www.albertoablanedo.com
Alberto Ablanedo (Oviedo, Asturias, Spain, 1976) is one of the musicians of the so-called Asturian "Folk Generation", the second wave of traditional musicians that follows the pioneers that re-invented Asturian traditional music in the late 80s.
After spending a year studying in London, Alberto returns to Asturias to finish his English studies at University. He soon joins the band Dubram. In the following years he becomes a member of the bands Los Gatos del Fornu, Llangres and Bron, he plays in a trio with Borja Baragano (Llangres) and Xuan Nel Exposito (Felpeyu) as well as guesting in concerts and recording with Brenga Astur, Taranu, DRD, Tejedor, Andecha Folkor d'Uvieu, Grupo Principau, Irish band Neffbros, Celtia and singer-sogwriters Humberto Caras and Alfredo Gonzalez. Since then he has performed extensively in Asturias and the rest of Spain, as well as in France, Italy, Portugal, UK and USA.
He plays the bouzouki as his main instrument, trying to maintain the high level of playing of superb Asturian musicians like Elias Garcia, Igor Medio or Ruben Bada. He also toys with other instruments from time to time: guitar, bass, mandolin, ukelele, whistles and low whistle.
Alberto playing with Diego Pangua, Xosé Ambás and Dolfu R. Fernández for the TV Series "Camín de Cantares". Below, from another episode of the same series, Alberto playing with Xosé Ambás, Pepín de Muñalén & Sergio Rodríguez
In 2002, the song "Branes d'Antanu" by Los Gatos del Fornu, arranged by Alberto and Igor Medio (RIP) is named Best Asturian Song as voted by the readers of online news site Asturies.com. He has also done arranging work in some of the tracks of Humberto Caras' "Colores, Olores, Ruidos" by Humberto Caras. He has played extensively all over Spain and also in Portugal, Italy, UK (incluiding Celtic Connections) and USA.
These days, Alberto works at a school in Grado and acts as a freelance musician with Tejedor and many other projects, as well as playing 3 sessions a week if at all possible. He is also the webmaster of the Spanish weblog www.FolkenlaRed.com, trying to increase the awareness of traditional music through the internet. He has also published articles in Asturian newspaper Les Noticies and british magazine The Living Tradition.
