. In January 2020, their fifth studio album ''

Mettavolution ''Mettavolution'' is the fifth studio album by Mexican duo Rodrigo y Gabriela. It was released on April 26, 2019 through Rubyworks and ATO Records. Critical reception ''Mettavolution'' received generally favorable reviews from contemporary music ...

'' won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album at the

62nd Annual Grammy Awards The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Al ...

Origins

Rodrigo Sánchez (born 9 January 1974) and Gabriela Quintero (born 11 June 1973) grew up in middle-class families in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. Their parents listened to

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, and

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

, but they both enjoyed heavy metal bands like Metallica, which proved influential to Rodrigo and Gabriela. Rodrigo and Gabriela met at the age of 15, at 'la casa de la cultura' (House of Culture) in Mexico City, where Rodrigo's brother was the director. Quintero was in a drama class and at the suggestion of his brother, Rodrigo met up with her. She remembers "this 15-year-old boy there, dressed in a black ... with messy hair. Yet he was different to the other metal-heads his age: he seemed very serious and didn't drink or smoke". The two bonded over their interest in music and they soon became a couple. In the early 1990s, Sánchez formed a heavy metal band called Tierra Ácida (Acid Land) with his brother. Quintero joined them in 1993 "as they couldn't get a guitarist who would please Rodrigo". When a record deal for the band fell through in 1997, Sánchez and Quintero left Mexico City for the resort town of

Ixtapa Ixtapa (, ) is a resort city in Mexico, adjacent to the Pacific Ocean in the municipality of Zihuatanejo de Azueta in the state of Guerrero. It is located northwest of the municipal seat, Zihuatanejo, and northwest of Acapulco. In the 2005 ...

on the Pacific coast of Mexico. They played in beach-side bars and hotels for nine months where "we wanted to play a different kind of music, something we could make as our own". Sánchez and Quintero dated for many years before ending their relationship (but not their musical partnership) in 2012. "We're now better friends by far," said Quintero. "We no longer behave like 15-year-olds and it's allowed us to grow up."

Career

Growing frustrated with the limited scope of the domestic Mexican rock scene, the duo moved to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. After travelling around, they took up residence in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, in 1999, despite not speaking any English. Playing live gigs in various

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

and busking on

Grafton Street Grafton Street () is one of the two principal shopping streets in Dublin city centre (the other being Henry Street). It runs from St Stephen's Green in the south (at the highest point of the street) to College Green in the north (the lowes ...

where they began to play "many cover songs, which we enjoyed. Then we began to put in our own songs, and we've built up our repertoire from there". They became friends with fellow musician

Damien Rice Damien George Rice (born 7 December 1973) is an Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He began his career as a member of the 1990s rock group Juniper, who were signed to Polygram Records in 1997. The band enjoyed moderate success ...

who invited them to open for one of his shows. He also introduced the duo to Niall Muckian, who became their manager. In the first half of 2001 they recorded a 9-track demo called '' Foc'' of their own material supplemented by some covers, also featuring an appearance by Zoe Conway. As interest in the band grew, it was decided to re-record the songs on the demo as '' re-Foc'' in 2002 with a number of friends, including

Lisa Hannigan Lisa Margaret Hannigan (born 12 February 1981) is an Irish musician, singer, composer, and voice actress. She began her musical career as a member of Damien Rice's band. Since beginning her solo career in 2007 she has released three albums: '' S ...

who provided vocal stylings and Conway, who by now also was a feature of the live set-up of the duo. The album appeared on Muckian's own

Rubyworks Records Rubyworks Records is an independent record label and music management company created in 2001 by Niall Muckian and based in Dublin, Ireland. Rubyworks owns two subsidiary labels, Gotta Run Records and Model Citizen Records. In May 2012 Rubywor ...

as he found that "because it is all instrumental, we found it hard to get major-label interest or any radio-play, so I put it out myself". As interest grew, the duo were offered further support-slots, which resulted in an eight-track live-album recorded in Dublin and Manchester, released in 2004. The eponymous album, ''

Rodrigo y Gabriela Rodrigo y Gabriela (Rodrigo and Gabriela) are a Mexico, Mexican acoustic guitar duo whose music is influenced by a number of genres including nuevo flamenco, rock music, rock, and Heavy metal music, heavy metal. The duo's recordings consist large ...

,'' entered the Irish Albums Chart at #1 beating

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, ...

and Johnny Cash to the top spot. It was released internationally on March 13, 2006, having been given an earlier Irish release. ''

,'' which was produced by

John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978), XTC's ''White Music'' (1978) and Dukes of Stratosphear's ''25 O'Clock'' (1985), t ...

