Wednesday, August 9, 2006

El Gringo

Shawn Kiehne got his start singing in LLHS talent show

Jane Moorman News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jmoorman@news-bulletin.com

Los Lunas Sitting in a darkened Los Angeles movie theater, Shawn Kiehne of Los Lunas was among 300 cast and crew members watching a recently completed movie.

Almost unnoticed by the audience the background movie began a familiar tone for Kiehne. Then he heard his own voice singing.

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"I wanted to stand up and yell, 'That's my song!' I was so proud to hear it," Kiehne said of the song "Tocame (Touch Me)" that is in the soon-to-be released movie "Quinceañera."

The opportunity to have one of his many songs in the movie came when the film producer heard his work after discovering his Web site on the Internet.

"A film company from Hollywood e-mailed me and said they were looking for original Spanish music for the movie," he said. "I sent them a CD. About four months later, last fall, I got a call saying that the producer liked my song."

"Quinceañera," a film by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The movie premiered as a Sony Picture Classic Film in Los Angeles and New York City on Aug. 4. It opens nationwide on Aug. 11 and will be in Albuquerque theaters on Sept. 1.

Known to his Norteño music fans as El Gringo, Kiehne is making a name for himself in the music genre. He is the first Anglo to write and sing Norteño music and is attracting a lot of attention.

"I've been singing at fiestas in Northern New Mexico and the people seem to like my work," El Gringo said of the music that is aired frequently on area radio stations. "Everyone is amazed that a gringo is writing and singing their music. I think they appreciate my authenticity."

The audience's appreciation was displayed recently at the southwest regional competition in El Paso, Texas, for Univision's version of "American Ideal" — El Gigante de Mañana."

"Out of 123 contestants, I placed second," El Gringo said. "The selection was based on the crowd's response. That's when I knew El Gringo has something special."

While music has always been in the New Mexican's life, singing wasn't until 1992 when he performed in the Los Lunas High School talent show on a dare.

During his youth, Kiehne worked on his family's ranch near El Paso. It was there that he discovered Norteño music.

"I grew up in and around the Hispanic and Latino culture," he said. "During the summer, Grandpa would leave me at the ranch to work with the vaqueros (cowboys). They only spoke Spanish so I learned the language."

The vaqueros introduced Kiehne to the various forms of music.

"They'd listen to tejano and ranchera music on the radio," he said. "I'd ask the cowboys what the song was saying, and they taught me the words along with the meaning."

Through his school years, Kiehne continued to develop his ability to speak Spanish. Then, one day, he discovered his hidden talent of singing.

"My buddies dared me to do something in the talent show," Kiehne said of the event during his senior year that changed his life. "So I sang and ended up winning the competition. I was really surprised."

Since that time, he has sung with country bands and honed his skills. He even ended up winning many talent contests, including taking second place in the Nashville Star Southwest regionals held in Albuquerque.

While living in Mexico, Kiehne discovered his ability to write songs in the Norteño style.

"I was immersed in the Mexican culture and way of life while living in Mexico," he said. "That's when I found my own unique style and began to venture into writing and singing songs in Spanish."

That unique style had crossed over the American country style of lyrics into the Norteño style of music.

"It's funny. I can't write in English, but rhythm and melody seems to come to me in Spanish. It comes natural. At first it surprised me to be able to do it," El Gringo said of the talent that has generated 30 to 40 songs.

"People seem to like how my writing is different from other Mexican songwriters. They like that it comes from a different perspective."

From his repertoire, he has produced a CD album.

Joe Cueto, a well-respected producer-arranger who has worked with many Latin music superstars, including Juan Gabriel, Isabel Pantoja, Sparxx and others, heard something special when he received a demo in the mail from El Gringo, an unknown Norteño-Tejano singer.

He says he realized right away that this guy had a unique sound and great marketability. He felt that, with a little luck, this could be a huge commercial success.

Cueto called El Gringo and the two started working on an 11-song album of mostly original material, which was released last Sept. 1.

The album, titled "Cervezas, Fiestas y Señoritas," is full of fun, humorous and extremely catchy songs that began to get encouraging reviews from fans and radio executives.

One of the album's songs, "Tocame," is also on the movie Quinceañera soundtrack by Lakeshore Records and is now available at the Hastings Books Music and Video in Los Lunas.

El Gringo will be returning to Mexico in November to produce a second album.

"I'll be working at a recording studio in Monterey, Mexico, which is the Nashville of Norteño music," he said of the recordings he does with authentic Norteño-Ranchera musicians.

While Kiehne's day job is with Centerfire Real Estate, he says he is working to develop El Gringo Productions into a solid entity.

"I would like to have the ability to give other unknown artists a chance," he said. "I'd like them to experience the thrills I have already experienced in my musical career."

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