Carlos Arredondo

I am a self-taught musician and singer. I play Spanish guitar, Bolivian charango, Venezuelan Cuatro, Colombian Triple and a bit of Bolivian Quena. I have written about 50 songs. I have been singing in Scotland for more than 30 years, becoming perhaps the oldest Latin-American performer in Scotland. I always sing in Spanish.

My music and style have been inspired by the great Chilean folklorists, Violeta Parra, Victor Jara and by the New Song movement of the Americas of the 60s and 70s. My music also has been shaped by important events in recent Chilean history: The Presidency of Salvador Allende (1970-1973) and the Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990). As I have been widely exposed to the Scottish folk Scene I have also been influenced by Scotland musical culture.

I have performed all over Scotland, in Britain and abroad – in Chile, Peru, Canada, Italy and Sweden. I have performed many times in live shows for BBC radio (_Travelling Folk_, The Usual Suspects, Burns Supper celebrations, etc.) In December 2003 I feature for a half hour BBC radio programme called The World on our Streets. In 2006 Billy Kay invited me to take part in his BBC radio programme Freedom is a Noble thing about Lord Cochrane involved in the Chile liberation struggle against the Spanish colonist in the 19th century.

As result of the death of General Pinochet in December 2006 The Scotsman, invited me to feature in an article about my view about his death.

“Arredondo has the kind of voice that could chant the Santiago telephone directory and still tug the listener”. Alastair Clark, The Scotsman.