Country music duo Kat & Alex, who became known on American Idol, signed an exclusive worldwide contract with Warner Chappell Music Nashville.

(Para leer en español pincha aquí)

What is striking about this information is that it is about a couple of Latin musicians who sing country music.

Kat (Luna) is born in Miami to Cuban parents and Alex (Garrido) was raised in Georgia to Puerto Rican parents.

On American Idol the duo made it through the second round and Kat individually through the third, but their performance caught the attention of promoters.

After making themselves known, the duo moved from Miami to Nashville and partnered with producer Brad Hill, with whom they began to write music in English and Spanish.

On October 16, 2020, they released both language versions of «How Many Times», their professional debut.

Sheree Spoltore, president of Global Songwriters Connection, an American association of songwriters and singers, gave her thoughts on the Latin duo’s arrival in Nashville in MusicRow.com:

Ben Vaughn LOVE this! It has been a personal dream for me and for so many others in «Music City» for the music released from Nashville to represent the beautiful diversity of talent gather here together in support of creativity. I remember trying to get open doors for Country / Latin artist Sammy Arriaga several years back. Heck … we can’t even buy milk without it being in both english and spanish! Best wishes in all of your efforts.

Comment on MusicRow.com

Kat & Alex, the newest on the list

They really aren’t the first Latinos to give their heart to country. For example, The Mavericks, led by Cuban-American Raúl Malo, completed their first 30 years on stage in 2020.

They celebrated it with a number 1 on the Billboard Latin Pop chart with their album «En Español.» But before that they won the Country Music Association’s Vocal Group of the Year award twice.

More than 20 years ago Rick Treviño, born in Texas of Mexican descent, achieved good positions on the country music charts in the United States.

Freddy Fender, an American of Mexican descent who performed country, rock and roll and Pop, also won 3 Grammy Awards (1990-1998-2001) as a soloist and member of The Texas Tornados and The Super Seven.

Johnny Rodríguez has also traveled that road for about 40 years and The Last Bandoleros, a band that accompanied Sting on tours, tried to bring the sound of the Mexican-style accordion into country, although without much success.

This list is incomplete, but it serves to illustrate the presence of Latino artists in American country music.

Perhaps what they are missing is a star like Selena was for tex-mex.

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