Yankee Gaucho

After slaving away in graduate school, for the oil industry, and other soul-sucking endeavors, RONJON traveled to Argentina to discover music and musicians, knowing that the musical history there is rich with rock n' roll. Though he has been playing music (piano/organ, electric and acoustic and oddly-tuned-by-his-friends guitars, trumpet) for much of his life, he never considered himself a musician until he was solicited to play Hammond organ for the Psych Country Revue (based out of Corvallis, OR). "I've been noodlin' man, just noodlin' all these years. These guys showed me what its like to make music with a band of people, the process, to express the musical and social concepts. They turned me on to hippie country." Following a year of writing original music and touring the Pacific Northwest, it came time once again to explore outside the boundaries of the U.S. and himself.

Ronjon grew up on classic rock and 90's grunge, and has discovered folk and psychedelic rock more recently in his time in Corvallis. The full sound that clutches at your insides is what he wants. Off to Argentina with his electric-acoustic guitar and a couple pedals, he scoured for musicians and a cheap electric piano. After a couple mild blues and folk jams, meeting musicians and artists surfin' couch, he was revealed to something bigger: Folcloré - Regional Argentine folk music from the early 20th century spanning to the 80's, influenced by African rhythms and classical Spanish guitar. "I don't know what it is about Latin melodies, major/minor mixed I guess, but it draws me like a Siren. And how could I not pay attention to the power of the booming vocal passion accelerated deep from the gaucho diaphragm!"

The rest was obvious. Under the direction of a friend, Ronjon traveled to the North (where the music originates), and sought out the peña - a place where the gauchos come to eat and wine and blast their vocals and guitars from every end of the rooms. La Casona de Molino in the city of Salta, he discovered, is one of the last real peñas today, one that has not been polluted by tourism. After a dinner show performed by a few on their guitars, the 2 patios and seven rooms of the Casona are flooded AT MIDNIGHT with people, from babies to grandparents, and everyone with guitars, skin drums, accordions (bandoneon), charangos, and endless folk songs. "You can get live fucking stereo sound there brother! Guitars playing the song in every corner - and tight - with vocals the same! I never seen anything like it, and I still don't know if there is a place like this in the world today. Ain't no sittin 'round the campfire!" Ronjon became friends with Rodrigo Guitarreando, the lead man of the dinner show, and was taken as a pupil. He learned how to sing like a gaucho, chuck a guitar like a gaucho, and spent three months dedicated to incorporating the rhythms and songs into his heart. "You can't just copy it, you gotta find it in your heart."

What you hear now is the product of the experience. Teaming up with friends in the U.S., he's goin' for something big. After elegant stint with the lovely Rosalie Bienek, who brought a captivating violin sound that filled the air and colored the melodies, and undoubtedly at times put some punch behind the rhythm, the Yankee has relocated to Portland and wrangled a full band act - It now includes lead Spanish Guitar and Spanish Bass, Spanish Drums. The group plays in various combinations, and RONJON performs experimentally solo.

Ronjon Datta ~ Rhythm Guitars, Vocals
Mark Kellogg ~ Lead Guitar
Jon Zaerr ~ Bass
Jay Leaver ~ Drums

Portland, OR