Music
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Dallas Morning News, The (TX)
June 16, 2006
Orlando's magic
Solo debut showcases Latin singer's rich, mature vocals
Author: MARIO TARRADELL; Staff Critic
Edition: FIRST
Section: GUIDE
Page: 20
Index Terms:
NOTES FROM HOME
Article Text:
There's a new Orlando Salinas passionately singing on Enseñame, the solo debut from the former lead singer of local rock en español band Filo.
Sitting in one of the recording studios at Media World Television, a Dallas-based production company where the CD was recorded, Mr. Salinas, joined by producer Amin Emam, talks about his musical about-face. Enseñame showcases his clean, breezy, rhythmic pop side after eight years writing murky, moody Latin rock songs.
Enseñame also stands as Mr. Salinas' most personal record. He sings about his late father in the title cut, and about the state of the world in "Padre Padre," a fiddle-laced tune where he mentions war, bombs, weapons, Jews and Arabs.
"'Padre Padre' is very personal to me," he says. "It's my feelings about what's going on in the world today. I don't like to be political. I don't want to come across political. But I'd like to really take the time to voice my own thoughts."
Enseñame is clearly a vocal showcase. Mr. Emam's uncluttered production put the emphasis on the Arlington-based singer-songwriter's crisp, melodic,! richly toned vocals. Mr. Salinas sounds mature, relaxed and in complete control of the proceedings. That's a marked difference from his days with Filo, where his voice was merely part of the group's atmospheric sound.
"The maturity in the voice has always been there," he says. "But going way back, it wasn't the voice, the voice, the voice. For me it was the song, the song, the song, whether it was playing rock 'n' roll or whatever. But everyone always said, 'Man, you can really sing a ballad.' That passion comes out when I sing with a guitar."
Recording Enseñame was inevitable for Mr. Salinas. He disbanded Filo, which built a following throughout Texas from 1994 to 2002, because "it just ran its course." His relationship with the Filo members remains strong. In fact, they play on the CD. Guitarist Sammy Echeverry co-wrote most of the album's tunes.
"We had opportunities," Mr. Salinas says of Filo, which was offered a recording contract with powerh! ouse Latin label Fonovisa. The band members turned it down because it "wasn't good enough."
"We played in Mexico. But it came to the point where ... I wrote all the songs, and I guess I just wanted to go in a different direction. Spending all that time with Filo ... and a lot of times I would get producers, other producers, telling me that I should go on my own. I did an ASCAP showcase in 2002, and the vice president of ASCAP ... she came up to me and said, 'You know, you should quit rock.' From that point, I thought about it, and I wanted to do it."
Mr. Emam believes Mr. Salinas "is such a versatile writer. The first time I heard the Filo thing, I thought it was really good, but when you actually hear him with just acoustic guitar, his presence and his voice is so amazing that you're like, 'My God, you could do the rock thing, but you can showcase your talent more this way.' He can write everything. He shouldn't be in just one particular genre. He can do all of them."
Born in Corpus Christi, Mr. Salinas lived down the stree! t from Ricky Vela, the longtime keyboard player for the late Selena's group, Los Dinos. Mr. Salinas knows that switching gears may be a commercial hardship. Especially since today's mainstream Latin radio is driven by urban music, namely reggaeton.
That's OK. He has faith that the masses still love good Latin pop.
"You got Alejandro Sanz, you got Juanes, people like that. They are doing very, very well here in America. You got guys like Luis Miguel. You are always going to have that population that goes for pop music."
Enseñame is available through www.cdbaby.com and www.tower.com.
E-mail mtarradell@dallasnews.com
Caption:
PHOTO(S): (MILTON HINNANT/Staff Photographer) Orlando Salinas says "passion comes out" when he sings ballads with a guitar.
Copyright 2006 The Dallas Morning News
Record Number: 1180430544 - Dallas Morning News, The (TX)
Filo - Va a Haber un Dia...
By: Ben Ohmart
Mar 25, 2001
Artist: Filo (www.filorock.com)
Title: Va a Haber un Dia...
Imagine a bid band sound replaced by the instruments of a rock band, and that half-explains the Latin drive that is Filo. Their first cd from 1997 went top 10 in a few cities, and now they're milking their bi-lingual talents to an even bigger body of fans.
Singing almost completely in Spanish, Filo crosses that genre line that Santana set up early on: rock plus native land lyrics plus the secret ingredient. 2 full time guitars. Yes, charismatic lead singer Orlando Salinas also takes a hand at acoustic guitar and percussion, but meantime Sammy Echeverry and Isaac Moran blend their rhythm and lead guitars together like one interwoven overdub. Where one guitar starts and where the other ends is a mystery to all but these 2 players.
