The festival is excited to have the opportunity to bring this Nanaimo-based ensemble to Texada. Son de Metal is a play on words from son – a type of music in Mexico. The members of this Vancouver Island based group are Jarana/Guitar/Voice – Rodrigo Moreno, Bass- Jesus Sierra, Violin- Paul “Manos de fuego” Sadlemyer, Beni René – Cajon/percussion, Walewska Mendoza – Folk Dancer, and Drake Shoemaker – Double Bass.
Sol de Metal performs an eclectic fusion of musical styles. As Rodrigo says, “Our drummer is from Madagascar, dancer are from Guatemala, our bass player is half Mexican and half Dominican. It’s a reflection of modern-day Canada. I have my Mexican heritage, which is the driving force of this project, but I can’t pretend that I am in 16th century Mexico. I’m in 2025 and that means carrying around a lot of other musical and cultural baggage. I grew up listening to rock, hip-hop, jazz, blues and so did everybody else in the band.”