Chacho & Brance
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Chacho & Brance

San Antonio, Texas, United States

San Antonio, Texas, United States
Band Blues Acoustic

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This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Duo Chacho and Brance's blues tunes sound right as rain"

-"Duo Chacho and Brance's blues tunes sound right as rain. Listen to Chacho and Brance for their foot-tapping blues rhythms, the stories their songs tell and the sincerity they pride themselves on. I want the listeners to say, these songs are as honest as they come, really, Chacho said."
- 210 SA by Jessica Belasco


"Budding TV stars"

Chacho & Brance will do more than celebrate the release of their debut CD, “The Como Sessions,” Saturday night at Saluté, 2801 N. St. Mary's St. They will be on their way to being TV stars, too.
“Troubadour TX” will tape the show for the series, which documents singer/songwriters across Texas while they chase their dreams. The series will debut in September on the CW Network.
Chacho & Brance are San Antonians Lorenzo “Chacho” Saldaña (lead singer, harmonica) and Brance Arnold (guitar, backup vocals). They wrote all the songs on “The Como Sessions,” a stripped-down recording with an old-timey feel of blues and country.
Nicolette Good and Los de Esta Noche will open.


Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/article/Riley-putting-on-Luckenbach-fest-1463180.php#ixzz1ZrbqixOg - San Antonio Express News by John Goodspeed


"The Music Beat: Duo knows how to lighten up"

Chacho & Brance - no, they can't represent you if you've been injured in an auto accident.
But they just might sing for their supper and leave you smiling in the process.
Singer-songwriters Lorenzo "Chacho" Saldaña and Brance Arnold are a talented, if admittedly unlikely, pair.
A chance meeting (Arnold was wearing a ratty Robert Johnson T-shirt) on the St. Mary's University campus in the mid-'90s set their course.
"I always wore that shirt," Arnold said with a laugh.
"I was just wondering who this guy was," Saldaña said about that fateful day. "It turned out we were both really big Rolling Stones fans, you know, Sticky Fingers. We just kinda hit it off.
"I'm just this Mexican dude from the border. I was raised with rancheras, you know. I've got a nopal on my forehead."
That makes Arnold "the big-city dude."
They formed the college band Fancy Sick, the name inspired by a John Keats poem, and played the requisite dives.
"We were a little avant-garde. We used to hang out in front of the library with all the artists at St. Mary's and smoke cigarettes and talk about art and weird stuff," Arnold said. "We weren't frat material. We were brothers from another mother."
Of late, they've come on like a breath of fresh air on the San Antonio music scene, finding a receptive home at Azeneth Dominguez's Salut¿.
Next month, Chacho & Brance are among a handful of San Antonio-based acts that will be featured in the CW reality-music series Troubadour, TX.
Their episode (they auditioned in April with a song about a car called Soulful Rider) airs Sept. 24.
Saldaña, 34, is a Piedras Negras native and vice principal at a South Side charter school.
Arnold, 35, is a military brat born in Germany and the son of longtime rodeo publicist Sharron Arnold. He works for a company that repossesses cars.
But the sound of Chacho & Brance - delta blues, honky-tonk country, Americana, gospel and Tex-Mex - is really born out of Saldaña's "pilgrimages to Mississippi to study the blues, Lefty Frizzell, Hank Williams" after graduating from college with a degree in literature.
Arnold had taken off to West Virginia. Three years later, they met again. Not only had they broadened their musical horizons, they'd also knew what they didn't want to be - deadly serious.
"Everyone takes themselves a little too seriously," said Saldaña about songwriters he's observed who have forgotten (or never learned) the good-time tradition of the craft.
"If we're listening to Lefty Frizzell one week, we write songs that have yodels, like Jimmie Rodgers. The next week we listen to the Black Keys, and it might come out a little bit more bluesy."
The songwriting division of labor is not unlike the 50-50 relationship of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Saldaña tends to be the wordsmith; Arnold handles the melodies and arrangements.
The duo is occasionally augmented by brothers Dave and Michael Volk. Dave plays drums; Michael plays electric bass. Chacho & Brance expect to release a nine-song album, Borderland Babylon, later this year.
It's hardly as introspective or political as, say, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle or Leonard Cohen.
For example, they have a gospel song called Born Again that's more about beer drinking and fun than singing hallelujah.
"We bring more of a rock 'n' roll, tap-your-feet element," said Saldaña, who gave Troubadour, TX producers and video crews a culture-shock kick when he took them to the giant pulga (flea market) in Poteet.
"We have a sense of humor about ourselves," Arnold said. "We're serious, too. But you've got to have some fun with it. You've got to make it a good time. Sometimes it's just about stompin' your feet and drinkin' some beers."
Arnold says the Troubadour, TX experience has brought them into the S.A. music community. Their monthly songwriter circle at the G.I.G. on St. Mary's Strip is one example. Salut¿ is another.
"We've found a home at Salut¿," Arnold said. "They had their arms open."
What's the best thing about the growing buzz around the duo?
"I can have a (bad) day. But the minute I start singing, it just goes away, man," Saldaña said.
- San Antonio Express News by Hector Saldana