And with that power, they proceed to rock houses from NY to Mexico. Songs like 'Como Te Quiero' are indistinguishable from rock n roll bands of the 80s and early 90s except for the language. That clean sound and tight guitar licks upon which they build - those are the moments when you remember the name Filo.
John Apodaca backs up everyone as main drum man, making guitar tunes 'Zonzo' and the like sparkle like Extreme, Rush, Stevie Ray Vaughn and the other biggies. Fred Rhodes is the bass man and 4th voice, often leading the guitarists straight ahead into tight-bodied work like the trippy cool down tune 'Dame Tu Cuerpo'.
You'll hear more of this Texas band soon. They've already played the Latin Jazz Festival in Dallas, the World Cup Soccer Fest in Dallas and tv appearances in TX, but now they're branching out for the rest of the country. They have the sound and talent to make you remember them, too.
- http://www.laritmo.com/mag/index.php3?id=665
FILO IS FEATURED EVERY WEEKEND ON ROCKOLEANDO. THE
BEST ROCK EN ESPANOL PROGRAM ON THE PLANET FEATURING
HECTOR ANDRADE AS YOUR HOST. THIS PROGRAM IS SPONSORED
BY THE WINSTON SALEM UNIVERSITY AND IS BROADCAST ON
90.5 FM RADIO (LOCAL) OR THROUGH THE INTERNET BY
VISITING WWW.WSSU.EDU AND SELECTING 90.5 FM. THIS
PROGRAM FEATURES THE BEST UP AND COMING ARTISTS
PLUS YOUR FAVORITE ROCK EN ESPANOL TUNES FROM THE
MOST FAMOUS BANDS ON THE PLANET. THE SHOW AIRS EVERY
SATURDAY AT 12AM ET. DON'T MISS IT, LOTS OF INTERVIEWS
AND NEWS ON THE SCENE!
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT HECTOR ANDRADE
THROUGH E-MAIL <ANPIO@YAHOO.COM>
FILO SE PRESENTA TODOS LOS FINES DE SEMANA EN ROCKOLEANDO,
EL MEJOR PROGRAMA DE ROCK EN ESPANOL EN EL PLANETA CON SU
LOCUTOR, HECTOR ANDRADE. ESTE PROGRAMA ES RESPALDADO POR
LA UNIVERSIDAD DE WINSTON SALEM Y ES TRANSMITIDO POR 90.5 FM
(LOCAL) OR POR EL INTERNET VISITANDO WWW.WSSU.EDU Y
SELECCIONANDO 90.5 FM. ESTE PROGRAMA REPRESENTA EL MEJOR
TALENTO NUEVO QUE ESTA SURGIENDO MAS LOS TEMAS FAVORITOS DEL
ROCK EN ESPANOL DE LOS GRUPOS MAS FAMOSOS EN EL PLANETA.
EL HORARIO DE PROGRAMACION ES SABADOS POR LA NOCHE A LAS 12AM ET.
NO SE LO PIERDAN, MUCHAS ENTREVISTAS Y NOTICIAS DE LA ONDA ROCKERA!
PARA MAS INFORMACION CONTACTEN A HECTOR ANDRADE
POR E-MAIL <ANPIO@YAHOO.COM>
- HECTOR ANDRADE
Filo gets onboard with BOOM !
Texas alterlatino powerhouse band FILO has just released - Va a haber un dia - for the next compilation CD from BOOM Magazine. This song which has already gained status as a hit internationally, was put on the internet as a free download on the Filo official website. It is a song of hope for a world needing unity and peace rather than terrorism and war. We put the song on-line the day following the September 11 attacks, it was our way to express ourselves and relieve our fears and anxieties. It was wonderful to see how many people reached out and listened to it. Now the song will be distributed on CD as part of a compilation of songs featuring the best alterlatino bands of the United States.
Its really a pleasure to finally get a chance to work with Kike (Posada), I have a lot of respect for his hard work and dedication to the Rock en Espanol scene says Sammy (Sech) Echeverry guitarrist of Filo who has lived in Miami and was born in Colombia. I totally relate to Kike, you have to live, eat and breathe this genre in order to make a difference and the results are becoming evident. Latin rock is proliferating the internet, radio stations are beginning to spin it, there are more events and event sponsors than ever before and the labels are paying attention.
We still have a ways to go but we as a band are on the cutting edge of this concept and our name (Filo) is very fitting. Were just beginning to showcase our music to the world and we have plenty of it. We could go in the studio and record several CDs right now and Im talking solid compositions ready for production. Were lucky to have Orlando (Salinas) who has won songwriter awards from Billboard and is a featured ASCAP songwriter. Our efforts go far beyond just the band, we are very proactive promoting the alterlatino scene and we try to help all of the local bands promote themselves to increase fan awareness.
