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We had an awesome time playing in front of an outdoor crowd of better than 600, possibly 700 people at the Rotary Outdoor Amphitheatre.

We weren't able to bring the entire group, but we held it down and got some of the best crowd response of the year. Alvin and Derek were also thrilled to be reunited with their dad, Marco Suarez, who was also an accomplished musician and their original musical inspiration. Marco was joined by his mom, Rosa, two of his younger sons, David and Daniel; and David's girlfriend, Trisha. All live in the Madison, Wisconsin area.

People of all races danced at the packed amphitheatre and we even sold all but 4 of the CD's that we brought. We had to hide the last few as we had promised to give them to Marco and the family.

Our thanks go out to Cindy, Dan, Mike, Mark, Wiscraft & the Visionary Media Company. There's some talk about doing this again next year. We'll be ready, willing and able. Shout-outs to George Washington (Yes, that's his real name), Brenda and Jasmine at the airport. We hope Jasmine got home to Denver safely. Thanks also go out to the good folks at Moe's Irish Pub who took care of us. Great burgers!

We will take a breather for a couple of weeks before heading out to North Bergen, NJ on the 25th.

After a long, grueling drive from New York to Pittsburgh, we played at the Cabaret in Theater Square on Penn Avenue. After a half-hour dance lesson given by Joe Figueroa from Philly, the crowd got to test some of their new moves to the sounds of our usual mixture of salsa, bachata, bolero and merengue.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to enjoy the sights and sounds of Pittsburgh as we quickly had to travel back to New York the next morning. Nonetheless, it was a fun gig and we were treated very nicely.

Our thanks to the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust for making us the first out-of-town Latin band to play at the club. Additional thanks to everyone at the club for such a great turnout.

Great time in Amherst today. Thanks to Tommy, Dave, Joan, Lorianne and all the other great talent at the show. We barely beat the pouring rain, lol. Also thanks, Slade for your help. Next stop Pittsburgh PA. Hope you're ready PA!

The weather didn’t cooperate, and the ice cream never arrived. But everyone who moved inside the Community Theatre lobby for tonight’s “Party on the Plaza” with Los Ciegos Del Barrio were well pleased.

Great time in Morristown NJ tonight. Thanks to Ed, Lynn and Kevin. Footage to follow. Next stop, Amherst MA on July 24th. We know a huge chunk of our fanbase is from Massachusetts and Connecticut...we're coming back! See you soon.

Great time in Jersey City tonight. We were treated like royalty and the crowd was fantastic! Shouts to Helena and Daniela, who is the biggest Banda Blanca fan, for making sure that we were taken care of.

Congratulations to the happy newlyweds. It was one of the nicest weddings we've ever played - complete with fireworks. Happy Birthday, USA! We were glad to provide you with plenty of musical fireworks with some of our danceable Latin music during the reception.

We can also play for your wedding. Just plan it and look us up here on our web site, Facebook, My Space, Reverb Nation, Twitter or at any of our upcoming events.

On Friday, July 2, we had the honor of kicking off the Downtown Sounds Concert Series in Glen Cove Long Island in New York.

It was one of our best shows of the year as a multi-racial crowd of all ages danced and moved to our Latin sounds. We thank Francine Culler for setting this up for us and we hope to have the opportunity to do it again next year. Special thanks to the good folks from the Glen Cove Patch. The people of Glen Cove are just phenomenal.

Lots of fun at the private fundraiser. What was the deal with the last-minute insurance policy charge that was sprung on us?

Anyway, it was all for a great cause and we managed not to break anything. We were treated to some great food while we treated everyone to great music. Thanks to everyone involved.

Great time at the 116th St. Puerto Rican festival.. Great sharing a stage with Miosotis as well. We had the crowd jumping until the cops had to shut us down. :( But we appreciated our abridged opportunity to play tonight...quite an experience. Thanks to those that were there, what a turnout! Shout out to Jerry, Juan & Rocio.

And now, a message to the organizers of festivals/shows/events, etc:

We are just one single voice, but we'd like to call on the powers that be of any and every major event/festival to please have a true appreciation for live music and the work that's behind it. It's so easy to put a CD in a machine & either sing or dance along to it, but it's a lot of hard physical work to bring musical instruments, set them up and then play and sing as we entertain. It's fun, but it's very hard work...not to mention all of the years of studying and practice.

In some cases, musicians will travel a long way to do this physical work...so please bare that in mind when booking the acts for your shows, because we love what we do and we have a deep respect for music as a whole. We ask that live music get the support it deserves and that musicians...real musicians...get the same respect in return.

Thanks again and hopefully, we'll get another opportunity to keep entertaining you all the way we have been for our entire career. Que viva Boricua!!!

