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QF Focus Magazine


Hi All. With the great variety of different musical acts that we have here on the South Costa Blanca, I have often wondered why there aren’t more in the Country and Western genre. That was, until recently! Last month I featured the fantastic Red Strokes and Cherry K. Well, a few weeks ago, I went along to the Country Music Festival at El Rancho, Montesinos and discovered a very talented duo that go by the name “Tex Mex Kowboys”.


These masters of Country Music are David Sanchez Moya on guitar / vocals and John Roche on pedal steel guitar. David is a native of Spain, and has a great knowledge of music and has had an interest in country music all of his life. Over the years he has played with a couple of local groups, but it was a chance meeting with John Roche, through a mutual friend that brought them together. This affable duo got on very well together and despite David’s limited spoken English, and John’s very little Spanish, they discovered that they shared a mutual love of the same style of music. David’s biggest challenge was to learn the lyrics of the songs in English - something he had never done before. What an achievement! Not only has David accomplished this feat, but I honestly thought (as did many others) that he was English - his diction and phrasing is perfect. John Roche is a veteran in the entertainment industry, having been in the business for 55 years.


Born in Ireland, as a youngster, he first learned to play the Penny Whistle, then the Harmonica. Shortly after moving to the U.K. in 1966, he bought a Guitar and taught himself to play this instrument. It was some time later, that John met


Justin Hayward. Justin needed a lead Guitarist so along with 2 other members, they formed “The Shots”. As history will tell us, Justin moved on and joined The Moody Blues. John and a friend Bob Carter (who had recently split with his band) went on to form a duo, where John began playing Lap Steel Guitar. Not satisfied with the authenticity of the sound of the Lap Steel - John invested in a Pedal Steel Guitar in order to get the true Country tone. He worked very hard to master this complex instrument, and it certainly paid off, John worked with many Country bands including “Kinda Country” and “Cullpepper County”. Over the years John has worked with many well known artistes. He has played Steel Guitar for Frank Ifield and Barbary Coast (Frank’s U.K. backing band), Ricky Valance and Eric Faulkner from the Bay City Rollers. After suffering health problems in recent years, John and his wife decided to return to Spain (having lived here previously). Tex Mex Kowboys are a great Country Duo, and if (like me) you enjoy listening to this genre of music, then you can catch up with David and John every Sunday afternoon at El Rancho, Montesinos, where they perform from 2pm - 5pm.


Country music at its best.


Page 17


Bye for now, D.P.


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