Duo Guardabarranco
Encyclopedia
Duo Guardabarranco was a Nicaraguan
Nicaraguan
Nicaraguans are people inhabiting in, originating or having significant heritage from Nicaragua. Most Nicaraguans live in Nicaragua, although there is also a significant Nicaraguan diaspora, particularly in Costa Rica and the United States with smaller communities in other countries around the world...

 duo consisting of siblings Katia Cardenal
Katia Cardenal
Katia Cardenal is a Nicaraguan singer/songwriter, and a part of the nueva trova movement. Katia and her brother Salvador Cardenal form the Duo Guardabarranco, one of the leading proponents of nueva trova, known for classical songs like Guerrero del amor, Guardabosques, Casa Abierta and Colibri...

 and Salvador Cardenal
Salvador Cardenal
Salvador de Jesús Cardenal Barquero, Nicaraguan singer songwriter born in Mexico , was one of the most renown songwriters in Nicaragua and Central America, also a poet, painter and ecologist...

. The duo has been a significant worldwide ambassador for Nicaraguan
Nicaraguan
Nicaraguans are people inhabiting in, originating or having significant heritage from Nicaragua. Most Nicaraguans live in Nicaragua, although there is also a significant Nicaraguan diaspora, particularly in Costa Rica and the United States with smaller communities in other countries around the world...

 and Latin-American folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 for the last three decades, and has gained a broad international audience with their poetical lyrics of hope, peace and justice
Justice
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...

, wrapped in their outstanding harmonies and melodies.

Biography

Katia and Salvador Cardenal began singing together in 1980 in Managua
Managua
Managua is the capital city of Nicaragua as well as the department and municipality by the same name. It is the largest city in Nicaragua in terms of population and geographic size. Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Xolotlán or Lake Managua, the city was declared the national capital in...

 after the Sandinistas ended the dictatorship of Gen. Anastasio Somoza
Anastasio Somoza
Anastasio Somoza may be:Nicaraguan dictators:* Anastasio Somoza García, * Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Also:* Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero, son of Somoza Debayle...

. The Duo joined the new government's Literacy Campaign
Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign
The Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign, also called the Sandinista Literacy Campaign, was a campaign launched in 1980 by the Sandinista government in order to reduce illiteracy in Nicaragua. It was awarded the prestigious UNESCO Literacy Award...

, and with scores of other high-school students, traveled to teach reading to adults in rural areas of Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

.

In the early 1980s, a new musical movement was spreading through Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

, that of nueva canción
Nueva canción
Nueva canción is a movement and genre within Latin American and Iberian music of folk music, folk-inspired music and socially committed music...

 (new song), a non-partisan, humanistic and often gentle trend toward folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 about social issues. Guardabarranco’s style fit well into the category, although the siblings' compositions have eschewed specific issues of global politics in favor of personal truths and uplifting spirit. The duo's delicate tunes combine elements of traditional folk and pop music forms and address subjects such as hope, nature, respect, justice, love and introspection, without indulging in polemics.

Salvador's song "Guerrero del Amor" (which translates as "Love's Warrior") served as the inspiration for the 1996 movie Carla's Song
Carla's Song
Carla's Song is a British movie directed by Ken Loach with screenplay by Paul Laverty.Set in 1987, it tells the story of the relationship between a Scottish bus driver, George Lennox and Carla , a Nicaraguan woman living in exile in Glasgow...

, directed by noted English filmmaker Ken Loach
Ken Loach
Kenneth "Ken" Loach is a Palme D'Or winning English film and television director.He is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his socialist beliefs, which are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness , labour rights and child abuse at the...

. "Guerrero de Amor" is a prime example of the duo's goal to communicate personal mean through universal truths.

Together, the siblings have released such albums as Si Buscabas, Dias de Amar and Casa Abierta, toured the U.S. six times and performed with Silvio Rodriguez
Silvio Rodríguez
Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez is a Cuban musician, and a leader of the nueva trova movement.He is considered Cuba's best known folk singer and known for his highly eloquent and symbolic lyrics. Many of his songs have become classics in Latin American music, such as Ojalá, Playa Girón, Unicornio and...

, Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...

, Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...

, Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals...

 and benefactor Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....

, among other musical luminaries.

On a global scale, they have played throughout Central and South America, as well as in Eastern Europe, Norway, Finland, Spain, Germany, Great Britain, North Korea, the former Soviet Union, Canada and the United States. The Duo placed second in the OTI International Song Festival 1990, with the song "Dame tu córazon".

Salvador Cardenal died on March 8th, 2010 after a long battle with crioglobulinemia.

Releases

Transparente Nicaragua, 2007 - MOKA Discos

Cancionero, 2004 - MOKA Discos

Verdadero pan, 2003 - MOKA Discos

Una noche con Guardabarranco, 2001 - MOKA Discos
Antologia, 1995 MOKA Discos
Casa abierta,
1994' - MOKA Discos
Dias de amar, 1990 - MOKA Discos
Si buscabas, 1985 - MOKA Discos
Un trago de horizonte, 1982 - MOKA Discos

External links

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