Patricia Vonne

Billboard text



It’s been four months since Texas rocker Patricia Vonne released her latest album, Top of the Mountain. But she figures it’s never too late to release a video for the title track, premiering exclusively below.



Vonne -- the sister of film director Robert Rodriguez and a cast member (Dallas/Zorro Girl) in his 2005 film Sin City -- filmed the clip with director Ricardo Mendoza early in the morning on a mountaintop in the Enchanted Rock State Natural Area in Fredericksburg, Texas. "We woke up at four in the morning and went there, just us two, got there before anybody else, marched up the mountain and shot it," says Vonne, who performs the song playing guitar, decked out in the same Native American style halter vest and pants as she wears on the cover art for Top of the Mountain. "It was done by 9:30 in the morning, so the timing was perfect."

The clip is particularly special because it, and the song, are dedicated to Vincent Lopez, a friend and fan from Austin who was a regular at her shows before he passed away two years ago. "Vincent taught me to embrace change if it was meant to happen," Vonne says. "He was a music lover. Music was his healer. He loved mountains. He loved dragons. There's a lot of him that I put into this song.

He was confined to a wheelchair for most of his life, but he stood taller than most people. He rarely complained. He had a positive attitude that moved mountains and inspires me to be grateful for my health, my family, basic things in life that we have, and for my day-to-day living. This was the first song that got completed for the album, and I knew I wanted to keep his spirit alive and carry his message and capture his spirit and mantra in this song. It's a message for everyone to be the warrior and celebrate their human strength, because everyone has to go through their own dark valley and claw their way back out."

That was indeed the case for Vonne going into the Top of the Mountain album. It was released in the wake of a "tumultuous time" in her life, what she calls "a personal matter that manifested itself into a health issue," a stomach infection that put Vonne in an intensive care unit. "I was scared to death," she recalls. "I was on heavy medication. I'd be in the green room getting ready to go on stage and did not know if I could make it. I kept saying, 'It's in God's hands.' You just have to have faith that God has a plan for you."

Vonne is hoping to make more videos -- in fact, she'd like to "put a visual" to each song from all seven of her albums. Meanwhile she's continuing to tour in support of Top of the Mountain and feels elevated by what she's experienced so far. "You have to fear forward," Vonne says. "When anyone makes an album there's always that fear of, 'How am I gonna afford it?' You can do some crowd-funding, but the manufacturing, the PR -- to really put it out there you have to cash all your chips in. That's why I approach every album as if it's my very last, 'cause you never know. You're putting everything into it and hoping that a light shines on it and people at least have a chance to hear it. So it's important I feel like I'm putting the very best I can out there. I feel very at peace that I did what I set out to do." - Billboard

FIRSTS: Q&A WITH PATRICIA VONNE

THE SINGER-SONGWRITER OPENS UP ABOUT HER AWARD-WINNING VIDEO FOR “HUERTA DE SAN VICENTE,” HER MUSICAL INFLUENCES, AND HOW DAVID LEE ROTH ENCOURAGED HER.

BY SARAH THURMOND



The first time singer-songwriter Patricia Vonne heard Federico García Lorca’s name, she found herself immediately intrigued.

“My oldest sister, Angela, was in his play called Yerma,” Vonne says. “When we went to see her perform in it, I asked her what’s it about. She said it was by a Spanish poet and playwright named Federico García Lorca. I was so enamored by his name. I was like, ‘I want to learn more about this man.’”

Vonne read about the poet, playwright, and theater director's life and how he was executed by the Franco regime at the start of the Spanish Civil War in the 20th century. On a trip to Granada, Spain, she visited Lorca’s summer home, Huerta de San Vicente, which is now a museum. She found the experience so overwhelming it motivated her to write a song, naming it after his home.

“The synergy was palpable in the house & it just completely took over me and it impacted me to write this song about him, my visit to that house searching for his spirit, and what I found there,” she says.

