Since last year, I’ve been dipping my toes into Breton and Galician (and very recently Northern Portuguese) folk music; in other words, the more southern regions of Celtic music.
I have been a fan of the Galician master piper Anxo Lorenzo for years now but have never really taken a closer look at that region’s entire scene music scene. I have to do that soon because I somehow (sometimes these things just happen!) came across a band called Riobó
Led by fiddler Begoña Riobó, the band has released two albums – at least that’s what all the sources I have found – Riobó on 2010 and Quiral in 2015. Both are absolute treasures, sparkling (for want of a better word) hybrids of Northern and Southern Celtic and, to a lesser extent, Spanish and World Music elements.
The playing on the albums is impeccable, aural colors are vivid and everything just throbs with life. Discovering their music was a reminder of how totally amazing it is to hear something and go ”where has this stuff been all my life?” Riobó really are that good so check those albums out, folks!
Note:
I have no idea whether the band Riobó is still active; it is possible they have disbanded as a group. That seems very likely and it’s a shame because at least for me hearing their stuff has been elating and energizing. But the albums are there, available for streaming on various platforms and for download on iTunes at least.
FolkNotes 