Friday, July 17, 2009

Latino Grammy award winner to tour U.S.

Ricardo Arjona set to kick-off "5to Piso U.S. Tour" July 30 at Miami's American Airlines Arena
CMN.com

Following a series of stops throughout Latin America in support of his latest recording, “5to Piso” (“5th Floor”), two-time Grammy Award winning artist Ricardo Arjona prepares to head stateside to begin a 20-city U.S. tour, which kicks off on Thursday, July 30 at Miami’s American Airlines Arena. Other stops include Los Angeles, Orlando, Atlanta, New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Boston. Tickets for all shows are on sale now at Ticketmaster by calling 1-800-745-3000 and can also be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com.

The tour follows a two-year hiatus that saw the artist work incessantly on the new album, which has already received wide acclaim. Produced by Arjona himself, the new album features 14 songs that reveal some of Arjona’s most personal experiences. The live “5to Piso” show is nothing short of spectacular, as the Guatemalan born artist relives a series of stories onstage in a theatre-like, intimate setting.

Guatemalan-born Ricardo Arjona is one of the more respected Latin artists, mostly for his social conscience and his integrity in writing and performing songs. Born in Antigua, he was interested in music from an early age but later decided to become a rural schoolteacher. He also played basketball for the Guatemalan national team, but continued to play his guitar and write songs in his spare time. After realizing that music was his one true love, he moved to Mexico City; once there, he began looking for a record contract and played at many student festivals, increasing his status as a protest singer.

Arjona finally found a contract through PolyGram, but the label attempted to market him as a Latin-lover type on his debut album, “Dejame Decir Que Te Amo” (“Let Me Say I Love You”). Predictably, the album failed, and Arjona spent the next five years teaching and occasionally writing songs recorded by other artists. He moved to Buenos Aires, began playing again, and soon returned to the recording sphere with material more suited to his experiences as a protest singer, namely "Jesus Verbo No Sustantivo," a controversial song about his experiences at a Catholic school as a child. It gained him a contract with Sony, which released many of his most popular albums, including “Animal Nocturno.” --(John Bush, All Music Guide)

Arjona’s last studio album, “Adentro,” helped the artist garner a Grammy (Best Pop Album) in 2007 and a Latin Grammy in 2006 (Best Male Pop Vocal Album). He also won the ASCAP Award for Latin Music in the category of “Best Song of the year-Pop Ballad” in 2006.

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