MIAMI (Billboard) –
For the past 15 years, Sergio Vallin has been known as the guitarist for Mana, the top-selling Latin rock band in the world.
Now, the soft-spoken Vallin is ready to step into the spotlight with his first solo release, "Bendito Entre Las Mujeres" (Blessed Among Women), on which he combines his signature guitar chops with the voices of an eclectic group of women that includes Spaniards Ana Torroja, Rosana and Natalia Jimenez (of La Quinta Estacion); Paulina Rubio; Joy (of Jesse & Joy); Ely Guerra; Mariajose; and Brazilian star Ivete Sangalo.
The album is due September 22 on Warner Music Latina, Mana's label, and the video of the first single, "Solo Tu" (featuring Raquel Del Rosario of Spanish pop band El Sueno de Morfeo), was shot in Spain in early September.
Vallin's solo endeavor is a rare move in the Latin music world, where it's usually lead singers who embark on side projects (although, coincidentally, Felipe Staiti, guitarist for Argentine rock band Los Enanitos Verdes, also released an instrumental solo project in August). Warner's decision to release "Bendito" throughout Latin America is an acknowledgement of Mexican band Mana's broad appeal and Vallin's musical talents.
A dazzling guitarist onstage who usually plays a secondary role in the public arena (ceding the limelight to Mana's lead singer, Fher Olvera and to drummer Alex Gonzalez), Vallin has gained an increasingly high profile as a composer, penning Mana hits like "Bendita Tu Luz," which spent four weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart in early 2007 and more than six months in the top 10.
"Bendito" is a collection of 13 original tracks with commercial hooks and lyrics that veer from colloquial to frankly sexual. Having an album that features only female voices is also a marketing hook. But Vallin didn't conceive it that way.
"People would expect a guitar album from me," says Vallin, who is classically trained. "But aside from that musical part, I have stories and thoughts to share. But I'm not a singer. So I invited women because I admire all women -- my mother, my wife, my sister, my daughter -- and also, because prior to joining Mana, my brothers and I had a band and the singer was my sister. I wrote music for her to sing."
So close is the female link, in fact, that Vallin penned two instrumental tracks on the album -- "Historia De Una Nena" (Story of a Little Girl), No. 1 and No. 2 -- for his daughter. And the track "Porque Te Vas," the only song on the album originally recorded by Mana, is redone here with his sister Rocio Vallin on vocals. Vallin wrote the song after his mother died, 11 months following the death of his father.
"I suppose she died of love," he says. "The title is about my mother singing to my father's photograph."
Vallin took advantage of Mana's year off to record the album, turning to singers he had met through the years. His window of opportunity was limited because Mana will release a new album next year and Vallin will once again be part of Latin music's most powerful quartet.
"This came from the heart," he says. "I'm a member of Mana, and when we start our new album, I'll have to focus on that. But I feel like I've come home. (The songs) are part of me. Things about me most people didn't know existed have now found the time to come to light."
(Editing by SheriLinden at Reuters)
