Album Notes

Joe Reyes was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1963; two months before the assassination of JFK and six months before the British Invasion. His mother played piano and his father played guitar. There was music in the house via the television and a nice RCA console stereo with mostly adult fare for LPs; Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra (his mom's favorite) and Edie Gorme. When he saw and heard The Beatles on TV, he asked that his next toy be the soundtrack to "Help". He was five.

Since then, he has become one of the more busy working guitarists in South Texas. He was nominated along with guitarist Sergio Lara for a Latin Grammy award in 2001 for Best Instrumental Album for Lara & Reyes' "World Jazz". And he received a Grammy award in 2002 for co-producing and performing on Freddy Fender's "La Musica de Baldemar Huerta". Along the way there were several switches in musical styles -- from heavy metal as a teenager, to jazz-fusion in his twenties, to latin guitar in his thirties -- all of which helped broaden his knowledge and appreciation for all music. He has played guitar or produced sessions as varied as those by Buck Owen and Dwight Yoakum, to Flaco Jimenez and The Kumbia Kings.

And though known mostly for his instrumental prowess, he has steadily amassed a number of songs in which he writes, sings, performs and records everything himself at his home studio. His first solo release, the EP "ill-equipped", sounds more like The Beatles than Ottmar Liebert and although there are some guitaristic moments, the songs themselves are allowed to shine through.

Currently performing solo, with indie-popsters Buttercup, Texas rockers The Swindles, as well as singer-songwriters Hilary York and Marcus Rubio, Reyes continues to learn more about his art by keeping his eyes, ears and mind open.