Sarah C and The Centeno Band

The group now known as SARAH C & THE CENTENO BAND originally started as a two piece band in 2010. The singer (Sarah Centeno) and her brother (Gilbert Centeno) started off performing small venues together and eventually expanded the group adding drums/percussion, bass, and keyboards. Taking a brief detour years before the start of the band, the brother and sister ( Gilbert and Sarah) had two definitive differences. The first big difference was the age gap between the two performers. They are 12 years apart in age which adds an interesting element to the style of original songs written. Gilbert had come with 12 years of experience on stage but in the heavy rock arena where music was less bent on commercialism and more on the free spirited raw writing styles. After leaving the heavy rock scene which he was most accustomed to, he attempted to enter into the daily norm and follow the everyday 9 to 5 typical work schedule. While gaining great skills in the work force he could not escape his passion for music composition and performing. He was missing what he needed the most, music. Sarah on the other hand developed from a somewhat influenced position while watching her brother perform and took to singing up at a very early in age at about 11 years old. However her father ( Gilbert Senior) was the driving force behind her vocal development and is also an important advocate of the group for the pure love of music. Sarah had a natural born talent from the start and quickly developed a "diva" status voice tackling with ease artist selections such as Aretha Franlkin, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and many others. Her talent to dish out powerhouse vocal performances landed her many distinctions and awards from various talent competitions. The two most prominent of these distinctions was first, a national performance at the Boy Scouts of America 100 Year Anniversary Jamboree Festival in Virginia. At this great honor she performed in front of 60,000 screaming boy scouts while being aired on Times Square in New York City. The second, was Sarah being selected as a winner in a vocal competition held by David Foster. Here she was selected out of thousands of submissions and had the great honor of performing on stage accompanied by David Foster in Las Vegas and later joined the stage with Kenny Loggins, the late Donna Summers, and Ruben Studdard for the grand finale performance! Before the group she had little skill in composition and arranging of music and this is where her brother came in. Ever since the group materialized she has been co-writing with her brother creating songs that have elements of pure originality, top notch vocals while still emphasizing that catchy and even dance friendly hook. This is what sets SARAH C & THE CENTENO BAND apart from other groups. While most other groups in the pop/rock arena have at most two of these elements and even that is rare, this group has all three of these elements. Influences include Michael Jackson( Gilbert's main inspiration), John Mayer, Adele, Jessie Jay, Maroon 5, James Taylor, Muse, Lady Antebellum, Cee Lo Green, Stevie Wonder, Neon Trees, Coldplay and Train just to name a few. The group is very well seasoned and fuses a mixture of influences into their daily writing sessions. Another very important aspect to having great talent is having great sound recordings. The mastermind behind the scenes who gives the group its distinct and high quality sound is the drummer Ben Rodriguez. He has great expertise in the styles of recording as well as in producing high quality sounding recordings. He is the brains of the operation when it comes to the technicalities of recording and mixing tracks and is an invaluable asset to the group. And to put the cherries on top of the ice cream sundae, Alex Jimenez(bass) adds the growl and groove while our newest addition Richard Valdez(keys) gives the band an even more creative and competitive sound with whats on the radio these days. Whatever your style of contemporary music is, Sarah C & The Centeno Band will appeal to your ear and keep you coming back for more.