Cuñao

Cuñao is a Los Angeles-based, Latin Folk group . They use their South American background & influences to create evocative, poetic songs that transcend time and leave listeners with lush images. A group of multi-ethnic musicians, Cuñao puts a global twist on their Latin sound by exploring African rhythms, Eastern European melodies and American Rock aesthetics.

The band started as a recording collaboration by founder Julio Montero in New York City in the summer of 2010. Having recorded a few songs under their belt, Julio moved to L.A. and finished the album. The end result was the self-released debut Trabajo Y Ron in March 2011. The album is a fusion of electronic beats and synthesized sounds infused with the spirit of ethnic folk music. Moving forward with a rotating roster of friend musicians, Cuñao put out a 5 song EP titled Los Testigos, a collection of nostalgic folk songs inspired by Latin American music of the 1960’s & 70′s, released on April 24th, 2013. That same year followed a collaboration with Beat Chamber Records and the release of the Cumbia EP Llano, Llanero, Lloron. The EP won The Examiner Magazine’s 2013 L.A.Music Critics Award for Best International Release. The song “Periquito” was featured on an episode of The El Rey Network’s “From Dusk ‘Till Dawn: The Series.” In the spring of 2014, the band solidified its current roster and immediately began work on their upcoming album Sangre YArena (October 2015 release), which solidified their sound as a Latin Folk group with a global flair.

Cuñao has performed in local Los Angeles venues such as Tia Chucha’s Cultural Center, The Last Bookstore, Witz End, Rockwell Table & stage, La Cita Bar, M-Bar Boyle Heights, Lillian Theater, The Good Hurt, The Talking Stick and more. In Spring of 2015, they performed as part of the Lummis Day Festival in northern Los Angeles. In May of 2015, they were commissioned to score a dance piece by Choreographer and Artistic Director of the Wooden Floor Academy Melanie Rios Glaser. They composed music for her piecePlaygroundand performed live at The Irvine Barclay Theater at UC Irvine. Cuñao has also performed in New York City and in the summer of 2014, Cuñao was featured as part of NUEVOFEST in Philadelphia. They have been featured in Sound & Colours Magazine and in early 2015 their video was a featured contestant atNPR’s Tiny Desk Contest as well as NPR Alt.Latino.