Like her older brother, film director Robert Rodriguez, Vonne is also an artist and director. She created an animated video for “Huerta de San Vicente,” conceptualizing the story of the video, drawing much of the animated scenes, collaborating with artist Michael Martin, and having Johnny Villarreal do the Rotoscope work. In July, the video won Best Animation at the Madrid International Film Festival.



We asked Vonne to answer some of the other “firsts” in her musical life.

First memory of music?

Being one of 10 children from San Antonio, and my parents being ninth generation Tejano, they would always invite the mariachis to our house for family gatherings and celebrations. That was so impactful to me because it was my first connection to my Mexican-American heritage. It was so powerful to see them in your living room and to hear them. Can you imagine live music in your living room? Sometimes it would be a mariachi trio, or it would be more. It inspired me greatly later on when I knew I wanted to be a musician—what was I going to write about? What would the music be? Would it all be in English? Would it be country music? What genre? My mind and heart took me back to that moment in our living room with the family.

First album you ever bought?

The first album was the Stray Cats’ Built for Speed. I remember having over 100 photographs of the Stray Cats plastered on my wall, and thank goodness I had a very understanding mom and dad that would let me do that. Again, my music is very much a mix, so there are a lot of influences of the Stray Cats in my more rockabilly songs. I got to meet the band later on & Brian Setzer several times , like the first chance meeting was in Central Park. I thanked him for his music in particular his solo work and as I mentioned songs he wrote he realized I was a true fan and put me on the guest list that night at the Ritz , and lo and behold, he had tickets waiting for me. I told him my name and he said, “I’ll remember that.” He associated it with Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

First concert you ever went to?

Johnny Reno & the Sax Maniacs from Fort Worth, Texas. He’s a family friend now. [He] and I co-wrote many songs together. I wrote a song for him on my second album called “Sax Maniac.” It was my homage to him because he just blew my mind when I first saw him. My dad was going with my brother Robert. My brother was playing his album—I think it was Full Blown—and I remember being like, “Wow! Who’s that? Can I go too?” He goes, “You have to ask dad for permission.” We got to go see him at a club in San Antonio called Pink Flamingo, I was a teenager, probably 14, and we went with my dad. Johnny Reno gave 200 percent on stage. He was so amazing with the audience. He would get up on the bar with his saxophone. It was kind of like the mariachis being right in your face; Johnny Reno would be right in your face. I was such a shy child—I didn’t start talking until I was about 4. I remember thinking when I saw him being so uninhibited, Wow, I want to be that. I was hoping I would come out of my shell. I never thought it would be through music at that time. My brother could have said no, like this is father-son bonding time, but he didn’t. Johnny Reno has scored many of his films, so he was not only impactful on my music but also on my brother’s films.

First time you realized you could sing well?

It was in New York City. I moved there when I was about 19 years of age. I was working in the nightclubs on purpose so I could start a band. One of the places I worked where I could get up onstage during a jam night was at the China Club. It was a celebrity hangout. That’s where I met Charlie Sexton for the first time; he was with Nile Rodgers when they were doing the Thelma & Louise soundtrack. I was working as a coat check girl. I met people like David Lee Roth. Believe it or not, he’s the one that helped me get up onstage. It was quite political. Guys would go on, there were hardly any women on stage. You’d put your name on a list, and it was like 3 in the morning, and I hadn’t gone on yet. “Hey, I was here before that guy,” I said. [Laughs.] One night I was working, and I met David Lee Roth and told him about my predicament. He goes, “You take that sheet music to them. Knock on the door and you don’t leave until they learn that song.” He was right. I did that. I got to get up onstage and hear my voice with a real mic. It was so exciting. It was a great tip! I never met him again. I met celebrities but he was the one that listened to me.

First song you ever wrote?