"Live & Local: Chacho and Brance at Saluté International Bar"

Chacho and Brance came out of nowhere to steal a spot in the upcoming Troubadour, TX television series that begins airing in September on the CW network and NBC affiliates. The production, a docu-reality show, will follow the duo, as well as local singer-songwriters Nicolette Good, Little Brave, the Texas Ladybugs, and Stephanie Urbina Jones. More than 20 San Antonio performers auditioned; they did so well there is a good chance other names will be announced soon, according to show producer Erin Gardner.

And while Troubadour, TX is not a competition, on Saturday night at Saluté, Chacho and Brance were at match point: In a single night, they had to prove that the TV gig was not a fluke — that despite a low-key presence in the local music scene they’re more than a novelty act. Mission accomplished.

The duo goes from country-rock and gospel-folk to Delta, Chicago, and Hill Country blues with equal conviction, but it is the blues element that defines them. Singer Lorenzo “Chacho” Saldaña exhibits traits of some of the best: the timbre of a Stevie Ray Vaughan, the darkness and warmth of James Brown, and the range and electricity of Janis Joplin. His voice is deep yet possessed of many shades; his rhythmic and melodic sense, superb; the songs, so real. He also plays a mean harp. While both play guitar, it is Brance “Pony Boy” Arnold that’s in charge of the tasteful solos (with or without a resonator guitar) and fine vocal harmonies (he could’ve used a little more volume). If Chacho is the heart, Brance is the duo’s pulse.

After only a few songs from their EP (recorded in Como, Miss.) Chacho and Brance had the packed house in their respective pockets. It was a relaxed but focused, sweaty, and powerful display of guts and musicianship, and had they continued like that it would’ve been more than enough.

Then the band came out, and a wonderful hell broke loose.

With only a handful of rehearsals together, the collaboration was tight, with guitarist Marc Sauceda proving himself to be a riff machine, Michael Volk precise on his bass work, and brother David Volk solid on both sticks and brushes in the back. But it was the sum of the parts that made the night. These were five guys bringing out the best in each other.

Of course, it was too perfect to be true. Somebody had to get in the way.

Before the show and twice between songs, one guy who claimed to be the promoter who brought the Stones to Montreal in ’72 got onstage to push the band’s CDs. “Chacho and Brance is the best music you’ve ever heard on North St. Mary’s,” he said, oblivious to the fact that a guy named Esteban Jordan had also played on the same stage. Besides, I don’t care if he discovered Lady Gaga or slept with the Pope: You don’t get onstage in the middle of the show to praise the band and sell CDs. You just don’t. It turns out neither the band nor Saluté’s management knew the guy. The show was flowing, and Colonel Parker had to interrupt it twice. The third time he wanted to jump in, Chacho wisely told him: “It’s cool, man. I got it.”

Chacho and Brance are a rare case of party with substance, and a new musical power in the local scene. How big? It’s up to them.

If they’re happy with just playing as a duo with guitars and harps, fine — that would make them one of the best local acts and arguably the best blues act in San Antonio. Not bad. But if they convince Marc, Dave, and Mike to continue the party, or if they find similar musicians (good luck) and perform as a quintet, well, folks, that would mean there is a new Sheriff in town. - San Antonio CURRENT by Enrique Lopetegui


Discography

Fancy Sick 1998
Right As Rain 2007
The Como Sessions w/ Jimbo Mathus 2010
Borderland Blues in Production 2012

Photos

Bio

Songwriters from San Antonio Tx, Chacho and Brance met at St. Mary's University in the late 90s and have been writing songs off and on since. They have performed regionally and in Mexico. In the summer of 2010, they had the pleasure of recording an EP at Delta Recording Services in Como, MS; Jimbo Mathus of Squirrel Nut Zippers and Tri-State Coalition fame played several instruments on the sessions. Recently, C&B were asked to perform for the new national TV series Troubadour TX's Meet & Greet in Austin, TX. Following the Meet & Greet performance, Troubadour TX invited C&B to play a couple songs for the Artist in the Round at KE Bushmans Winery in Tyler, TX; it was covered by local TV and radio and the performance will be aired on the show, debuting in September 2011. Chacho & Brance will also be a featured artist on the TV series. C&B be are honored to be among such first class songwriters. Enjoy the soul folk, friends!!