, includes covers of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

's " Stairway to Heaven" and Metallica's "Orion". The duo lists Metallica as being among their key influences, alongside other heavy metal bands such as Megadeth, Slayer, Testament and Overkill. The other tracks are original works inspired by the places they have been and the people they have met. The duo had their national American TV debut on '' Late Show with David Letterman'' on December 18, 2006, performing "Diablo Rojo". Their song "Tamacun" featured in the pilot episode of

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

's '' Breaking Bad'' in January 2008. '' Live in Japan'' was released on October 20, 2008, in the United Kingdom, and includes 14 tracks, and a bonus DVD containing five videos. The Led Zeppelin cover can be found on the album '' Rhythms del Mundo Classics.'' Their feature on MTV gave them a huge boost in popularity in the United States. This led to a feature on ''Nightmare Revisited'', a tribute album to Danny Elfman's music from Tim Burton's ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''. The duo performed an instrumental version of "Oogie Boogie's Song." Rodrigo y Gabriela

They released a new album, '' 11:11,'' in September, 2009.

Alex Skolnick Alex Skolnick (born September 29, 1968) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist and one of the songwriters of the thrash metal band Testament and has played with several other bands, including The Alex Skolnick Trio, Tr ...

of Testament guests on the album, as do Strunz & Farah. Upon the release of the new album, they received much mainstream American popularity and were the featured music on ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, A ...

'' on October 12, 2009, as they celebrated Latino Heritage Month. Their song "Santo Domingo" was chosen as the Starbucks iTunes Pick of the Week for November 10, 2009. The duo was the musical guest on ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airing from January 3, 2005, to December 19, 2 ...

'' that aired on CBS-TV on October 28, 2009, and was re-run on December 29, 2009. They performed "Buster Voodoo." They performed on Jools Holland's ''Annual Hootenanny'' on December 31, 2009. Rodrigo y Gabriela at Sasquatch 2011

The duo was the musical guest on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'' that aired on NBC on March 23, 2010, to promote their album ''11:11'' and on ''

Lopez Tonight ''Lopez Tonight'' is an American late-night television talk show that was hosted by the comedian George Lopez. The hour-long program premiered on November 9, 2009, on cable network TBS. Lopez was the first Mexican-American to host a late-nig ...

'' which aired on TBS March 25, 2010. They headlined the West Holts stage on the Sunday night at Glastonbury 2010 and played the King Tuts Tent at

T In The Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused B ...

on 10 July 2010. They also had a spot on the main stage at Latitude festival that same July and they managed to draw in a huge crowd. In 2010, Rodrigo y Gabriela contributed a live version of their song "Hora Zero" to the

Enough Project The Enough Project is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization that was founded in 2007. Its stated mission is to end genocide and crimes against humanity. The Enough Project conducts research in several conflict areas in Africa inclu ...

and

Downtown Records Downtown Records is an American record label based in New York City with offices in Los Angeles. Owned and operated by Josh Deutsch and Terence Lam, the label is distributed by Geffen Records (formerly Interscope Records and The Orchard) in the ...

' Raise Hope for Congo compilation. Proceeds from the compilation fund efforts to make the protection and empowerment of Congo's women a priority, as well as inspire individuals around the world to raise their voice for peace in the Congo. They played the

Nice Jazz Festival The Nice Jazz Festival (, ), held annually since 1948 in Nice, on the French Riviera, is "the first jazz festival of international significance." At the inaugural festival, Louis Armstrong and his All Stars were the headliners. Frommer's calls i ...

on 23 July 2010, and the McMenamin's Edgefield outdoor concert in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

on August 14, 2010, as well as the

Ravinia Festival Ravinia Festival is an outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September. The first orchestra to perform at Ravinia Festival was the New York Philharmonic unde ...

on August 28, 2010, and ''

'' on September 30, 2010. In September, 2010, the duo announced a hiatus from touring due to stress injuries caused by Gabriela's heavily percussive style of playing. However, they did manage to play five sold-out nights at Shepherd's Bush in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. On January 20, 2011, Rodrigo y Gabriela entered the studio with

to write and record sessions of the score from '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.'' The

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

was released on May 17, 2011, three days before the film's general release. On July 9, 2011, Rodrigo Y Gabriela performed a live set for ''

Guitar Center Guitar Center is an American Music store, musical instrument retailer chain. It is the largest company of its kind in the United States, with 294 locations. Its headquarters is in Westlake Village, California. Guitar Center oversees various sub ...

