Gesenia Gerena had certainly at least heard Linda Ronstadt’s voice before.
She remembers watching a segment of The Muppet Show on which Ronstadt sang her hit cover of Roy Orbison’s “Blue Bayou.” She was on a swamp set and in front of a chorus of non-Kermit frogs croaking along (and backed by some of Dr. Teeth’s Electric Mayhem band).
But it wasn’t until 1987 when her sister Delilah brought to their Philadelphia home a copy of Ronstadt’s Canciones de Mi Padre—in which she sang traditional Mexican and mariachi songs in Spanish—that Gerena really paid attention.
“My mind just blew! The strength of her voice and the feeling behind it just pushed me back made my ears perk up,” Gerena says via Zoom video.
At the time, Canciones de Mi Padre was a jolting and even controversial career shift for the storied singer, who also embarked on an entire tour around it and dressed in culturally-correct stagewear. Gerena was impressed. “It pushed me to want to know more about her, those albums she did in Spanish.”
Growing up in a Puerto Rican family, Gerena—like the German/Mexican descended Ronstadt herself—listened to both English and Spanish music in the home.
Flash forward some years and Gerena was now a singer herself with inspirations ranging from Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Dinah Washington to Celia Cruz and La Lupe. In 2003, she released her salsa-infused record debut, Mi Sueno.
While working on some home recordings years later, she came to the realization that of the 12 songs she’d chosen to work on, Ronstadt had done covers of all dozen. That led her to investigate her music and career further.
And in 2016, Gerena (billed professionally a just Gesenia) founded and fronted The Ronstadt Revue: The Ultimate Celebration of Linda Ronstadt. The show comes to the Dosey Doe Big Barn on September 21. The wide-ranging performance covers all genres that Ronstadt’s magical voice touched: rock, folk, country, jazz, Big Band, Mexican, and mariachi.
“I have a lot of understanding about what she was listening to and how she chose her songs and what she could take from them and make them her own,” she adds. “More than anything, it’s understanding the feeling of a song. How it made her feel, how it makes you feel, and then I just try and deliver that to others.”
The real Ronstadt announced her retirement from recording and performing in 2011, revealing afterward that she was no longer physically able to sing. Initially diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, it was later determined that she had progressive supranuclear palsy. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, and in 2019 was the subject of documentary The Sound of My Voice.
But if you’ve seen The Ronstadt Revue show or the videos, you’ll know that Gerena does not perform with an imitation of Ronstadt’s voice. It’s more of an approximation and feel, with her own personal stylings evident.
“This is not an imitation show. The closest you’ll get is my bangs!” Gerena laughs. “You have the tribute bands that dress up and act like the [performers]. And that’s good for them, but for me it’s not that. I don’t need to dress up my bandmates with [Ronstadt guitarist] Waddy Wachtel hair!”
So, it should be noted that while Gerena does wear some Ronstadt early career hippie-like dresses and boots, there’s no costume changes into Boy Scout uniforms, roller skates, ballgowns, or resplendent mariachi outfits. And no flowers in the hair.
“I just want to showcase this material from one singer to another. When I sing her music, I bring what I’ve been given and my talent and blessings to it,” Gerena says. “I don’t know if Linda knows about us or not. But if she did, I hope she would see it as a celebration of all the beautiful work she’s done over 40+ years.”
Houstonians—one especially large audience—have already had a chance to see The Ronstadt Revue in 2024. Gerena and her group were chosen to open the season at the Miller Outdoor Theatre back in March. An offer she says she was “floored” by.
“It was a dream come true, such a wonderful high. And to have my band with me to be there for something we worked so hard. I know Linda has a lot of fans in Texas, especially the Latino community. It was humbling. And the people at Miller are wonderful to work with,” she says.
For the upcoming show, Gerena’s band will include Nick Frese (bass/vocals), Robert Leonetti (rhythm guitar), Jim Cohen (pedal steel/guitar), Dave Lenat (lead guitar/banjo/maracas), Dave Hartl (keyboards/accordion/harmonica), and Tim Reeder (drums/vocals).
“I need them all!” she laughs, carefully spelling out each of them. “It’s like trying to remember your kids’ names!”
Of all the songs in the set, Gerena does play favorites with two of them: “Someone to Lay Down Beside Me” from 1976’s Hasten Down the Wind, written by Karla Bonoff; and “Adonde Voy (Where Am I Going?) from 1993’s Winter Light, written by Tish Hinojosa.
“It’s got great lyrics, great feel, and the music builds. It fills me up and makes me want to sing,” Gerena says of the former. While of the latter, “It’s a love song, but one that tears my heart out. I really have to take a moment to prepare to sing and then afterwards. It brings a lot of emotion to me.”
The Ronstadt Revue doesn’t just live onstage. In 2022 they release Live at the Barnhill Center, recorded at their first-ever Texas gig in Brenham. And they’ve just put out the full-length record This House is Empty Now: The Unrecorded Hits of Linda Ronstadt. It includes songs that Ronstadt had an interest in recording but never did, deeper cuts from her catalog, and some Classic Rock covers.
Backing musicians on that one include some players with musical and biological ties to Linda Ronstadt herself: guitarist John Beland (who was in Ronstadt’s first solo backing band, Swampwater), steel guitarist Dan Dugmore (who spent 14 years touring and recording with her). Ronstadt’s own nephew, Michael G. Ronstadt, plays cello on three of the four tracks.
The genesis for This House is Empty Now stemmed from Dugmore, who talked with Gerena about songs that he said Linda had wanted to record over the years, but never got around to (the title track was co-written by Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach). Both records will be available at the show.
“I keep finding new things in her music. It’s a daily tool for me,” Gerena says, summing up her feelings. So, if say she was to find herself face-to-face with Linda Ronstadt herself one day…what would Gerena say?
“I’d say HELLO!” she laughs. “You’ve done so much to impact so many singers like me. It’s a pleasure to have the opportunity to sing your music and showcase what you’ve done all these years. It’s an actual labor of love and appreciation.”
The Ronstadt Revue Featuring Gesenia plays 8 p.m. on Saturday, September 21, at the Dosey Doe Big Barn, 25911 I-45 North. For more information, call 281-367-377 or visit DoseyDoeTickets.com. $98-$158. Ticket includes a three-course meal served 6:30-7:30 pm and soft drinks.
For more on the Ronstadt Revue, visit RonstadtRevue.com
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
