- Meu Cabalo
- Mens
- Asubíasme de Lonxe
- Erbecedo
- Grao a Grao
- Alalá Tristina
- Ruada Macabra
- Cardadores
Cristina Pato: gaita, voice
Davide Salvado: voice, percussions
Anxo Pintos: hurdy-gurdy
Roberto Comesaña: accordion
Crises lead us to unexpected places. An identity crisis made me reinvent my way ten years ago, and another small personal crisis led me to think that time passes and I still had plenty left to do… I panicked, and when that happens I can only do one thing: hit the brakes, stop to think, live, listen, confront my fears and start over.
Rustica was born as a love letter in Galician to celebrate my fifteen years of solo career, and ended up being a present from three musicians that I admire and that deeply move me. It was born with the idea of doing something simple, that would speak for itself, without any further claim other than to explore a repertoire that I had not explored before, and with the vision that I have today.
I had been following his work for a long time. I fell in love with his voice the first moment I heard it, perhaps because his way of singing brings me back to Galicia directly without filters; or because he is able to convey pure emotion and centuries of life in a single breath. The fact is that, after giving it a lot of thought, one day, suddenly, I stumbled upon him in the streets of Ourense… and for me, Galician women, superstitious and with unusual confidence in intuition, that was a sign.
So we started to talk Davide Salvado and I. With some kind of mutual admiration, we realized that our energies vibrated at a infinite frequency and that joining them we could enjoy in a special way. Davide is a living songbook.
The case of Anxo is different. For more than fifteen years we have shared multiple stages, but the truth is that I hadn’t had the pleasure to meet Anxo Pintos until the first edition of the festival Galician Connection and a subsequent tour by India brought us together. A human quality hard to find nowadays. Pure nobleness. Affection and an infinite creative brain make this man full of empathy and capable of being a collaborator, companion, leader and kind, especially incredibly kind and generous. A source of ideas.
And from my previous crisis, my relationship with Roberto Comesaña was born. Faithful, young, honest, brave and forthright collaborator which I am lucky and honored to have since 2010. Thanks to Roberto I fell in love again with the accordion and its possibilities, and its evolution in these four years leads me to think that this is only the beginning of a fascinating journey. Roberto contains balance, know-how, creativity, iron discipline, self-criticism, curiosity, generosity and flexibility… what else can you ask for.
Angel, Davide, Roberto and I did not know each other very much, in fact the four of us only met once before entering the studio. It was in Davide’s house that we explored the repertoire while Davide cooked rice with bacalhao. And in a haunted place in the middle of nowhere we eat, and Xan captured the moment, and one day of communion was enough to see that we trusted each other and could do something special.
We created a safe zone in the Plantasónica studio, and really created the disk there; between us four. With great affection and with that kind of mutual respect that only couples who have just met have. For me it was a magical moment. A unique experience that translates directly into a collective and unrepeatable emotion that the four of us lived recording at the same time, improvising together, testing macabre ideas, and experimenting with sounds. The process brought the content. I had never made such a disk.
Thanks Angel, Davide and Roberto for so much affection and generosity. Thanks for so much humanity.
RÚSTICA is a love letter: To the incredible cultural heritage of Galicia. To the incredible talent of the Galician artists. To human relationships. To friendship. To emotion. To trust.
Executive Producer:
Cristina Pato & Carlos Barandela
Artistic Producers:
Anxo Pintos
“The project highlights the inner workings of this small ensemble, and the result is decidedly not the over-produced product of a world music superstar. Cristina Pato’s incredible gaita playing does not overwhelm the musicians, and the performances on Rústica are so pure that Pato does not emerge as a leader as much as an integral part of a quartet speaking with one mind.”
Excerpt from Rootsworld review →