Alex DePue ... A Review

Fiddler On The Beach

By Mikel Miller

Baja California, Mexico -- A hidden treasure in Baja is discovering good musicians hanging out between concert tours and recording sessions. People here find out about their laid-back music sessions by word of mouth or email alerts.

Some friends in Baja invited me to hear fiddler Alex DePue, who was getting ready for the annual Grand Master Fiddler Championship in Nashville October 2-3. He was playing for tips at La Palapa de Jose, a little place right on the Pacific Ocean, about 36 miles south of the border, on the city limits between Rosarito Beach and Ensenada.

The thatched-roof open-air palapa had a small bar in the left rear corner, and tables and chairs for about 60 people in the main part. In the right rear corner, a stage with two spotlights and a one-microphone sound system sat waiting between sets. An unpretentious guy, in his late 30s, walked over and welcomed us.

"Thanks for coming," he said. "I'm Alex." He smiled broadly and stuck out his hand with a strong handshake. He stepped onto the one-step-high small stage, settled onto a hard swivel chair, and shouted hello to three other new arrivals. A tiny table sat in front of the stage, holding a metal pot with a sign saying "Tips" surrounded by his business cards and maybe a dozen copies of two CDs. Alex said they would make great Christmas stocking stuffers, and joked that they were only "$20 apiece, or two for $50."

He took a box of cigarettes from his shirt pocket and tossed it into his open fiddle case on the floor. He pulled the electric fiddle close to his chest, hugged it with his neck, and drew the bow across the strings.

The fiddle sprang to life, singing and dancing a Cajun tune, with Alex keeping time by stomping his right foot on the plywood stage. The fiddle moaned long and low, like a locomotive whistle, on the opening notes of "Orange Blossom Special," a tune that many consider the American national anthem for fiddle players. He reached out with his bow and tapped it twice on the metal pot to make a sound like a locomotive bell. Then the fiddle picked up speed and exploded into the breakneck tempo of the 1938 bluegrass classic.



Another night, he started a game of "Name That Tune," demonstrating his versatility on half a dozen pieces from Lionel Ritchie, The Eagles, and others. People at the tables shouted out names of songs they recognized, and softly sang the words they knew.

He paused to encourage requests. "Just write what you want to hear on a $10 bill and give it to me," he joked. The fiddle launched into "Smoke On The Water," with everybody clapping time. Somebody asked for "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," a country classic. "That's a $50-dollar request," he teased, but he played it anyway, and sang the lyrics, too, in a husky baritone. The place went crazy.
His cheek-length hair fell across his face, whipping from side to side as he swayed, and he stomped that right foot on the stage, sweat soaking through his shirt. He finished the evening with a wave of his fiddle bow, and the crowd of 28 cheered enthusiastically. Some guests dropped money into the tip bucket and began drifting out, but others stayed to visit for a minute or two. My front row seat cost just $2.50 for a cup of Mexican café one night and $3 for a cold beer the second night, plus tips for the metal pot.

His two Baja sessions gave me new appreciation for violin virtuosity, and I could hear why he is one of the best in the world. His fantastic fiddling ranged from bluegrass to classical, rock to Bach, and included a classical music piece written for four violins. Two friends from Los Angeles saw him another night and came away impressed, wanting to know more about him.



Alex began studying classical violin when he was 5, won his first major competition when he was just 10 years old, performed at Carnegie Hall at age 16, and has performed in fiddle championships across the USA. In 2007, he won the California State Fiddle Championship. He won fourth place in the Grand Master Fiddle Championship in 2005, and won eighth place in 2008.

A couple of years go, Alex toured North America, South America, and Europe with legendary rock guitarist Steve Vai. Usually, he tours with Miguel de Hoyos, a great Mexican classical guitarist. Don't miss the 10 minute video from a joint performance with Miguel in Monterrey, Mexico, on the Internet at http://www.myspace.com/alexdepue

During the past two years, he has been enjoying the laid-back Baja lifestyle between events in the USA. He performs in southern Baja during the winter season, but hangs out on the cooler northern Baja Pacific coast in the summer months.


---

Violin/guitar duo

I like Baja beer joints!
I like ole time Honky Tonks, and roadhouses!
Alex and Miguel can play at my joint, La Trinidad, any ole time they want!
Streisand and Hanoi Jane can hump off though!

I, for one, am incredibly delighted to have access to some professional artists while in
Baja! From what I understand, Miguel and Alex love Baja and choose to live in the area part time because of the "way of life". I do not think they believe they are wasting their potential. They spend so much time working on new ideas while they are here... then can go north to "actualize their potential"
I hope that they will be at the "Jammin for the Animals" again in Todos Santos!!! (I believe it will be in Dec this year)

Hold it!...

Let me mediate:

Bajajazz is probably correct, and that is fine if you are a paid music critic. I know that Bajajazz has the training and the sophistication to offer an educated opinion. But in my opinion, his is wasted here.

Alex DePue and friends are playing to their crowd. I would assume they are not all that sophisticated when it comes to criticizing or analyzing a genre, a performance or a venue. Furthermore, they don't care. The important thing is that they like DePue, his music and his choice of venue;Baja...ahhhhhh!

Would I go to see them? Probably not, unless I had nothing better to do, but maybe that's the point. Life in Baja is not supposed to be that complicated that you don't have time to be entertained. And surrounded by good friends and others, all having a good time, who wouldn't show up and realize that...Oh Damn! I think I like it! Oh, and I have been known to get goofy, at times.

You assume they're capable of more.

Alex certainly is. He's a classically trained musician with great facility, a monster ear and excellent improvisational skills.

Miguel isn't. He has no classical training, learns everything by rote and is incapable of improvisation or transposition. He does have good facility, though.

Performing with Miguel, Alex is most certainly wasting his talent and training.

Miguel is fortunate to have him.

A little secret

OK! That does it....

You guys are hipper than I thought. Therefore, I admit that I agree with BajaJazz and hereby throw all my support (moral, not monetary) his way.

I have walked out of more mediocre performances than I have sat through. And yet the audience, for the most part, doesn't know the difference. Like we musicians say, "Drink up. The more you drink, the better we sound".

BAJA MUSICIANS

Bravo! Salud! I've been very lucky and happy to have listened to many, including these at mi casa. I love GOOD MUSIC.

From early morning coffee to midnight martinis.

From country western to classical flamenco:


.

.
Tony...look me up when you return to Mulege? I would like Fast Eddy and the Slow Learners to play at a shindig mi casa in early December.

Mike Odell...hombre, you hit the nail on the head. Way to go.

Tried to find out more about Alex dePeu but came up with only this:

Hey Phil, taking up the fiddle at your age is admirable. You should be able to know how to hold it properly by the time you're 80 and can join Fasf Eddie and his Slow Learners.
Who knows, you may even get to play at Roger's adobe.