Nice time in Brooklyn. Thanks to Joe and Company for a great job entertaining us. Also, thanks to Dia at the grill. It was nice to see you eating towards the end of the night. You needed a break.

Great live music was provided by Everyboy, our good friend Lachi and, of course, Los Ciegos. Lachi and the Ciegos collaberated on a flavorful rendition of Madonna's "Like a Prayer." Next Stop: The Puerto Rican Day Festival at the 106th Street/3rd Avenue stage next Saturday at 5pm.

In a last-minute show put together by the good folks from Western Union and Castle Check Cashing on Broadway between 177th and 178th Streets, we played a two-hour set of classic merengue (Perico Ripiao style). We were pleasantly surprised by the turnout and the positive reaction that we got from the crowd that gathered around the front of the Check Cashing place. This event was in honor of Dominican Mother's Day.

Much love to all of the Dominican Moms out there, including Machete's mom who stopped by to say hello to us. We had a great time in Washington Heights tonight. Thanks to Isabel, Vincent, Mike, Elizabeth, Aridia & Julian for their help tonight. Elizabeth even won a $50 certificate from Western Union. Next time, lunch is on her.

Shout outs to Marisela, Andres and that really cool young lady in the SUV that helped our keyboard player get to his cab. Sorry we didn't get her name, but we hope she has fun in DR later this year. We love you Washington Heights!

We had a great time playing at the Lavelle School today. Shouts to Maureen, Mike, Gary and Jeanette for their help today and the crowd was excellent. We hope to be back soon. Next stop, Brooklyn NY! June 6th! Bushwick, stand up!

We want to thank Meeka, David and the good folks at the Lincoln Specialty Care Center for having us perform at their very first community event. Nice weather, live music, wonderful people, free raffles, prizes, food and drink and some good young talent. What else could we ask for? A great time was had by all. Hopefully, we can do this again.

We just found out that we will be playing the 25th Annual 116th street Puerto Rican Day Festival on June 12 before the Puerto Rican Day parade that weekend. Big shouts to Rocio, Violeta, Calvin, Jerry, Pedro Navaja & all the other artists at the auditions. Can't wait to be there.

This is where it all started and it will be a thrill for Alvin and Derek to play for the old neighborhood. We'll keep you posted with specific times and information as it develops.

It was nice seeing Violetta, who was a classmate of ours at the old East Harlem Performing Arts School. She's always been a sweetheart and she hasn't changed a bit. Hope to see you at the festival. Boricua, stand up! El Barrio, stand up! Los Ciegos Del Barrio are coming back to El Barrio!

It was our second appearance on the popular internet show. Check out the Benny Negro Show on You-Tube. This is a weekly show that features some of the top talents representing a wide variety of genres. This show is full of surprises, so check it out. You can see a live taping at Manny's Sports Bar on 2nd Avenue in New York City every Wednesday night. Even the DJ plays some of the best selections from yesterday and today. We can't say that about every DJ. Thank you Benny Negro and Frankie Bones for having us again. It was a great crowd and there was a lot of excellent talent featured. We also enjoyed some of the best Buffalo wings in the city. Let's do it again.

Great time tonight with the class of 2010 at Kean University. Shout outs to Stephanie, Alexa and especially "Bridges."

We want to thank Brooke, Eliot, Slade, David, Chris, Jeanette, Elvira, Mariela, Valerie, louise & the folks from Williams College for showing us a great time tonight. We are proud supporters of "El Dia de los Imigrantes" and we'll gladly come back next year. It was also cool crashing Janet's birthday party and surprising some of our most loyal fans from Colombia. Happy Birthday, Janet. We love you.

Speaking of love, much love to our friend, Mayra from California, who is celebrating her 27th Birthday today. Make it a safe, happy and healthy year for you and yours. We'll keep in touch.

A great milestone for us. We now total 1,000 fans on Facebook as of today and 3,000 overall as we are featured on My Space, Twitter, Reverb Nation, Garage Band.com and Facebook. We set up our Facebook page on July, 2009, so this is quite an accomplishment. We couldn't do it without you. We thank you and can feel your love. CiegoMania is just beginning!

To show our appreciation, we'll give you a chance to download one of our songs from our new album, "Porque?...Porque!" Check out our Facebook page for more details. Limited time offer.

The Blind Musician’s Collective is Proud to Present Top Acts at the NYC Shrine Bar, 3-26-2010
  
The Blind Musician’s Collective is Proud to Present Top Acts at the NYC Shrine Bar, 3-26-2010

The Blind Musicians Collective of NYC (BEAM NYC) will be presenting acclaimed artists Lachi, Los Ciegos Del Barrio and emerging group Dreadbeat Dadz in
concert on Friday March 26 at 8pm for a premier showcase. The showcase will be held at the popular Shrine bar on 2271 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd, NY,
NY.

