Mercedes Peon

Mercedes Peón has burst on the international music scene with her debut, Isué, a record of traditional and original Galician music that both reveres the past and also picks it up by the scruff of the neck and carries it into the modern age - not unlike a Spanish version of Värttinä, both in feel and execution. But behind it all is a very and lengthy devotion to Galician musical history, and not so much the piping that has given the region recent prominence, but the vocal tradition that has mostly been ignored.

Peón's exposure began with "my grandparents, with whom I experienced the traditional cycle of living in my hometown, and second, I was lucky enough to see, while I was camping at the early age of 13 years old, four women singing and playing what I later discovered was the oldest Galician expression, the "Riveiranas". It impressed me in such a way that from that moment on I devoted my life to learn those musical codes so that I could do it the same way, in a tribal, free and visceral way."

"I am a woman who expresses freely her energy and the way those Galician women play is formidably strong and tribal."

And she gives very free expression to the singing on her album. The title track begins with a bloodcurdling wail and takes off from there. But everything on the record is the result of her 15 years of song collecting and studying the traditions of her native region.

"I have gathered more than one thousand two-hour tapes with all kinds of unknown songs, which I recorded while doing field work, and I can assure you that Galicia is a rich land, unique in Europe," Peón explained. "The ease or difficulty in collecting those songs has a lot to do with a very good knowledge of the codes used by those people who have kept their Galician tradition from generation to generation." At the same time, she acknowledged that while her own material might have the spirit of the past, "I cannot say that the tradition continues since I am a composer and arranger. To consider anything as traditional, it has to be the evolutionary expression of the people, from generation to generation. This must not be static. In the 20th century, Galician tradition evolved through social changes without losing their essence, comparable to the North African expressions; in my case, it is the free expression of someone who has plenty of references, one of which is the vocal and percussive tradition, which I use freely to convey all that I want to express."

Something that resonates with her is the fierce female Galician strength, and that's apparent in her work.

"I am a woman who expresses freely her energy and the way those Galician women play is formidably strong and tribal," she admitted. With the tradition as a starting point, she's also been influenced by other, modern music she's heard, and, prior to this released had already collborated with an illustrious set of names, including Manu Chao (Mano Negra, Radio Bemba), Matocongrio (Carlos Núñez, Anxo Pintos), Xosé Manuel Budiño, Diplomáticos de Monte Alto (Xurxo Souto)," in addition to being commissioned to write for a television series as well as for some audio-visuals."

While it's her voice that strikes, it's far from being her only weapon; she's also a formidable piper, who started to learn the gaita at 19, after being "struck by the piper Xoséé de Teixeiro, who played on a 18th century bagpipe, using a kind of fingering characteristic of that century," then winning the Lorient Interceltique Festival's Macallan Prize for Galician pipes.

As the plaudits continue to roll in for Isué, Peón is looking ahead to a record that might be as much of a surprise as her debut, something she'll describe only as "a new work on sensations, scents, totally free in relation to the moment I may be living."

Mercedes Peon

"I am a woman who expresses freely her energy and the way those Galician women play is formidably strong and tribal."

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