FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Alberto Cuessy, Deputy Director

National Hispanic Cultural Center

Cell Phone: 505-238-2695

Email:

PUNK ROOTS, POP SOUNDS, AND A POLITICAL MIND:

CeciBastida Performs at the National Hispanic Cultural Center

ALBUQUERQUE, NM. 2/3/2016. Latin Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter CeciBastidawill performat the National Hispanic Cultural Center on Saturday,March 5at 7:30 PM in the Albuquerque Journal Theatre. Tickets are $12,$17, and $22, and are available from the NHCC Box Office, at (505) 724-4771, or at The event, part of the Center’s Chispa: Latino Music Season and the 23rdperformance in the signature Latin Diva Series, is presented in partnership with Avokado Artists.

Born and raised in the border town of Tijuana,CeciBastidahas a resume and a reputation that cannot be matched. She was one of the first women to rise in the ranks of contemporary Latin rock, fronting the now-legendary band Tijuana No!, one of Mexico’s most important ska-punk bands of the 1990s,as a lead vocalist, keyboardist, and songwriter when she was just 15. In 2000, she joined the band of alterna-pop icon and top-selling recording artist Julieta Venegas, also a former member of Tijuana No!,and in 2006 she embarked on her solo career. Her 2010 debut album Veo la marea(I See the Tide), a song from which was described by the Los Angeles Times as “a marching-band traipsing through the Amazon rainforest,” was nominated for a Latin Grammy.

After moving to Mexico City for a time, Bastida relocated to Los Angeles, saying, “I thought the best city for me would be LA because it’s so close to Tijuana. I’m able to go back. And at the same time, it doesn’t feel foreign at all. You know, it’s a city where there’s such a huge Latino presence. So it always felt like a natural place to be.” Her unconventional arrangements and unusual beats reflect her embrace of a variety of genres and her love for experimentation; from the beginning, her music has also contained serious political messages, embodying her focus on social issues and her passion for social justice.She takes the time to examine the proverbial “flower growing out of the hardest ground”—her 2014 albumLa edad de la violencia (TheAge of Violence), written when she was pregnant with her first child, is infused with her desire to make her daughter’s world a better place. This is her second performance at the NHCC for the Latin Diva Series; the first was in November 2008, when she was stillproducing Veo la marea.

The National Hispanic Cultural Center is dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and advancement of Hispanic culture, arts, and humanities, and is a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.

If you would like more information about this show or otherevents at the NHCC, please call

Alberto Cuessy at 505-238-2695 or e-mail .

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