Top 10 Rio Grande Valley Singers
Raymus Media - The Rio Grande Valley’s alternative music magazine
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The RGV music scene has a vast range of talents from diverse influences. Today, we look at 10 singers that go above and beyond with raw talent, ambition, and themes. The only requirement is that they must have been active and based in the RGV at some point in the decade.
*This magazine primarily focuses on the alternative music scene. If you feel that not enough singers from other genres are represented, message us on Facebook or Instagram to let us know who you think should be recognized. We can always make another list for other types of music to give them recognition they deserve.
10. Andy Peña (Quiet Kids/Dignan)
Coming out of the late 2000’s with Dignan, Peña’s firm vocals went through a Win Butler phase, and ended the 2010’s in Quiet Kids with the somber trembling of Thom Yorke. Like these two singers, Peña doesn’t let the production drown out the essence of his voice. The aching in his words is always clear.
9. Elliot Weaver (Chemical Thought)
Many decades ago, Sam Cooke said, “from now on it’s not going to be about how pretty the voice is. It’s going to be about believing that the voice is telling the truth.”
Weaver’s everyman persona is complemented by a voice that sounds familiar to all of us. It’s not his vocal timbre, but what he’s willing to put his voice through: emo ballads, melodic rap verses, and alt-metal screams. All of it with the passion and longing of underdogs everywhere.
*side note: he hasn’t recorded vocals at a legitimate studio yet, so it gets even better from here.
8. Lauren Corzine
Corzine’s vocals come with a lot of country history, form Dolly Parton to Kacey Musgraves, while blurring the line with pop music like early Taylor Swift. Her best moments are when there’s a sense of journey and confidence, which is when we truly hear her vocal strength and destiny for super-stardom.
7. Angel Corsi (Something Solar, Echoes & Embers)
As the owner of a music shop, previous owner of a venue, and mentor to many singer-songwriters in the RGV, Corsi leads by example. With minimal instrumentation, he always fills the air with soaring vocals and raspy crooning that never gets too throaty. His formula starts with a Bruce Springsteen foundation and absorbs the influence of the best folk singers from there.
6. Chris Garza (Lazer Hog)
Garza is the ultimate alt-metal chameleon with the attitude of Zack De La Rocha, the screeches of Serj Tankian, the confrontational timbre of Pete Loeffler, and the list goes on. His madman shenanigans give a jolt of personality that is certainly lacking in the RGV scene.
5. Diana Tovar (D-Minor, Arcane Display, Geminii)
Moving past her singer-songwriter origins, Tovar became the most professional-sounding singer by being featured above the dense electronic rock of Arcane Display and the latin-pop dance beats of Geminii. Her voice can fit anywhere and rise above any level of production. Strength, timbre, pitch, emotion. She just checks off box after box.
4. Audrey Scott (Sick/Sea, Hex Boyfriend, Arrgh!drey)
Scott began as a solo acoustic act with Arrgh!drey and branched out from there, eventually relocating to the ultra-competitive Austin scene, but her indie vocals left a mark in the RGV. Regina Spekter and Caroline Polachek might be fair comparisons, but whether it’s the cutesy innocence of her early work, or the mature reflections of Sick/Sea, the RGV hasn’t heard pitch-perfect confessional vocals like hers since.
3. J. P. Chapa (Mala Mano)
At first, it may seem that Chapa is another student of old folk-rock like Grateful Dead, but that’s an oversimplification. He is a bit more modern than the surface may show. There is the mundane bluntness of Jeff Tweedy and the nihilistic tone of David Berman all over his singing. His Western accent and cadence can manifest images of empty rooms and driving alone on long stretches of road. There’s a level of reflection and contemplation in Chapa’s delivery that is so rare to find.
2. Danica Salazar (Dezorah)
Coming from the band that brought the most ambitious, yet accessible, form of progressive rock to the RGV, Salazar naturally brings a supernatural mystique to the forefront of the music. The outsider pop influence of Bjork and the dark psychedelia of Anthony Green are just two comparisons that come to mind, but her sound crosses so many more boundaries. Call her theatrics “prog”, and her aura “indie”, but there’s no denying she has the grand vocal presence of a true rock star.
1. Lamar Jones (The Vangoes, Lamar Jones)
The man. The Legend. Lamar Jones. He brings the most soulful singing you will hear out of the RGV, with such smooth note changes, clean vibrato, effortless control, and dramatic exhalation. Jones’s vocals can stack up to the vocal talents of Ray Charles and R. Kelly, whether it’s in the Flobots-esque songs of his former band, The Vangoes, or his solo R&B project. Jones has a natural gift that he has sharpened beyond what almost all of us can even hope to reach.