Sessions'' on

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...

. The episode included an interview with program host,

Nic Harcourt Nic Harcourt (born September 23, 1957) is an English-born American radio and television presenter, producer, and journalist best known as the former Music Director and on-air presenter for the Santa Monica, California-based radio station KCRW. Har ...

. On July 25, 2011, Rodrigo y Gabriela released another live album entitled '' Live in France''. Rodrigo y Gabriela were featured in the 2011 DreamWorks film ''

'', scored by

Henry Jackman Henry Pryce Jackman (born 1974) is an English composer. He composed music for films such as '' Kong: Skull Island'', '' X-Men: First Class'', ''Winnie the Pooh'', ''Wreck-It Ralph'', ''Puss in Boots'', '' Monsters vs. Aliens'', '' Captain Phi ...

. During 2011, Rodrigo y Gabriela recorded in Havana, Cuba, with C.U.B.A., a 13-piece Cuban orchestra, and special guest musicians (

Anoushka Shankar Anoushka Shankar (born 9 June 1981) is a British-American sitar player, producer, film composer and activist. She was the youngest and first woman to receive a British House of Commons Shield; she has had 7 Grammy Awards nominations and was the ...

on sitar and

Le Trio Joubran Le Trio Joubran ( ar, الثلاثي جبران) is an oud trio playing traditional Palestinian music. The trio consists of the brothers Samir, Wissam, and Adnan Joubran, originally from the city of Nazareth, now dividing their time between ...

on oud). In January 2012 they released '' Area 52'', their first album backed by other musicians. The tracks on the album are mostly re-worked versions of songs that have appeared on their duo albums, ''Rodrigo y Gabriela'' and ''11:11''. Reviews were mixed, with some tracks criticised for the backing band drowning out the guitar work that fans love but others praised where the guitar workouts "are allowed space to breathe by lighter salsa-style backing." In April 2014, Rodrigo y Gabriela released their fourth studio album, entitled ''

9 Dead Alive ''9 Dead Alive'' is the fourth studio album by Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela released on April 25, 2014, in Ireland and on April 29, 2014, internationally. According to their Twitter, "each track is a personal celebration of individuals w ...

''. Their fifth studio album ''

'' was released by ATO Records on April 26, 2019 and includes a cover of the Pink Floyd song " Echoes". In January 2020, ''Mettavolution'' won a

for 'Best Contemporary Instrumental Album'

. In 2021, the duo contributed a cover of the Metallica song "The Struggle Within" to the charity tribute album ''

The Metallica Blacklist ''The Metallica Blacklist'' is a various artists tribute album featuring covers of every track from Metallica's 1991 self-titled album (commonly known as ''The Black Album''). The collection was assembled in conjunction with the original album' ...

''.

Style

Reviewing one of their gigs, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' noted that "Rodrigo y Gabriela's secret is maybe quite simple. They are resourceful musicians, and are open-hearted, happy entertainers. That, very often, is what people want." Both Rodrigo and Gabriela play

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

NX series electro nylon string guitars exclusively. Rodrigo plays the slimmer neck NTX1200 and Gabriela plays the more traditional sized NCX2000 and NCX1200.

Discography

Self-released albums

''Foc'' (April 2001)

Studio albums

Live albums

Extended plays

*''Live Session'' (2007) *''Mettal'' (2020) *''Jazz'' (2021)

Singles

*"Mettavolution" - #25 on US

Adult Alternative Songs Adult Alternative Airplay (also known as Triple A or Triple A Airplay, and formerly Adult Alternative Songs and Triple A Songs) is a record chart currently published by ''Billboard'' that ranks the most popular songs on adult album alternative rad ...

Billboard Adult Alternative Songs (Week of May 25, 2019)
- '' Billboard''

References

External links

Official Rodrigo y Gabriela site

Video Channel
on

MUZU TV MUZU was an independent online music video site with the largest legal catalogue of online music videos. The video catalogue was licensed by all major record labels Universal Music, Warner Music, Sony Music, independent music labels and niche mu ...

Interview
on

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that ...

's ''Soundcheck''
"The Musical Migration of Rodrigo y Gabriela"
(Interview with Gabriela) in ''Irish Migration Studies in Latin America journal'', March 2007
Interview
on NPR's ''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

'', October 10, 2009
Rodrigo y Gabriela Rock the White House

''Innerviews.org'', 2006 {{Authority control Mexican guitarists Mexican folk music groups Mexican buskers ATO Records artists Rock music duos Musical groups established in 2000 Mexican musical duos Male–female musical duos