Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
“Christina Ortega is one of the best kept secrets in roots music today. With her incredible voice and a style that is all her own, she’s equally at home with a Mexican ballad as a raucous country swing tune or bluegrass breakdown. She’ll soothe you with sweet melodies and then turn around and knock you dead with her power. With talent like this, she won’t be a secret for long!” - Swallow Hill Music Association - Denver, CO
“A venue owner could not ask for a better two hours of entertainment. Our world is well aware of the excellent voice of Christina Ortega. She could sing the telephone book and get an encore. But we were not prepared for the quality of her overall show. What a night! The audience left smiling and glassy-eyed. Most commented, "Where did you get that show and when will they be back?" - Coffee Gallery Backstage and The Ice House - Pasadena, CA
"Christina Ortega has a voice that stops you in your tracks....she reliably delivers her music with enough power to propel everyone and everything across the dance floor..." - FolkWorks magazine - Jan/Feb 2004
“Christina Ortega is a dynamic artist whose music has cut through all the usual silly notions about genres and musical barriers. Whatever label one attaches to Christina's music, she has the ability to inhabit each note and the spaces between each note with so much conviction that the audience is left unquestionably moved.” - "FolkScene" co-hosts/producers
Discography
"The Vaquero Song" on Palomar Records
Available at http://www.cdbaby.com/christinao
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
It all started with a bottle of tequila. One day Christina and her bluegrass pals were sitting around arguing about who would eat the worm. Picking up their instruments they soon realized they were onto something new. Tom “Chuy” Corbett’s guitar, Otoño Luján's accordion, and Ruben Ramos’ bass found the perfect balance of joy and melancholy that defines the best in ranchera and bluegrass music. Christina uncorked the feeling in her heart and let the passion of two languages spill out into the world. Let’s put it this way – if Bill Monroe had been born on a ranch in Mexico (and if he had been a girl), this is what it might have sounded like. In live performance the band sizzles and snaps the musical whip as melancholy corridos crackle with a newly found vitality and energy, creating a sonic stew that bridges the historical and musical gap between the American cowboy and the Mexican vaquero.
Christina and her band of merry men have appeared at prestigious venues such as the Autry Museum of Western Heritage and as guest artists on the nationally syndicated program, “FolkScene”. They were recently selected by the North American Folk Alliance (out of 600 worldwide applicants) to be alternate main stage showcase artists, as well as performers on the Latin Music showcase at their recent international trade show in San Diego. Not bad for a girl who thought she was headed for a career in opera.
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