Napa bands recording CDs and getting into the groove

By CARLOS VILLATORO, Register Staff Writer

The sounds of Mexico fill the Napa Valley's fiestas, quinceaeras, weddings and radio stations. At the forefront of this musical movement are local musicians, who live and work in the valley by day and rehearse, record and play shows in Napa and beyond by night.

Members of two Napa-based groups, Grupo Impulzo and Banda Realengo de Colima, dream of leaving their day jobs and making it big in world of Musica Latina.

Grupo Impulzo

Three times a week the premises of Schieck Printing, located south of Napa, are filled with sweet sounds. The music of Jose Manuel Soria's accordion, Frank Cazarez's vocals and rhythm guitar, Mario Chavez's drums, Julio Cesar Garcia's congas and Gerardo Guevara's bass guitar bounces off the rolls of paper and boxes stored in the back of the shop.

Grupo Impulzo uses the warehouse -- where by day Cazarez operates a press -- to rehearse the songs they plan to throw onto their upcoming CD. They're four songs deep into the completion of the disc and are taking some time off from playing shows to get some recording done.

Since the band formed in 2002, Impulzo has had songs played on the radio, signed with two record labels and toured across the state and as far away as Chicago. But before all of that, the musicians were busy making a name for themselves at quinceaeras and weddings throughout Napa and Santa Rosa.

Shortly after they began playing together and gaining notoriety among Napa's Hispanic community, they earned enough money to record their first CD, "Por Que te Conoci" -- "Why I Care About You."

"We recorded the first disc just to have something to give out," said Soria, who formed the band along with Chavez and Eduardo Vazquez. Kamaro Records released the CD, and that was just what the band needed to get going.

Radio stations Exitos 100.9, La Vaquera 1490 AM and La Maquina Musical 1460 AM played cuts from the 11-song album including "Baila Baila," "Por Que Te Conoci," "Cumbia del Sol," and "El Palomito," increasing the group's popularity. The album sold 10,000 copies, Soria said.

"It feels good to hear your music on the radio," Soria said.

"You feel like you are on the right track," added Chavez.

With the success of the record, the band was able to command more money for performances and more leverage to shop for a better record contract. The group signed with Cosver Records in 2004 and recorded its second album, "Este es Solo El Principio" -- "This is only the beginning."

"Este es Solo El Principio" gave Impulzo's fans another glimpse at what the band was capable of doing. Songs "Solo Tu," "El Tamarindo," and "Oiga Amigo," were fan favorites and were broadcast to new audiences in Utah and Chicago.

The group calls their sound "Una Nueva Generacion Nortea" and infuses it with hints of rock, pop, salsa and traditional cumbia.

Giving up on music is not an option for the quintet.

"It's a necessity of life," Cazarez said. "If I don't do it, I go crazy. Indeed, it's a passion."

Impulzo is currently in the process of signing a record deal with Solo Records and plans to release their yet-to-be-titled CD by the middle of the year. The CD is being produced by Soria at Napa's JMS Recording Studio. For future show dates or more information on the band visit www.grupoimpulzo.com or www.myspace.com/impulzo.

Banda Realengo

Arnoldo and Isidro Ceja proudly walk into the office of the Register with their latest CD, representing what they say will be their band's future. Banda Realengo is banking on their latest recording to lead to a deal with major label Univision Records.

Realengo's musical journey began in the small village of Colima, Mexico, where its nine members grew up together and learned to play their instruments.

"We've known each other since grade school," said Arnoldo Ceja, the group's trombone player.

In 1998, the members of Banda Realengo reunited in Napa and began playing at clubs, weddings and fiestas. Through hard work and playing mostly free shows, the band gained a name for itself. The group eventually earned enough money to record a demo CD filled with covers such as fellow Colima resident Jaime Velasquez's "EL Regalo" -- "The Gift."

The album's mix of romantic rancheras, corridos (ballads) and cumbias helped them get signed with Kamaro Records, sell 10,000 copies and get some radio airplay from such stations as La Vaquera, Ceja said. Hearing themselves on the radio gave them a sense that the band was taking off, he said.

"It's something incredible ... you can't believe that you are on the radio," he said.

With radio airplay fueling their success, the band took its sound on the road to clubs in Santa Rosa, Ukiah, Eureka, Los Angeles and as far away as Mexico. Being on the road is tough, according to Isidro Ceja, the band's singer.

"It hard leaving my family alone and traveling on the road," he said.

Realengo took a break from the road to record it's latest CD at the Colima-based studio of manager and producer Carlos Lupe Mendez. Members Miguel Virgen, Ismael Alcarez, Cesar Mejia, Eduardo Alcarez, Valentin Mejia, Rafael Robles and Marcos Villicaa are currently in Mexico, visiting family and playing shows, Ceja said.

Ceja said the group hopes to fire back up on the show circuit in late March when the rest of the guys are expected to return to Napa.

What's next for the band?

"If we continue like this, sky's the limit," Ceja said.

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