It’s called “Love Is a Bounty,” and it ended up on my fourth album. I wrote it on a typewriter in my New York apartment on the Upper West Side. I didn’t know how to write a song yet. I would go to the churches around New York after work, and I would just sit and pray, “I just want to write one song, like Maria McKee of Lone Justice.” I loved that she wrote her own songs. She was a huge influence on me. I wanted to be a songwriter. So I sat down at the typewriter and figured, “Let’s do it simply.” Like Hank Williams, just three chords. Something simple, like a poem. It turned out to be “Love Is a Bounty.” We still play it. Goes down well in Europe and everyone line dances.

First moment you felt like you wrote a really great song?

“Missing Women.” I wrote it in both languages, Spanish and English. All my albums are bilingual for a reason. Vonne is my middle name and Rodriguez is my last name. But in New York, I’d go on auditions and I couldn’t find work because of my name Rodriguez. It was too ethnic. I started using Vonne. With this song, what happened was I went to Mexico City to perform in the Zócalo, and someone handed me a short documentary about the missing and murdered women of Juarez, Mexico. This is right across the border from where my mom is from, near El Paso. And it’s still going on. I wanted to write a prayer-like battle cry for the families, so they wouldn’t feel their daughters were forgotten. It was a tremendous tragedy and such senseless deaths. So I wrote it in both languages. I went to Mexico to shoot the video. I walked across the border with my camera. It brings a light to this tragedy. It was for an important cause. It just fell out of me. … It’s the most important song I’ve ever written.

First time you performed in front of your family?

We would perform together. Again, I was such a shy child, and it was so comforting to sing with my family. We would perform for school recitals, and our mom would make our costumes. We would perform for the postman, the milkman, we’d sing Christmas carols. She taught us mariachi music. That was her way of teaching us our second language, through mariachi music and Mexican folk songs. It was so fun. She taught us how to harmonize also. I was fortunate to have parents that had a love and passion for the arts and to give that gift to us. - Austin Monthly

Voicing Her Vision Stoutways with Patricia Vonne

Patricia Vonne rocks her seventh album “Top of the Mountain”, out on her label Bandolera Records.

A Refusal to be Labeled

One thing that you can’t do with Patricia Vonne is put her in a box. More like a Russian nesting doll, each layer of her personality opens up to reveal yet another side of this striking artist. Underneath it all, however, is a unifying driver: an unwavering sense of self that drives her choices. Take the much-harder indie music route to protect her artistic vision? Done. Teach herself whatever it takes to move forward with a passion? Check. Perhaps it’s no wonder that her dream table for a dinner party of five would include a host of powerful personalities: Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, politician Beto O’Rourke, journalist Evan Smith and her producer sister-in-law, Elizabeth Avellán.



Faith over Fear

It’s easy to assume that someone as confident and accomplished as Vonne is utterly fearless — how else could she put herself out there, and so boldly follow her own path? The real truth, however, is rooted in a lesson passed on to her by her parents. Vonne’s father was a self-made traveling salesman and her mother a psychiatric nurse who worked nights in order to be home by the time her children — Vonne is one of ten — got home from school.

My parents taught me to have faith over fear. It’s not easy at times, but having a positive mental attitude is necessary to attract abundance.

Vonne cites her parents as her biggest inspiration, and that valuable lesson in faith over fear was the saving grace during a health crisis last year. As she explains it, “We all cling to what makes us feel safe and what we know — but that keeps needed change from occurring. To embrace it can be frightful, but necessary to get to the other side.” It’s a feeling so powerful that Vonne wrote a song about it on the last track “God’s Hands”.


Patricia Vonne in her element, making the wildly creative music she loves.

