The singer, guitarist and composer from Córdoba Joseph Louis Aguirre is premiere. Last week he launched his new poetry book water notebook (2022), and also a preview of three songs that will make up his new album, Loose (The Light Years), focused on the creole music. The novelty is that the advances are accompanied by an audiovisual production set in the mountains of Cordoba, a kind of medium-length video that can be enjoyed on its YouTube channel. Youtube. “This tour consists of the presentation of the themes of an album that is about to come out, which I will be releasing in batches of three songs with an audiovisual format. And to put into consideration for people a moment in life that is reflected in these songs and that has to do with going through the pandemic and with certain learnings”, says Aguirre, who will perform in band format this Friday at 8:30 p.m. Niceto Club (Niceto Vega 5510).
Three songs are already known from the new album: “Canta canta”, the chacarera “Volvé a las chapas” and the zamba “De la root a la piel”. In all of them you can discover interpretive power of the Cordovan and the delicacy and tenderness of his pen. “’Canta canta’ is like a couplet that is repeated and in the middle it is accompanied by a poem that is included in a book water notebook (2022)”, says the singer-songwriter. “No matter how we are or what happens, singing always fuels our fire and takes us to a positive place,” he says about the poetic proposal of the song. “Then there is ‘Volvé a las chapas’, which is a poem that I published before the pandemic on the networks. And that a friend rescued him, because I had lost him. One day he writes me this monkey saying that he had set this poem to music, I didn’t quite remember what it was. And I like it a lot. The song speaks of returning to the land, to your people”.
“Traveling represents a strong moment in my life, but I always need to come back –continues Aguirre-. The pandemic installed me in that daily journey of the house, the landscape and the family. It seemed like a beautiful coincidence that this monkey wrote to me, that’s why I included it in these first three songs. And ‘From the root to the skin’ speaks of a transformation from the deepest to the outside. And it also speaks of a place where water springs from the stones, in the roughest part of the mountain. In the most difficult moment that I had to go through, these songs were born ”, reveals the Cordovan musician, one of the most interesting of his generation. “People are going to find what I always try to do: release the moments I’m in”says about the concert in Niceto, which will feature guest musicians, dancers and a visual setting.
-What is the general essence of the new album, Loose?
-The general essence of the album is to express the songs that I am now writing and that reflect the feeling of this time. Each one of the discs that one is presenting are moments of life and Loose represents a stage of introspection, personal observation and spirituality. The encounter with one represented in music and also with others. The concept of the album has to do with letting go of what one has to give and it also means being on the loose, going out after confinement. And let things happen and be delivered without so much thought, but rather feeling. And tour the country with music, meet people and talk in this time that touches us.
And what is the new book you published about? water notebook? When did these texts, these poems appear?
–water notebook, like the songs, represents my personal vision and a whole process from the beginning of the spiritual search in this situation that the pandemic put us in until we meet again with people and rediscover the meaning of the social and the human. I experienced it as a great learning and this book talks about that: the water that always accompanies us, whether in tears of sadness and joy or in rivers. And that necessary connection that I have with the rivers of my land and to which I always return to stay on course and knowing that I am in the place I choose. This book is a celebration and represents the passage and transfer of the different seasons from disappearing to the roar of the rains with the river swollen. The poems were written in notebooks that I later began to collect. That’s why it’s called water notebook: because I rescued them from the notebooks that I was writing and many had to do with my childhood and my present near rivers, such as Los Sauces, Anisacate, Las Rabonas or Villa Dolores.
-How do you see the present of the folk song?
-I see a beautiful present of folklore, because the chips were accommodated. There is a group of people who continue to keep that flame alive and continue to believe in the music of the roots of the earth. And far from disappearing, it is getting stronger, and it is a music that continues to support the causes, the struggles and the feelings of the people. Because music with Creole roots is genuine and endures over time, as the master Ica Novo used to say. And everything is in that mix of music. For this reason, I am surprised by a lot of people who are creating and especially the youth, who have turned towards the response that making music from the land gives you. And that makes it very present, very palpable, creative and open. Because that root is capable of receiving all musical genres without getting lost. Then, I see a very positive present, which has to do with being in the right place to defend our Mother Earth in critical moments. You have to let young people do it, let things happen and cling to the essence. That is our popular folk music: an essence that takes many forms and is alive.