Fresh off the heels of a six-week European tour and 14th tour overall, Patricia Vonne isn’t ready for a break just yet.
When she’s on stage she’s home.
Vonne is also celebrating the release of her latest album Firebird, which crosses international boundaries, pays homage to a legendary Spanish poet and sparks memories of old Hollywood cinema.
The album opens with the haunting "Missing Women," a tribute to the hundreds of women murdered in Juarez, Mexico. Vonne made several trips to Juarez doing research for the song and shooting a video. She had the opportunity to meet many of the mothers of the victims' and became quite close to the project. In hopes of bringing more awareness to the campaign she has donated the song as a free download on the Amnesty International's Web site which is promoting the? for the film "Bordertown" with Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas.
Festiva chatted with the sultry Latina roots rocker as she unpacked her suitcase at her apartment in Austin.
Speaking of Europe, what is the crowd response like overseas?
VONNE: It’s always exciting to go over there and spread the music. They remind us that we are pioneers of all forms of music: jazz, rockabilly, rock ‘n roll and they’re fascinated by where that came from. And also by the legacy of Texas music, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Buddy Holly, and fascinated by what’s deep in the well. In places like East Germany where they were submerged for so many years, they come out in droves. They’re so curious about artists that come over.
It’s safe to say a lot of your European fans might not speak Spanish?
VONNE: I think it really makes us stand out over there. Sometimes they try to describe it…Tex-Mex, Spanish, Latin.
You spent many years honing your talent in New York. How does New York compare to Austin or Texas as a whole in terms of the music scene?
VONNE: When I lived in New York the only place I could think of moving was Austin. It’s a melting pot full of artists; it has a very liberal mentality. The only thing different was the pace. (laughs) It’s the oasis, being the musical capital of the world. In New York it was great to be anonymous, but there was really no chance to tour. It wasn’t feasible at all. In Texas it was at once its own country. You can really make a living in the whole State of Texas. We just wanted to play more instead of once a month. We wanted to play more than that. Here you can play, San Antonio, Houston...Abilene.
What’s your favorite venue to play at in Austin?
VONNE: [sighs] The Continental Club. They were the first ones to let us play.
And have you built a steady following, ahem, maybe some groupies?
VONNE: [laughs] The Vonne Heads, it’s hysterical. We have our diehard fans and it’s just incredible. They’ve been with me before the debut for almost eight years. Word got around.
How do you think you relate to the people of the Valley? Do you have family here?
VONNE: My father is from Rio Grande City, so we’d go visit every summer and spend the summer there. He came from very modest beginnings. So just having a strong family unit, maybe not monetarily rich but rich in other ways. Remembering where you came from. I have a brother, Cecil (Rodriguez) who still lives in McAllen.
How did you get bit by the music bug and why this type of music?
VONNE: Oh, my favorite group growing up were Los Cruzados, led by Tito Larriva who went on to score my brother’s movies, "Desperado" and others. I wanted it to be a preserving of word missing the musical heritage of San Antonio with the Mariachis, Rockabilly…so that’s why I like to keep my music original I always liked it to be bilingual being my dad’s first language was Spanish.
What’s it like working with your husband Robert LaRoche? You’re in the studio or on stage and then cooking dinner later on? How do you work through any tense moments?
VONNE: It was tense when we were with each other 24/7. Time apart keeps a marriage strong. He has a full-time job now. He’s been always visionary and a great musical director. We’ve known each other for 17 years and we were friends first and that’s always important having the strong bond. That’s the trick, time apart.
Musicians can be very critical of each other’s work, how do you work through that with someone you’re married to?
VONNE: I find myself writing in the bathroom. If he has a song and I’m not ready to hear it I won’t. Just a couple of days ago he said I’m ready to hear (the songs she wrote). You can’t take offense.
Where are you in your career? And how do you define success?
VONNE: I’m grateful because we are able to make a living making music and touring overseas. For an independent artist touring America, with gas prices these days is hard. But everything is laid out for you over there, all you have to do are perform. We are able to go over there and knock the lights out. Knowing we have a solid base over there to bring in income and have some left over, I define as success.
Would you like to crossover in to the VH1 audience per say?
VONNE: I would say to them, here are my songs; do you hear one you like? That’s the thing, labels would say, ‘well I don’t hear a single’ so we just go our own path. Know what success is to you. My new goal is to buy a house. But I’m thrilled where we are now. Whatever works for you.
Talk about your new album Firebird…
VONNE: This one stood apart because I took a stand on the Juarez murders. I went to interview the mothers, did research at the El Paso Library with gutted files, which was weird. For some reason I felt compelled to write this song. Four musicians were murdered for the songs they wrote about the drug trafficking in Mexico. If someone doesn’t say anything? All it takes is one voice. 15 Fifteen years later nothing’s been done. I just really felt I wanted to write something for the families. On the lighter side of things, mother would take kids to the Old Revival House Theater where we? would watch these James Dean movies. I wrote “Jett Rink” after the character and wrote myself into the love song. She got a big kick out of that. Also did a duet with Tito Larriva in honor of the late poet Federico Garcia Lorca in “La Huerta de San Vicente” the name of his house in Granada, Spain. It was an homage, a tribute although he is not here his work and his plays live on. With “Torera” people think I have a fascination with female bull fighters. I took that as a symbol in any profession…trying to go after their mission in life and just keep going. Same with the title of the album Firebird, It’s a Phoenix rising from the ashes…the missing women rising from the ashes.
Any collaborations with your brother, film director Robert Rodriguez?
VONNE: I love working for my brother when he needs a song, like we did with “Once Upon a Time in Mexico.” Recently Quentin (Tarantino) picked up a song for his new movie “Hell Ride.” It’s called "Mud Pies and Gasoline” and it’s autobiographical, it has to be, growing up in a family with 10 kids.
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Patricia Vonne
WHEN: Saturday, 8 p.m.
WHERE: Cine El Rey, 311 S. 17th St., downtown McAllen
COST: $15
FOR MORE INFO: www.myspace.com/cinelrey
On the Web: www.patriciavonne.com or www.myspace.com/patriciavonne
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Miriam Ramirez covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4468.