Dancing in Different Directions

Vonne is driven by music, dance and, as she plaintively puts it, “the need to make a difference in this world.” Many times, such as with her song about the missing women of Juarez, she gets to combine all three passions. And she will master whatever skills it takes to fulfill her goals. When she turned down signing with a record label, she knew financing would be an issue. Rather than wait for sponsors to come along, Vonne rolled up her sleeves and followed in her parents’ footsteps of putting in the hard work. Drawn by the flexibility, she trained as a Realtor. Armed with a license for the past 10 years, she has been able to continue to fund her own projects. The unpredictability of the business can be a challenge, she admits — but if there’s one thing Vonne doesn’t shy away from, it’s a good challenge. (Ask her to break out her red castanets sometime).

That Sweet Sound of Success

Many would look at Vonne’s albums, videos and awards as the ultimate trophies of success. But in keeping with her drive to make a difference in the world, Vonne defines a win in business and life as the chance to be of service and give back. “As a musician, I enjoy being a role model,” she says, “and I strive to inspire others to follow their dreams and be creative.”

Vonne’s essence, though, might be best captured in a simple image. Her phone sports a blood-red rose as its screen-saver. “Roses have thorns, but they’re still so beautiful,” explains Vonne. “And similar to life, there can be hardships, and something beautiful can come from those experiences.”



In her own words:

BOLD

I felt bold when I moved to NYC in 1990 to pursue the arts and ultimately started my rock n roll band. I began writing songs, put an ad out in the Village Voice and played the New York circuit before moving back to my native Texas in 2001. While in NY, I met with record executives who wanted to do an overhaul: hire outside writers, change my sound and own my soul. I felt fiercely protective of my integrity as an artist and made a conscious decision to release my albums on my own label, Bandolera Records — no matter how hard it would be. I had a vision and I was inspired to put the very best of my original music out there with the best musicians. 7 albums later and an abundance of self-produced music videos, I feel accomplished, blessed, grateful and ready for the next project — bring it on!



BRAVE

I was performing in Mexico City’s Zocalo and someone handed me a documentary about the missing women of Juarez. It creeped me out, and I felt compelled to write a song on my 3rd album called “Missing Women”. It was vital to me to write it in 2 languages to bookend the album. My heart bled for these families who felt forgotten and would never reunite with their children. It was a prayer-like battle cry to help bring awareness to the missing and murdered women in Juarez, Mexico. I went to Juarez to meet the mothers of the victims, and shot some footage on the streets with a hand-held camera. I donated the song to Amnesty International, and performed it at the United Nations Headquarters in NYC. I will continue to be a voice against human trafficking and violence against women.

DETERMINED

I felt determined to be an artist and to find a way to create my art come hell or high water. When I get excited about a project, I don’t wait for approval or investors. I do what I need to do to get it done. If there was something I didn’t know I went to school to learn about it, i.e. stop-motion photography, Final Cut Pro editing so I could edit my own music videos, drawing classes…even a real estate license for extra income, security and flexibility. With my animations, I believed in them so much that I submitted them to film festivals — and won several awards in Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, San Francisco, New York City. It’s another medium to share my art and a way to raise the bar for myself. - Stout Magazine

VIDEO PREMIERE: PATRICIA VONNE GOES STEAMPUNK WESTERN WITH POWERFUL ROCKER “TIDAL WAVE”
Patricia Vonne, the multi-talented musician, actress, award winning filmmaker and two-time SXSW best female vocalist winner, is back with her seventh album Top of the Mountain, out May 25, 2018 on her label Bandolera Records. The album is hot on the heels of her recent win at the Madrid International Film Festival for “Best Animation award” for “Huerta de San Vicente,” a music video and homage to Spanish poet Federico García Lorca. The song was off of her critically acclaimed all Spanish album Viva Bandolera that was featured on The Huffington Post and PRI The World alongside other tastemaker outlets.

