Absence makes the heart grow fonder. After a long wait, world-renowned Columbian artist Andrés Cepeda will be making his return to perform in Houston for the first time in over five years. The four-time Latin Grammy winner will be presenting a night of musical brilliance at the Wortham Theater Center's Cullen Theater on Monday, April 22 through Performing Arts Houston.
Returning to the Bayou City for the first time since the pandemic makes Cepeda reflective. “In many of our venues,” the singer recalls. “We were the first show post-pandemic. Everybody was so excited: not only us, and the audience, but also everyone who works the venue was also so excited to go back to work. It has a special energy to it, and we enjoyed it very much. After two years of being locked [in], it felt amazing and freeing and exciting. It was as if it were the first time.”
The preparation that goes into mounting a large-scale cross-country tour like Tengo Ganas has been quite the task for Cepeda, with upcoming dates including The Lincoln Theatre in Washington DC and Carnegie Hall in New York. “You gotta have your show ready,” the artist explains, beginning his must-have check list. “Have your songs perfectly arranged. Everybody has to now their parts exactly.”
He continues: “You also need your speech together — it is not just about performing the songs. You gotta take people on a storytelling journey through the songs, while telling them about the songs and how you feel about it or how your wrote them or even how they might feel about them. I like to tell where these songs came from and how they came to be, and what kind of experiences brought me to write and perform them. So it’s almost as much about the speech. You also have to be quite mentally prepared because it can be tough.”
Naturally, the biggest obstacle that can stand in the way of giving 100 percent for each audience is the one thing you can barely control: your health. Cepeda talks through how he avoids the worst case scenario of losing what he holds most dear. “It is every singers nightmare,” he says.
“It’s funny because many times, almost as soon as they tell you that you are going on tour, you get sick. You have to be prepared, and that’s what I say when I say be mentally prepared. You have to be prepared to be mentally strong so you don’t let these bad and sick thought go in. I also take some vitamins and there is a doctor I have been working with for a while. He helps put my defenses real high and helps me fight anything I might catch in those days before and during the tour.”
With live performance, engaging with the audience is necessity for Cepeda. “There is something I like to do and enjoy doing, which is to leave the stage and go inside the crowd for maybe a song. I get the chance to look people in the eye and make it better.”
With four Latin Grammy Awards under his belt, including his most recent for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, Cepeda retains an attitude of gratitude about the accolades he has received from the musicians in his industry. “I enjoy it very much. You just said it: your peers are voting. People have taken the time, people who do the same job you do, and take the time to actually listen to your music. That is nice, that is special. I feel proud of all those nominations, and those wins. I say both: winning and losing, if you can even say losing because you are a nominee, there is so much expectations and build up before that great night. I still enjoy it and I hope my music is still being considered in the future.”
Cepada is not only a headlining touring act, but also a genuine television personality in his native Colombia as one of the coaches of The Voice (La Voz). “I like very much being in The Voice,” he states. “It is my 12th season and that tells you how I really enjoy it, otherwise I wouldn’t come back over and over. But it makes feel as I felt when I first began my career: my first recording, my first radio hit, my first song – it was one that won a radio content when we were in school. I had this band called Poligamia, and we participated in this content and won with this song. I remember that feeling of being judged, of being selected and finally winning the prize.
"That was beginning of my career. I appreciated that moment very much. I try to make these kids feel at home... and hopefully have great memories for the future. Some of them are probably going to be doing an important career in music.”
The blind structure of The Voice harkens back to the early days of the music industry, Cepeda argues. “It also gives you hints on what you have to do when you are listening to music, and it really makes me think of the days of radio when you didn’t discover the artists face until you bought their record. There is some kind of magic in hearing a voice and not being able to see exactly how a person looks."
"I so remember the feeling of listening to music on the radio, or on records, and trying to remember what this person looked like. Or how their background on their music would look like. That is the magic of imagination and creativity. I miss it a little bit, because everything is so audio visual today. You really wouldn’t conceive to have them separated, you know?”
At 50 years old, Cepeda is still re-inventing himself musically and experimenting in different formats and genres. But again, sometimes everything old cycles around one more time.
“I began recording in analogue - I was selling vinyls!” he exclaims, with a laugh. “It is funny, things come back. My music is in vinyl again. Who knows what will come back tomorrow?”
