Simpatico

Since the mid 90’s, Simpatico has been a force on the New Mexico Music scene. A strong lineup of talented musicians, Simpatico’s musical influences range from Tejano styles (onda and conjunto), traditional New Mexico, rock, country and blues. They’ve continued to entertain audiences throughout New Mexico and Colorado for over 20 years now. Their second self-titled CD offers traditional tex-mex tracks including an energetic cover of Selena’s “Corazoncito”, and catchy conjunto “Hombres Y Mujeres”, to heartfelt ballads like “Abrazame” and “Rayando El Sol”. “La Rama del Mesquite” is an upbeat ranchera that has made quite a splash on radio stations throughout New Mexico. The CD reflects the many influences that shape the Simpatico sound. They cover Gloria Estefan’s “Hoy” which fuses a cumbia style drum pattern with Estefan’s Peruvian rhythms. Rock and Salsa come together on La bOmba, which has hints of Santana. Simpatico hit the scene in 1999 with their debut CD, “La Inundacion”. They received eight nominations at the 1999 NM Hispano Music Awards and won Best Cumbia for the hit single, “Botellitas”. They also received 12 more nominations with the 2000 NMHEA Awards and won again for Best Cumbia for the hit single, “Botellitas” and Best New Artist of 2000. The self-titled second CD garnered another 11 nominations for the 2005 Hispano Entertainers Awards including wins for Conjunto Song of the Year, “Hombres Y Mujeres” and Song of the Year “Corazoncito”. Nine more nominations were collected from the 2005 NM Hispano Music Awards, including two wins for their salsa inspired “La bOmba” and conjunto hit “Hombres Y Mujeres”. With forty nominations and seven awards from only two CD’s, Simpatico has proven they can release quality studio recordings. The group is fronted by David M. Vigil, who started the band in 1994 with Antonio Ortiz and Tobias Rene. Rene has gone on to forge a successful solo career, and coincidentally, sings a duet with Vigil on a sincere ballad called “Lagrimas”. Vigil’s exuberant stage presence serves the band well. “First, the music has to be tight. After that, you have to know how to perform and entertain,” says Vigil. “If you don’t have those two things working together, you’ll have a hard time being a successful stage act.”

And he knows. After a few minor successes with Simpático in 1995 and 1996, Vigil toured for a year with the Al Hurricane band as a guitarist in 1997, accompanying not only the godfather Al Hurricane on stage, but also Fono Visa recording artists Sparx and Lorenzo Antonio. Co-founder Antonio Ortiz was the bassist for Leroy Mora Y Los Duques before committing full time to Simpático in 1998. “Everything seemed to come together in ’98,” Ortiz commented. “After some line-up changes we are once again a solid group of guys who just like to go out there and have a good time”. The rest of the lineup includes drummer Edwin Saavedra, and keyboardist Leroy Montoya. Edwin also played with Los Duques in the late 1990s. Leory has played keyboard with some of NM finest artists including Angel Espinosa, Jerome Grant, Ernestine Romero and Gabriela Salazar. The current lineup has been solid since 2004. In 2018, Simpatico released two singles, “Escondidos”, featuring Ernestine Romero, and “Ya Supe Lupe”. They were honored with 6 more nominations total and a win for Conjunto Song of the Year for “Ya Supe Lupe” at the 2019 NM Hispano Music Awards. In addition “Ya Supe Lupe” was honored with an award by Los 15 (quince) Grandes de Nuevo Mexico and is featured on the 2018 compilation CD. In 2019, “Yo Quisiera Detenerte” was released and again garnered 4 nominations and won Conjunto Song of the Year at the 2020 NM Hispano Music Awards. That is an astonishing 50 nominations and nine awards over the course of their musical journey. Though many bands have come and gone over the past 20 years, Simpatico has endured and continues to gain fans. Expect a new compilation of music in 2021. It is expected to be their best record to date.