Her new release is sure to continue the momentum where her last album left off, and was produced, mixed and engineered by Rick Del Castillo and Michael Ramos, engineered by Joey Benjamin and mastered by Mark Hallman. The album features Vonne on lead vocals, acoustic guitar, castanets and electric guitar as well as special guest musicians Fort Worth sax virtuoso Johnny Reno, Grammy award winner Max Baca of Los TexManiacs on the bajo sexto, David Grissom, Grammy award winner Joe Reyes and Robert LaRoche on guitar and Scott Plunkett (of Chris Isaak’s band) on the keyboard. The album features co-writes with Joe King Carrasco, Alejandro Escovedo, Willie Nile, Steven Medina Hufsteter of the Cruzados and longtime performing and songwriting partner Robert LaRoche.

Now, with the release of her seventh album, Vonne reaches new heights in her musical career. Vonne’s new effort incorporates all the multi-faceted components that define her unique musical persona: rock, folk, flamenco, bilingual Tex-Mex and Latin strands that, taken together, form a rich and colorful tapestry.



The defiant, stand-your-ground title track sets a declamatory tone as the rest of the album winds a sinuous path through the border radio groove of “Lil’ Lobo,” the careening rocker “Graceland Trip,” “Madre de Perla,” a flamenco-flavored tribute to Vonne’s mother, the spaghetti western soundtrack that is “Western Blood,” and much more. Featuring co-writes with Joe King Carrasco, Alejandro Escovedo, Willie Nile, Steven Medina Hufsteter of the Cruzados and longtime performing and songwriting partner Robert LaRoche, “Top of the Mountain” allowed Vonne to explore new aspects of her multi-cultural creativity.

Today Glide is excited to premiere the video for “Tidal Wave”, one of the standout tracks on the album. Vonne’s dramatic vocals and powerful rock sound are well-suited for the steampunk western storyline. Her straightforward rock sound carries just a touch of twang courtesy of guitar badass David Grissom, and her ability to write sweeping, anthemic tunes is on full display. The quality of the video – costumes, acting, plot and editing – also showcases Vonne’s background in the cinema, making the video itself as exciting as the music.

Reflecting on the song and video, Vonne has this to say:

“‘Tidal Wave’ is about finding love the second time around. “Heaven sent my final resting place”. I collaborated with my musical hero Alejandro Escovedo who initially brought me the lyrics “Saturn danced with Mercury & Venus kissed Mars…Your love is a tidal wave you broke right on my heart” and I wrote the verses and music around it. David Grissom on guitar truly captures the essence of the inspiration of love in its purest form.

I chose director Charlie Schwan to direct the music video for his sense of adventure and maverick style. He presented the storyline which echoes the belief that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Mixing fantasy with reality he Incorporated the element of lyrical dance to unveil the story of two lovers yearning to reunite.” - Glide Magazine

http://www.sanantoniomag.com/SAM-Says/Summer-2013/Singer-highlights-Texas-roots-in-new-album/?sf17085403=1 - San Antonio Magazine

http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/Latin-Notes-Patricia-Vonne-s-star-kissed-Cage-4787338.php - San Antonio Express-News

http://www.directcurrentmusic.com/music-news-new-music/listen-patricia-vonne-dark-mile.html - Direct Current Music

“A bilingual tour-de-force” - Austin Chronicle

“Superior roots rock from an excellent singer-songwriter” - Uncut

“The very fine Vonne purveys a powerful, Texas styled rootsy rock ‘n’
roll” - Time Out London

“Imagine a young Chrissie Hynde fronting the Mavericks with a little
help from Calexico” - WORD

“A Tex-Mex spitfire with a rock ‘n’ roll heart that’s a Lone Star original” - Austin American-Statesman

There are so many memorable moments on Patricia Vonne’s latest album, “Top of the Mountain.”

The San Antonio native’s impressively-crafted seventh album, made with some famous friends, shows off her range and ambition: bolero-rock, glam, garage-rock, Americana and bilingual pop.

But it’s deep into the album where Vonne, who now lives in Austin, transcends the project’s scope.

It’s the haunting song “Canción de la Boda (Wedding Song),” which recalls in spirit and sonic quality the the revered Mexican-American songbird Lydia Mendoza.

