When you think of Miami, country music may not be the first thing that comes to mind. But that’s not the case for one Cuban American star on the rise in Hialeah. Ricky Valido lives and breathes country and just dropped his first full-length album. Deco’s story-telling stallion, Alex Miranda, has more.
Hialeah’s Ricky Valido isn’t just another country singer either. This guy is so talented. On his new record, he even sings country in Spanish! And that signature style includes South Florida-specific stories. This is for us. So, move over Texas, we’ve heard way too much about you, a So-Flo cowboy is ready to take over Nashville.
He’s a little bit country and a whole lotta Hialeah!
Ricky Valido: “Being raised and born here in Hialeah is kind of a conversation piece wherever I go.”
Ricky Valido is a Miami-Dade County cowboy.
Ricky Valido (singing): “I met the devil by the railroad tracks. Look it momma, I ain’t coming back. Ain’t nobody gonna pay my bail. Now I got the lawman behind my tail.”
In the studio, mostly.
Ricky Valido: “I tell people I’m not a cowboy, I’m a cowboy singer.”
And just dropped his first full-length album, Ricky Valido: A Collection of Songs.
Ricky Valido: “I take a lot of influences from crooners like, um, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley. But also try to mix it in with my own thing.”
I hear some Johnny Cash in there too. So, no surprise…
Ricky Valido: “My music is more oriented towards darker feels and vibes. More of retro throwback kind of sound as well, and I try to mix that in with my own styling.”
The new record is quite a collection.
Ricky Valido: “It’s a mixture of modern and traditional sounds, and also features my first venture into the Spanish language.”
Like in the folk song, “Borracho.”
Ricky Valido: “My heritage, the stories of my grandparents, being from Cuba. I think that kind of filters in naturally.”
Then there’s “I miss, miss you, momma,” a tribute to his great-grandmother.
Ricky Valido: “And I wanted it to be a song for all mothers, all maternal figures, mothers that are with us and are not here with us.”
And “Candle,” about the struggles of big Nashville hopes.
Ricky Valido: “I started this project when I was eight, you know, with the guitar, and then started playing the honky tonks, the bars, the open mics, and then that kind of developed into playing with my full band, and, you know, going into becoming a recording artist.”
The Hialeah hillbilly, his words, not mine, will pull on your heartstrings while strumming the guitar strings. But if you too want to enter your own country era, Ricky says, giddy up on up over to…
Ricky Valido: “Thrift shops, flea markets, anywhere that you see something that’s cool, kinda put it into your wardrobe and have fun with it.”
Stream Ricky’s music anywhere. He also told me that he’s planning another album about the Florida Everglades! How cool will that be?
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