Rodrigo Cuevas, National Prize for Current Music

2023-10-09 16:33:36

Rodrigo Cuevas (Oviedo, 1985) and his kaleidoscopic mix of traditional and contemporary music have earned the National Prize for Current Music, worth 30,000 euros and awarded by the Ministry of Culture. The jury has distinguished the Asturian artist “for the uniqueness of his work” with a “transcendent proposal that unites traditional folk music and contemporary popular music” in which he marries cabaret or zarzuela with electronic music. He also appreciated that “his artistic project provides a strong commitment to diversity” and highlighted “the intensity of his live music” and “his extremely personal imagery of him.” Cuevas is a multidisciplinary artist. Singer, composer, accordionist and percussionist, he studied piano and tuba at the Oviedo Conservatory and Sonology at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC) in Barcelona. Interested in world music and the disciplines of cabaret and circus, his artistic revelation occurred during his stay in a small village in the interior of Galicia, where he came into contact with the purest traditional music thanks to the tambourines. .

In 2012 she published her first solo album, ‘Yo soy la maga’, in which electronica and traditional music merged in a disco catharsis. Later she created the ‘Dolorosa Compañía’, a provocative psychedelic festival duo with which she traveled for three years, until the premiere of her first solo show, ‘Electrocuplé’, with which she toured the Spanish underground.

The jury highlights his “uniqueness”, the “intensity” of his live performance and his “personal imagination”

In 2016 he published ‘Prince of Verdiciu’, with the Aris Música label, a turning point in his career, going from performing in venues for ten people to a tour with more than one hundred performances in large spaces throughout Spain. A year later he published his third album, a tribute to the Asturian artist ‘Tino Casal’.

His second show, ‘El mundo por montera’, consolidated his success and received the Audience Award at the Huesca Theater Fair. In 2018 she participated in ‘La verbena de la Paloma’, directed by Maxi Rodríguez, for the Oviedo Zarzuela Season and wrote the music for the play ‘Sidra en vena’. She is also part of the musical ‘Horror, the show that should never have been made’, with which she has toured several theaters.

Humor

His show ‘Trópico de Covadonga’, conceived as a contemporary popular songbook, consolidated his particular style, marked by folklore, electronics, ‘vintage’ elements and the sense of humor that characterize his performances. In his album ‘Manual de Cortejo’, from 2019 and in collaboration with Raül Refree, he mixes Asturian rhythms and melodies with muiñeira and habaneras, among other styles. His latest show is ‘Barbián’, a zarzuela-cabaré with which he was at the Teatro de la Zarzuela or at the Prague Quadrennial of Scenography and Scenic Space. Cuavas is the founder of the La Benéfica de Piloña association, along with Sergi Martí and Nacho Somovilla.

It is a living arts center for cultural artistic expression, community action and the fight against abandonment and depopulation of rural areas, whose headquarters stands on the building of the old Mutual Aid Society in the Asturian town of Piloña. In ‘La romería’, a show that draws on the songs from his album, ‘Manual de Romería, and in which he uses Asturian and Spanish as vehicular languages, premiered on June 30 at the Festival (a) Girona phonics. With it he has visited more than twenty cities and will take it next year to Portugal, Belgium, France and Mexico.

His awards include those awarded for Best World Music Album and Best Emerging Artist at the MIN Awards. In 2021 he received the RNE Critical Eye Award and in 2022 the Rainbow Award from the Ministry of Equality.

Cuevas takes over from Sílvia Pérez Cruz, winner of the award in 2022. Rozalén (2021), Chano Domínguez (2020), María Rodríguez ‘Mala Rodríguez’ (2019), Christina Rosenvinge (2018), Javier Ruibal (2017) received it before them. ), Martirio (2016), Jorge Pardo (2015), Carmen París (2014), Luz Casal (2013), Kiko Veneno (2012), Santiago Auserón (2011), the Dúo Amaral (2010) and Joan Manuel Serrat (2009) .

Rodrigo Cuevas: «This makes you continue in the fight for the official status of the Asturian»

The singer Rodrigo Cuevas has received with “a lot of emotion” the National Prize for Current Music, while celebrating that it is a recognition of diversity and a boost to his defense of the Asturian that he carries out through his musical proposal. “This makes you continue in the fight for the official status of the Asturian,” the artist pointed out, also ensuring that he does not yet know what he will do with the 30,000 euros with which the award granted by the Ministry of Culture and Sports is endowed.

Cuevas has referred to the award as recognition of Spanish languages ​​that are “very mistreated and reviled.” “It is a good boost for the Asturian,” he stated, to regret that in the Principality they have been waiting for an official process for the Asturian for 40 years. “It never just arrives,” he criticized.

Likewise, the artist was grateful that the award had highlighted his commitment to diversity. «The wonder of the place where we live is the diversity and variety we have. “He who hates her, hates his country,” he said.