By Liz Lopez
The “Mujeres de Canción” concert is hosted by La Peña and Tish Hinojosa, as part of the City of Austin’s Cultural Arts programming, featuring San Antonio born Hinojosa who has a career spanning more than three decades and has toured extensively in the U.S. and Europe. Hinojosa has recorded in English and Spanish as an independent artist for major record labels, seventeen, and her most recent album, “West,” includes new originals and an eclectic mix of covers.
Katia Cardenal (See above photo) is a Nicaraguan singer/songwriter who began her musical career in 1978, formed the Duo Guardabarranco with her late brother Salvador and is the winner of the II place in the OTI International Festival 1990 in Las Vegas, representing Nicaragua. She has recorded ten albums as a soloist. Katia lived in Norway for five years, recording with one of the most respected labels in the country. She is included in Norway’s Encyclopedia of Pop and Rock and is successful with her Spanish translations of Norwegian songs.
I met Tish Hinojosa during the week of the music festivals earlier this month at La Peña and subsequently had the opportunity to obtain more information about the upcoming show. Hinojosa shares how she came to know Ms. Cardenal.
“I became aware of Katia and her brother Salvador’s music in the early nineties, when their promoter in Arizona came to one of my shows and gave me several of their CDs. I fell in love with the music immediately. A couple of years later, I was on tour in Norway. After finishing my show in Oslo, a woman came up to me and introduced herself. It was Katia. She was married, pregnant, recording, and living in Oslo. We became friends and stayed in touch since then. In the mid-2000’s she started a Latina Women’s Singer-Songwriter festival in Nicaragua. I was in the lineup in 2009. This will be the first time that we perform together.”
This is not the first time that Hinojosa hosted a cultural programming show and she states how this musical event with Katia come about for the show at La Pena. “Last year, I presented ‘Cowgirls con Guitarras,’ a song swap concert with rock-a-billy filly Rosie Flores. I presented this at La Peña. It had a super successful turnout. For this year, I chose the title “Mujeres De Cancion” to present more of an international flavored program. I could think of no one better than Katia. I was thrilled when my timeframe worked with her schedule of being in the States on tour. I knew that this would be a perfect show for the audience and heart of La Peña.”
The audience can anticipate a different show this time. “The way I like to present is sitting together on stage and exchanging songs and conversation in two sets with a break in between for people to get to meet the artist and for the artist to sign CDs etc. This kind of performance, to me, gives it a more intimate living room kind of atmosphere.”
These two cultural arts programming shows are not the only history shared between Hinojosa and the Perez sisters (Cynthia and Libby) who are all from San Antonio and attended the same high school there. “I’ve worked with the Perez sisters since I met them shortly after moving to Austin from New Mexico in 1988. Then, it was events held at Las Manitas, the cultural heart of Austin. I have worked closely with La Peña over the years, either playing music for art exhibits or them supporting my record releases and concerts.”
This musical performance will be held at La Peña, 227 Congress Avenue, Austin TX. The admission is $20 and call 512-477-6007 or lapena227@gmail.com for details on tickets. www.lapena-austin.org