Album Notes

There was a time when Christina Ortega was an aspiring opera singer, but a move to Colorado soon put her on the path toward alternative forms of acoustic music. Best remembered as the frontwoman for Denver’s beloved/bereaved Velveeta Sisters (an all-female swing/rockabilly/bluegrass outfit), it was while living at the foot of the Rockies that she fell in love with the many soul-stirring forms of roots music. From Cajun to Celtic to eventually fronting her own band, she discovered a passion for bluegrass prison songs and similarly tragic hillbilly themes (not surprising when you consider her operatic background). Apparently Colorado music lovers have a thing for a finely rendered tuneful tale of woe, as evidenced when they voted for her to receive a Rocky Mountain Region Bluegrass Female Vocalist of the Year award.

A Western girl at heart and by heritage, she found her way to the world of cowboy poetry and eventually turned her musical attentions to the lamentations of traditional Mexican folk songs juxtaposed with American cowboy music. Having returned to her native Southern California, she’s put together an ace band comprised of the best musicians from L.A.’s folk music world. Acoustic heroes Tom Corbett (lead guitar & mandolin), Otoño Luján (three-row button accordion), and Ruben Ramos (upright bass & fingerstyle guitar) lend their flying fingers to the sound that has taken Christina from lauded performances at cowboy poetry & music festivals to multiple appearances at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles. Most of these musicians have done time in bluegrass outfits and now they’ve come together to conquer the frontier of Western folk music with a sonic stew that bridges the historical and musical gap between the American cowboy and the Mexican vaquero. At their live performances the band sizzles and snaps the musical whip as melancholy corridos crackle with a newly found vitality and energy.

Her debut CD, “The Vaquero Song” (Palomar Records), showcases the lively fusion that is ignited when a band of bluegrass pickers find their inspiration in cowboy culture (and perhaps just a little bit of tequila). This bilingual collection combines contemporary songs and traditional rancheras and boleros, with titular songwriting credits going to esteemed cowboy balladeer Dave Stamey. Co-producing the project with Christina were David Jackson (of New West fame) and Rick Tetzlaff, a top Los Angeles recording and film sound engineer.