Ok, that`s all I have to say about the band`s history (I hope you have enough patience to keep reading, if you hadn`t stop yet...). As for the comments, well, what can I say... I should thank some people for supporting us without even knowing us. As for Diane`s comments I would like to say ther the following:

1.- We like Flook, and we like the way they sound. It`s ok for us if you (and many more people) thinks we sound as them, as long it`s not maybe more than for a couple of tunes. They are a great inspiration for us, and we are going to have the chance to ask them what do they think about our work, because we`re going to play as special guests of them in the Fiddlers Green Festival in Rostrevor, Northern Ireland. You can check it on www.flook.co.uk , in their "tour dates" section.

2.- Our ages are between 21 and 30. That means that none of us were alive by the `73, and most of us were just childs or not even born when the "Junta Militar" made all those awful things. We`re a new generation, indeed we`ve not forgotten what they did and we feel very very close to the "Nueva cancion chilena" movement. I really apretiate your work with exiled chileans. Because of people like you many chileans found a new home in times that it was really difficult for them.

3.- I completely agree with you when you say that "that it would be of infinitely greater value for audiences on an overseas tour to hear the band's indigenous music rather than that which is all around them, polluting and diluting those still-extant traditions" (except for the words "polluting" and "diluting", it think we could find better words for our work). If you have the chance to go to our concert you will indeed hear some musical elements of some latin american cultures like the Mapuches, who are the chilean indios who lives in southern chile and fought against the spanish conquerers hundreds of years ago (now the fight against the chilean government but that`s another story). We are also opening our show with the "Danzas de Bailaviejo" set, which are dances from small villages in Mexico, that we specially arranged by listening original recordings made many years ago about them.

4.- Our new cd is based on the work of Gabriela Mistral, a chilean female poet (who won the Nobel Prize), and we use many of her poems in which she talks about the importance of our own heritage and the indigenous cultures. We combine elements of such cultures with the music we were already doing, now for 5 years.

5.- Finally, I must tell you that we`re doing workshops in 10 primary schools here in Yorkshire and we`re teaching songs from Violeta Parra and Victor Jara, as well as other chilean music. You would have been very impressed on how fast the kids from the Scout Road Junior School learnt yesterday the song "Que pena siente el alma" by Violeta Parra. We did teach them the guitar chords and the lyric so we hope they will someday want to know a little more about this great woman called Violeta. And the people who`s going to our concerts WILL have the chance to hear chilean Folk Music... you can count on it.


If anyone wants to contact us please don`t hesitate in writing us at info@bandaceltamericana.cl

It would be great also if you could talk more about music than politics, but are free to do what you want, so keep writing if you want to say something to us that you may want others to know.


See ya,

Ernesto
Banda Celtamericana


PD. By the way, we use the word "celtic" (we know it has a "commercial" origin) because that`s how the irish music is known in Chile and South America, and we also play music from another places which also have a "celtic heritage" such as Scotland, Galicia, Asturias and Bretagne. You can visit www.americacelta.com and check how many "celtic" bands are in S.A.