José Ángel Hevia Velasco was born in Villaviciosa, Asturias in 1967
He first came into contact with the bagpipes when he was four years old during a procession in Amandi when he was with his grandfather. It was there that the image of a man and his bagpipes had and impact on the very young José Ángel. The unity between the pipe player,his music and the instrument seemed magical to him.
Hevia then began bagpipe classes.three times a week, after school, he took the bus to Gijon. Armando Ferdandez taught him in the traditional style and then accompanied him back to the bus. He arrived home at 12 O'clock at night and the following day practised what he had learned in class so he hardly had time for other leisure activities.
The same year in which he began classes, he underwent a baptism of fire' in sporadic performances with folk groups. His Sister, Maria José , noticing that a drummer accompanied all bagpipe players, wnated to participate. One of the best drummers that villaviciosa had, Sabino Cifuentes, agreed to tutor her in all the traditional rhythms, in his own house,with great patience. At the end of class Hevia took his bagpipes and played songs so his sister could try to accompany him. All this often ended up on a huge rumpus when a pacifying "mother's spanking" usually resolved the problem.
Shortly after, they began performing together throughout Asturias and travelling to diffrent Asturian centres overseas.
in 1985 José Ángel began to give classes and shortly after formed a bagpipe band with his pupils. Thus, without abandoning the traditional pair, the bagpipes and the drums, a new period in his life had begun. During this time, the bagpipes had suddenly become popular amongst young Asturians and music schools sprung up in a multitude of places. José Ángel himself founded new schools in Villaviciosa, Candás, Ribadeselia and Mieres, out of which came new bagpipe bands.
During this time he also performed in various folk groups and collaborated in a variety of recordings. Meanwhile he was studying Spanish Philology at University but his real vocation continued to be music and the bagpipes.
In that same year he devoloped the midi-bagpipes. this initiative started by trying to solve the problem that all pipe players have when they are practising at home; that of disturbing the neighbors. to this end, he and Alberto Arias, one of his pupils who was a computer programmer, created a kind of plastic scale with the pulse buttons of a slot machine. This eventually became the midi-bagpipes, which in the end has become emblematic and indispensable in his work. within his reasearch team also worked the electronic technician Miguel Dopico.
In 1997 Jose Ángel began his career as a soloist. He recorded his first album "Tierra de Nadie" which was his first great success both on a national and international level. His album, backed by a world tour, was released in more than 40 countries and in many of which reached the first places in the hit parades. More than 2,000,000 albums where sold winning a multitude of gold and silver discs in countries as diverse as Italy,Hungary,New Zeland,Belgium,Denmark and Portugal.
in 2000 he released his second album "Al Otro Lado - Al otru llau" with which he renewed his success visiting with his new tour some of the previous countries and discovering new ones.
The following year he accomplished his dream and inaugurated a musical instrument factory in Guadarrama, and currently alternates the managment of this initiative with his music.
As you may or may not know I was asked to write for an amazing project called quite simply, Barstow. I was introduced to Robert by a mutual friend and the whole thing snowballed. The collection of information has been complete for some time and we are well into compiling it into a readable format. If you"re a fan of Hunter Thompson"s journalism and the styles of Anthony Burgess or Chuck Palahniuck you"ll love Barstow.
Robert"s main stipulation for me, if I was to take on the project, was to keep things as real as he remembers them. What happened is not for people who are easily offended or of high moral constitutions. The fact is that some of the events are downright horrific but Robert survived and made it back to Los Angeles.
I thought that seeing as though the website is now up and running I"d let you know about it. Robert will be posting there intermittently but mainly it will be a place for us to display excerpts and discuss the details of what happened to Robert and how we pulled all the information together. It took a lot of time and hard work but the project is finally getting near to something resembling completion.
especialmente para tiii con todo CariÑo y respeto desde tijuana Mexico, a kien le tengo profunda admiracion y respeto! tu musika es amor, es magia, pasion es fuente de vida!! me proyectas grandes emociones y te doy gracias por ello.
RAINBOW MUSIC CAMP, was a cosmic expierance of Jammin Musicians & connecting with a Rainbow Tribe of people feeling as one Energy with Mother Earth, the Stars, Sun & Moon, Drum Circles round the Fire of Life into the Spirit & Soul of the Heartbeat of Mother Earth up into the Universe, Moon & Stars. I did my first Bodhran Workshop, it went really well, feeding off the vibes of Rainbow Energy positively, passing on the energy of the bodhran drum to people to give them inspiration, confidence, teaching & to develop your own style & sound of playing the bodhran. Jammin with some great musicians on stage & round fire with a lot of connection of feeding on the energy of the food of life~ Music, Drums, Mother Earth, Rainbow Warriors, The Tribe of Rainbow people, the Stars, Sun & Moon. Played drums with the Circle Dance, 5 Rhythms Wave, Ceilidh band, Procession and jammin.
The Rainbow Warriors are as One Heartbeat As One with the Mother Earth of Life The Spirit of the Drums are as One Drumbeat As One with the Rainbow Vibe of life The Cosmic Expierances are as One Love As One with the Rainbow Tribe of Life The Light of the Sun & Moon are as One Universe As One with the Rainbow Music Camp of Life Eternal.
Went to the WYCHWOOD MUSIC FESTIVAL last weekend, Drumming with INTA AFRICA, playing groovin Rhythms of Mother Earth & jammin. Bands i saw: Dreadzone, Transglobal Underground, Kissmet, Mor Karbasi, Kate Rusby and Imagined Village. Very peaceful & enlightning festival.
Drumming to the Heartbeat of Mother Earth Deep in the Spirit of the Sun & Moon Drumming to the Rhythms of Mother Earth Deep in the Spirit of the Land & Sea Drumming to the Soul of Mother Earth Deep in the Spirit of the Universe.
Te escuché por primera vez en la radio, en el 99 (Bushindre Reel), en Paraguay (Sur de América). Al otro lado del mundo! Y me encantó. Desde entonces, cuando venía de vacaciones a la casa de mi tía, me compraba el que me faltaba (porque allí era dificil de conseguirlos). Ahora vivo en Gijón, y en parte, eres un pelín responsable de ello, porque gracias a tí, era aún mas grande el cariño por mi patria chica. Te deseo toda la suerte del mundo, y más.
