Spotlight On: GABRIELA QUINTERO (RODRIGO Y GABRIELA)

ABOUT this week’s podcast guest + radio hour featured interview:

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the debut live album by Rodrigo y Gabriela, Live: Manchester and Dublin, born of their career-launching time spent in Ireland, armed only with two acoustic guitars, and where they landed on the advice of a fellow Mexican traveler who told them that there was a vibrant music scene there. The follow up, their eponymous 2006 studio album, debuted at number one and went platinum in Ireland, and became their international breakthrough. Their origin story goes back to their teens, when guitarist Gabriela Quintero met her bandmate and fellow guitarist Rodrigo Sanchez at just 15 years old, and they bonded over their love of Metallica, Panterra, Megadeath, and Nirvana. Their unique blend of metal and rock influences paired with acoustic guitars and their electrifying live shows quickly gained momentum, and over the decades, they have become a globally renowned band. Rod and Gab have released three live albums, and six studio albums, including their latest, In Between Thoughts…A New World, they’ve headlined the Jazz World stage at Glastonbury; sold out major venues like the Hollywood Bowl, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, London’s Royal Albert Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and the Sydney Opera House; and performed to massive crowds in Tokyo and Paris. In January of 2020, Rodrigo y Gabriela hit a new career milestone, and won their first Grammy for their fifth studio album Mettavolution, just before the world came to an abrupt halt with the onset of the pandemic. Gabriela Quintero joins us to talk about the years that followed and the resulting new album, In Between Thoughts…A New World, and we look back at the journey she has taken since first picking up a guitar, finding her passion for metal and rock, and eventually joining forces with Rodrigo to become the massively successful band they are today.