I've been meaning to tell you about Jackie Arredondo for a while now. She's a Cuba-born, Miami-based country music artist who was in town for CMA Fest (yes, it's been a little while). Jackie's twitter feed is @JackieArredondo, and her web site is jackiearredondo.com, where she has a new EP called "Put Some Man on That" and a free download of her single, "Insane."
Jackie is one of a growing number of country music singers with Hispanic roots, like Lisa Torres, Saints of Havana, Linda Bandry, and Gabe Garcia. Jackie's grandfather is Cuban comedian Enrique Arredondo – "entertaining is in her blood," says her publicist – and she went into a Nashville studio at the end of May with songwriter/producer Brian White, to record the EP.
Jackie's background is as vocal coach. She lists among her clients top Latin names like Gloria Estefan, Thalia, Julio Inglesias, Jr, and Paulina Rubio. She's done demo work for Nashville's own Jaci Velasquez, and she's trained singers for Sean “Puffy” Combs, Tommy Mottola, and Emilio Estefan. She's also been the vocal coach on nine reality shows.
In June, Music News Nashville wrote about Jackie's transition from vocal coach to recording artist.
I asked Jackie what got her interested in country music, and she responded:
One of my jobs was truck driving, and as soon as I left the state of Florida, I felt the radio turn into an audio book when I began to listen to the country stations. I felt the emotion in the stories and I knew I had found my love for a music genre.A few days ago, Arredondo gave an interview to Sheyla Hicks's new show Entertainment Circle. The video is below, and it includes some behind-the-scenes from the recording studio.