(PRWEB) March 10, 2010 -- When thinking of a blind musician, we imagine an African-American male with dark glasses on a piano singing R&B, and though Stevie
Wonder and Ray Charles have had their heyday as noteworthy, superb blind musicians in the past, a new wave of modern, hardworking, extremely talented and
diverse visually impaired musicians have materialized at the commercial level in NYC and around the globe representing everything from Singer-songwriter
and Rock to Latin and Ska. Yes, blind individuals have a certain stigma within society of being dependent, feeble and inane; however, the mission of the
Blind Musicians Collective is not only to empower its musicians through fellowship and networking, but to promote them through performance opportunities,
and showcases, in order to dismiss misconceptions. Unlike the organizations of today who claim to aid blind individuals but are bogged down by politics
disorganization and an inability to truly relate, the Collective is set forth for and complete run and supported by highly educated, hardworking, professional
blind musicians in the music industry at a grassroots, realistic and synergetic level.

On March 26th BEAM will showcase some of NYC’s top talents, including the buzzing Rock Songstress, Lachi (and her all blind band) who’s recently signed
a record deal with Fanatic Records (EMI/Capitol) and is showcasing at the South By South West 2010 Music Conference in Austin TX; well-established, high-energy,
multigenre Latin band Los Ciegos Del Barrio who’ve recently released the successful "Por Que? Porque!" album, and the up-and-coming Ska Punk band Dreadbeat
Dadz.

Some may wrongly assume that these artists are just as good as any other artists out there, yet the only difference is that they are blind. However, these
artists are exceptionally above average; their music and performance chops are impeccable, and their diligence and business savvy are just as impressive.
Expect a stellar, talent-filled line up at Harlem’s own Shrine Bar, popular for its rich musical showcase experiences, well-priced drinks and great food!
There is no cover at the door; however, donations are highly appreciated.

For information visit:

www.beamnyc.webs.com

www.myspace.com/beamnyc

www.facebook.com/beamnyc

Lachi:
www.ulachi.com

Los Ciegos Del Barrio:
www.losciegos.com

Dreadbeat Dadz:
www.myspace.com/dreadbeatdadz

# # #
Contact Information
BEAM NYC
BEAM NYC
http://www.beamnyc.webs.com
347 465 7664

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We will be on an on line radio interview tonight at 9:00PM Eastern Time on Artist First Radio. Click this link to listen live: http://wms.artistfirst.fastserv.com/artistfirst
We will also be giving away free CD's to listeners of that show. Tune in for details.

Original band member/percussionist Jimmy Fontanez has won the judges' selection for a 2009 Independent Music Award for his song "Mi Salsa Vocal". This song has been featured on our interview on German Santana's "Caribe Latino" show on 89.9 WKCR FM in New York City. We are very proud of Jimmy and he deserves all the credit for writing such a wonderful song. You can listen to his song here: http://www.reverbnation.com/jimmyfontanez This will be the first of many accomplishments for Jimmy and we are always happy when one of our team members wins such an award.
Jimmy Fontanez, a friend of most of the band since childhood, joined "Los Ciegos Del Barrio" when the band first started in 1997. Shortly afterwards, he left New York City to hone his percussive skills with a Salsa band in Amsterdam/Albany New York now called the "Alex Torres Orchestra". Jimmy continued to write, record and produce his own music in his own home studio. He also continued to be active with "Los Ciegos Del Barrio" even while living upstate. In 2009, Jimmy expanded his music career by joining an alternative rock group with "Lachi", another visually impaired artist from Brooklyn New York ( http://www.ulachi.com ) who has since befriended and assisted "Los Ciegos Del Barrio" through the use of her own marketing skills and knowledge of social media. She is also a good friend of Jimmy's. Jimmy joined the Visionary Media Company" in 2009 and collaborated, either through performance, or production with several artists for an upcoming compilation CD called "Songs About Blindness" which is to be released in 2010. He moved back down to New York City in January 2010 as he parted ways with the "Alex Torres Orchestra" as he has now become increasingly active with "Lachi", "Los Ciegos Del Barrio", "The Visionary Media Company" and his own budding music career. "Mi Salsa Vocal", to date, is his most popular solo original song and has enjoyed a huge amount of success. He is very well supported by his friends and fans and we are so happy to have him back in town. In January 2010, jimmy officially won the "Latin song category" for the "Independent Music Awards", which is only a small indication of how much he is starting to realize his potential as an artist.
We support our member/friend and the sky is the limit for Jimmy as there is so much more to accomplish. Welcome home, Jimmy and welcome to the wonderful world of music success and appreciation.