Filo plans to go to Miami to promote their new CD next year and a video concept is in the works which will be submitted to MUN2 as part of their promotional campaign.
- http://filorock.es.tripod.com/filo/id3.html
Discography
The single "No te Olvides de Mi" on radio. The single will be on rotation in Atlanta, Chicago, Fresno, LA, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, McAllen, Miami, New York, and more cities.
New single "Esta Noche" from the album "Ensename", hit song "Va a haber un dia" from the "Va a heber un dia" album released in 2001 by Filo. Three Billboard songwriting awards, Two top ten hits in several markets throughout the US. Thousands of hits on website www.orlandosalinas.com
Photos
Bio
Orlando has performed throughout the US and Mexico. His music has been heard worldwide. He brings a unique style of passion and charisma to his performances. Once you see him live you'll be hooked.
Orlando Salinas was born in Corpus Christi, Texas. Heavily influenced by his father's poetry writing, Orlando began composing his own poems at the fresh age of fourteen. Soon after, Orlando became smitten with the guitar and immersed himself in learning how to play. Classical training opened the door to Spanish rhythms such as flamingo, bolero, and cumbia, as well as to American rock and pop. When Orlando was only seventeen years old, he had already written his first song. As of today, he has authored over 150 songs, has won several song writing contests, and has had two songs in the top ten in markets throughout the US. Additionally, people all over the world have enjoyed Orlando's music through his website.
Orlando's first experience as a musician actually came in the form of touring the US with a country band. This venture enabled him to develop his stage presence and to experience the day-to-day grind of life on the road. As the group's crooner, the young Latin artist showed tremendous potential, which inspired the band’s manager to hand him, the lead position in the group. The move paid off, especially in the band's popularity with women, who were quite obviously enthralled with Orlando's provocative voice and inviting aura on stage.
Since songwriting was still his first love, Orlando entered several song-writing contests and achieved even more success. In Billboard's annual contest, he won 3rd place in the Latin category in addition to four other honorable mentions. In the Texas Grammy Association contest, his Spanish demo was picked in the top 20 in spite of some 800 participants. Later, he was invited to Miami for the preliminaries of Spain's prestigious Benidorm International Song Festival during its 37th annual edition.
Latin songwriting first became a part of Orlando's many skills while traveling and honing his musical abilities with a now obscure cover band. The group's drummer asked Orlando to write Spanish lyrics to his early English compositions. Orlando quickly became proficient at it, formed a new band called Filo, and embarked on a new journey.
This venture took him to California, Mexico, and throughout Texas. Orlando had top-ten hits and performed with such popular artists as Alvaro Torres, Angelica Vale, Fobia, Victimas del Dr. Cerebro, La Sonora Dinamita, MDO, Kumbia Kings, Emilio, Jay Perez, and Hombres G.
Television appearances naturally followed, and included shows with stars like Little Joe and Johnny Canales. WFAA, Channel 8 in Dallas, aired the story of Orlando's music and his band on a TV show called "La Vida."
The Dallas Morning News and another newspaper from the south Texas valley wrote features about Orlando's group and its success during this era. Frequent radio airplay could be heard on many stations, such as KHDC 90.9 FM in Salinas, CA, KYST 920 AM in Houston, TX, KRVA 106.9 FM in Dallas, TX, WIUS 1570 AM in Bloomington, IN, and KPFA 94.1 FM Berkeley, CA.
Orlando's band was praised with rave reviews such as...
"Filo inspira visions y pasiones entre sus arreglos insuperables. Con su inigualable instrumentacion y su don de poesia realizada acualmente con inteligencia y carisma personal." - El Sol De Texas
"The original sensual music and smooth style is sure to propel Filo to stardom." - The Grayson Group
But amidst stardom, Orlando has seen tough times too. In the recent past, he has had to deal with pain and loss in his personal life. Tragically and untimely, Orlando lost his brother to AIDS. Shortly thereafter, his father was a victim of a fatal heart attack, and a mere eight months later, his mother was claimed by ovarian cancer. Suffering heartbreak made Orlando understand and appreciate life in a deeper way, and this evolution is prominently reflected in the maturity and grace of his most recent work.
Today, Orlando has joined forces with the multi-talented and experienced producer/composer Amin Emam, who produces and scores motion pictures for Media World and Norris Family Films. Together with co-songwriter Sammy Echeverry, they have crafted Orlando's first solo album. Now, with future hit songs and great market appeal, Orlando is well on his way to achieve massive success throughout the globe. Stay tuned!
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