It is no secret that US music has a strong presence in Argentina, from the Black Eyed Peas songs that pump out of every boliche, to the ability of the Pixies to pack a massive stadium like Luna Park. But a group of Argentine musicians have embraced genres that might surprise US expats: old school country, bluegrass, folk and southern rock.
A live country music show in Buenos Aires province (photo/Reynaldo Paladino)
For the past decade, a half dozen or so country bands have been playing regular gigs at bars and restaurants around Buenos Aires and the province, donning cowboy hats and boots and singing about whiskey, guns, and trucks.
“Our sound is like traditional honky talk, or traditional cowboy song, a little Texas swing, a little bluegrass banjo and fiddle,” said Henry Donati, a 50-something steel guitarist and singer.
The South plays about 30% originals, incorporating handclaps and three-way harmonies. The rest of their songs are covers by artists like George Jones, Alan Jackson, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Sometimes the bandmates’ daughters, aged 10-14, join the show at the end of the night to perform a Dixie Chicks song or two.
Wanted, a 7-piece cover band comprised of Argentines in their late 20s to mid 30s, focuses on neo-traditionalists like Garth Brooks, Dwight Yoakam and Trisha Yearwood, recreating their biggest hits with classic country instruments like the banjo, mandolin, and fiddle.
“Here, the people don’t know southern rock,” said Martín Blebel. “There are people who come and don’t know that we are country, and they end up liking it.”
The crowds range from long-time fans and friends, to middle-aged diners who do not mind listening to a Johnny Cash cover while eating, to 20-somethings who show up decked out in their own country and western attire.
The music has found popularity outside of Buenos Aires as well.
In September, dozens of bands gathered at the San Pedro Country Music Festival, about two hours north of the city, including acts from Chile, Brazil and Uruguay. The US Embassy has sponsored North American bands to play in the past.
The Southern Look
The costumes are just as important to the entertainment as the music. On a Saturday night at Jackie-O, a kitschy bar in the Las Cañitas neighbourhood, The South showed up looking like they were ready for Halloween: embroidered leather boots, Stetson hats, red bandanas and button-up shirts. Donati sported his trademark low ponytail and a long, gray moustache that makes him resemble a 70s-era Jimmy Buffett.
The South play a show at Las Cañitas (photo/Jessie Akin)
Most of the clothing comes directly from the United States. Wanted’s outfits come largely from Blebel’s semester abroad at a Tennessee college in 2000, and the other bands rely largely on mail-order catalogues and special requests to friends who are travelling to the States.
Paraphernalia featuring the Confederate flag – the symbol of the pro-slavery states that tried to secede from the US in the mid-19th century – features prominently at some of these gigs. Donati regularly wears a pin with its image.
“Henry’s been told enough times [that the flag is offensive]; I really don’t think he cares,” said Jake Charles, a US expat who often opens for The South. He was also the only performer at Jackie-O who appeared to be dressed in his street clothes.
“There are people from here who know the history of the South [the region, not the band],” said Blebel. “But there are people who don’t know anything… We do it [dress traditionally] because we like it. But you have to understand that for the people who invented the music, this is a total lifestyle. They don’t use boots because they like the style. They use them because they work in the countryside.”
These country shows often feature another, less controversial aspect of traditional Southern music: line-dancing. A group of middle-aged Argentine women regularly attend the shows and create a makeshift dance floor in front of the bands.
“Line dancing can get pretty tough,” Donati said. “There are a lot of people that…[develop] really difficult choreographies. Our bunch, they keep it simple, so as to let the new people discover line dancing.”
Donati, who is retired, said that one of the things he loves most is recruiting new talent and encouraging them to play, going so far as to organize gigs and advertise events online.
Talcott Parsons, a 30-year-old Buenos Aires musician, has played regularly with The South since he returned from a ten-month European tour last June. Parsons dresses in a military blazer and sailor hat, playing country-tinged pop originals on his electric acoustic guitar, in addition to songs by favourite artists like Bob Dylan.
“Whenever Henry does a gig, he invites me and Jake [Charles],” Parsons said.
Line Dancing can include complicated moves (photo/Reynaldo Paladino)
“He [Donati] loves the foreigners,” Charles laughed. A California native who is passing through South America to teach English, Charles was surprised to find a warm reception for his love of folk and classic rock.
“It’s not just the country stuff. It’s the Byrds and Neil Young and CCR,” he said. “I never expected to play music here.”
Blebel found his way to country music through American rock, following the trail from CCR and Elvis Presley to more traditional artists. Multiple trips to Nashville during his time in the US only intensified his interest in the genre.
For Donati, the first encounter with US music came during a childhood spent in San Isidro amongst the children of American expats, watching cowboy programs like Raw Hide and Gunsmoke.
“I was nine years old, and I was with my guitar beside the black and white TV set,” Donati said. “And you kind of learned it by ear. There was no Internet in those days, so if you missed the chords you had to wait for the next day, because there was no way to reproduce it other than by listening to the little speakers of the black and white TV set.”
