Unique mariachi group set for Sky City

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

PUEBLO OF ACOMA — Cindy Shea fought for several years to be taken seriously as a musician.

As a women who plays the trumpet, she said she was asked repeatedly by men in the industry, why are you playing?

Shea finally decided to create a sound, a unique sound that she heard in her head, that no one else has, she said.

“I wanted to incorporate a number of types of music in a band, jazz, cumbia, salsa, cha cha cha and bossa nova, to make music the way I wanted to make music,” Shea said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles.

So, Shea created Mariachi Divas, an all-female mariachi band, but which has a male musical director, Alberto Jimenez, who arranges all the music.

“There were a lot of great musicians in Los Angeles, but not a great all-female mariachi group,” she said.

There will be 13 Mariachi Divas performing Thursday in a free show at Sky City Casino Hotel showroom.

The show begins at 6 p.m., and Shea said it will last about 90 minutes.

Shea said there are 17 songs on the current CD, four that translated into English.

“There will be a wide variety of different types of music Thursday. We will take the audience to where they cry, laugh and have them dancing by the end of the show,” Shea said.

Free tickets are available at the cashier’s cage in Sky City Casino on a first-come, first-serve basis. The show is open to all ages.

The Divas’ music is available on iTunes, on the Web site: www.mariachidivas.com as well as online through Target and Best Buy.

Information: 1-888-SKY CITY (759-2489)
To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 285-4560 or e-mail:
jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.