Exclusive Download: Rodrigo y Gabriela's Flamenco Inspired 'Juan Loco'

Rodrigo y Gabriela, ' Juan Loco'

Tina K.

Click to listen to Rodrigo y Gabriela's 'Juan Loco'

Mexican duo Rodrigo y Gabriela has announced the release of their upcoming album, Area 52, on January 24th. The album was recorded in Havana, Cuba, and is the duo's first recorded collaboration with another group of musicians. Their lead single, the flamenco-inspired "Juan Loco," features famed flamenco bassist Carles Benavent, to switch up the vibe of the track. "[Benavent] could just change the rhythm in terms of the bass line, in terms of making it a little bit less Latin and more kind of his way – you know, which could be jazzy, could be more flamenco based style or whatever," Rodrigo explains. "It goes well with the guitars because it's a very hyper-active track in terms of playability and he suits perfectly for these kinds of tracks."

Rodrigo y Gabriela's Area 52 will be released on January 24th, but you can download "Juan Loco" for free here.

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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