“It’s so pure in spirit,” Vonne said about the track, which opens with a scratchy lo-fi effect that makes Max Baca’s bajo sexto sound like it’s coming out of a Victrola. “I wanted something really traditional.”



The performance is a revelation as Vonne, who sings in English and Spanish, continues to show that she’s one of Texas’ most determined and focused artists.



As a singer, songwriter, bandleader, actress, activist, award-winning animator,

with a world-famous director, brother Robert Rodriguez, in her family, Vonne rarely breaks character. It’s rare to find her without her cowboy hat, vaquero-inspired leather garb, bling and dusty boots.

They cast a spell, as anyone who has watched Vonne writhe onstage with her castanets will attest.

But her success isn’t a result of ornamentation or affectation.

Myrna Cabello, a New York-based actress and singer formerly of Austin, has performed with Vonne and is a fan.



“She is one of the hardest-working women I’ve ever been around,” Cabello said. “She is unstoppable. She is fierce. She is captivating.”



The supporting cast on “Top of the Mountain,” produced and engineered by Rick Del Castillo, Michael Ramos and Joey Benjamin, bears that out.

She co-wrote songs with Joe King Carrasco, Alejandro Escovedo, Willie Nile and Steven Medina Hufsteter of the Cruzados.

The session players include Baca of Los TexManiacs, Buttercup’s Joe Reyes, saxophonist Johnny Reno, David Grissom and Scott Plunkett from Chris Isaak’s band.



Legendary guitarist Rosie Flores isn’t on the album, but has worked with Vonne and admires her. They also once were roommates.

“Her aim in the music business seems to be, write the best songs, record them with the best team possible and get them out there to the people,” said Flores via email.

“I’ve learned a lot from her . . . having her as a close confidant is immeasurable.”

One confidant is no longer in the picture, though they remain friends.

They’ve been friends and collaborators for more than 20 years and were once married, though that union ended years ago.

LaRoche is perhaps best known as being a founding member of the East Coast power pop act the Sighs. Onstage, he served as the lanky high-energy foil to Vonne’s steaminess.



“It was just time for a new chapter in our lives,” said Vonne.

Still, LaRoche’s presence is all over “Top of the Mountain.” That’s his chiming, often outrageously distorted vintage Rickenbacker 330 electric guitar pumping up the rockers.

Songs like “City Is Alive,” “Top of the Mountain” and “Lil’ Lobo” were honed onstage before entering the studio, LaRoche said. “Citadel,” which they arranged together, sets the tone for the new album.

He remains a fan, though acknowledged it’s been a tough seven months away.

“Patricia has grown tremendously as a singer, songwriter, guitarist and live performer,” said LaRoche.

“But she’s always had the ‘X’ factor, from our very first gig at CBGB in New York 20 years ago.

“We built a little empire together, step by step. The onstage chemistry between us was pure magic.”

Vonne, who says she writes songs for an album as if it were for the last time, took some leaps of faith with her other writing partners.

“It’s like dropping off a high cliff,” she said.

She described Nile as “pure street” and her pal Escovedo as “romance.”

It was the first collaboration with the kooky Carrasco.

“He’s like a kid in a candy store,” Vonne said. “It was just so easy and fun.”



Carrasco doesn’t deny it.

“We both have musical roots based on the collision of garage rock meets Tex-Mex meets San Antonio,” Carrasco explained.

“And our song, ‘Lobo,’ carries the flag of South Texas tortilla-pop into the future of border rock. And it’s just a blast playing with Patricia because she’s so talented, fun and energetic.”

But don’t forget the role-model determination to claw up that mountain.

“Absolutely,” said Vonne, who credits her parents’ work ethic and being one of 10 children. “My dad was a door-to-door salesman. It’s in my life blood.”



Hector Saldaña is curator of the Texas Music Collection at The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University - SA Express News