[Mary Santana] Hi George, I'm Mary Ann Santana on behalf of 'LA'Ritmo.com (and no, LA does not stand for Los Angeles-it's Latin America!) I'd like to welcome you to Detroit and thank you because we don't get much salsa out here.
[George Lamond] I heard. It's a pleasure to be here. It's been a while, but I'm back!
[Mary Santana] Wow, you migrated from freestyle to Salsa with the release of 'Entrega'. What a beautiful CD!
[George Lamond] Thank you!
[Mary Santana] I know you worked many hard years prior to the Entrega CD. Seems like you have a very busy schedule these days. How does it compare to your freestyle days?
[George Lamond] It definitely keeps me close to my roots. I now understand what my people were trying to say, back in the day and why the music has evolved to what it is. Day by day I am learning more. Besides the fact that I am loving every aspect of it, It's a very respectful tradition of music for the Latinos. It's totally different; it's live, compared to freestyle, which is all done in the studio. We are talented people, but we're in the new millennium, this is all new music. 'Entrega' is doing really good, it went gold and we are reaching platinum. As a matter of fact, we're on the third single on the radio and we're starting to work on a second album now.
[Mary Santana] I'm very glad to hear that! Assuming this is at least your second time in the Detroit area (a little birdie told me you were here during your freestyle days) how do you like it - I know it can't compare to New York, but...
[George Lamond] Yes, I was here twice. The people are so appreciative, they commit themselves to the music, the love and the passion of it-they are very respectful. I've only been here three times and every time I'm here I get straight up 100% love, which I give back to the people when I'm on stage-I feed into it and when I receive that energy, I give it right back.
[Mary Santana] Personally, I am ecstatic that you're singing salsa. Seems to me that a lot of our Hispanic youth, here in Detroit, loved your freestyle music. Now, I see a surge of interest in Salsa within this same group. Through your music, do you plan to focus on the youth, and perhaps help them to better appreciate salsa?
[George Lamond] Definitely, because the new style of salsa is so radio friendly, it opens up a gap for our different types of singers, as apposed to straight descarga or rumberos. Now with artists such as Marc Anthony and Jerry Rivera, and the new stuff coming out-it's so creative and beautiful that "la juventud" is just gravitated to it. They didn't grow up listening to El Gran Combo and now they can relate to this new style of music such as that of DLG, Marc Anthony, and Jerry Rivera.
[Mary Santana] Do you have a favorite sonero? Do you aspire to become a sonero yourself?
[George Lamond] Gilberto Santa Rosa. I saw Gilberto in concert, at Madison Square Garden, and was blown away. I can't say enough about Gilberto Santa Rosa, not only is he a great person, but also a very special man-I've been learning from him. Other favorites are Domingo Quiñones and Victor Manuelle.
In English when you are on stage, the best thing to do is, freestyle-improvise from the top of your head. I've done it in English and believe I can do it in Spanish to. I'm very new at this and I can't say that I can do it yet, I do some, I'm not hardcore yet, like the real soneros, like "El Canario," I'm taking lessons and I'm learning. I think you will hear me take the stage as a sonero one day.
[Mary Santana] I look forward to hearing you! Do you plan to continue singing both English and Spanish, or migrate to strictly Spanish?
[George Lamond] I'm not going to abandon the two languages that I love. I am proud to be an American citizen and am proud to be a Puerto Rican living in the states. I'm not going to give up what I am. I am never going to stop singing Spanish and I'll never stop singing English-I'll just do both.
[Mary Santana] What's next?
[George Lamond] I'm going on vacation to rest a bit, and then when I get back home we will start working on a new salsa album that should be out by late December.
[Mary Santana] George, on behalf of 'LA'Ritmo.com, I would like to thank you for allowing this interview. God Bless you and best wishes for continued success.
[George Lamond] I would like to thank 'LA'Ritmo.com for supporting me. I always check out the site, and I check out the polls too.
Special thanks to Carl Mariette, George's road manager, for allowing this interview. George Lamond is not only a talented artist, along with his professionalism, he is very charismatic and possesses a wonderful loving personality. I must say the same for his band and all the folks that accompany him, what a great group. The performance at The Volcano Grill, in Southfield, MI was spectacular, I don't think there was a soul there that didn't feel the music in their veins. Kudos to George Lamond and his band for bringing their energy packed salsa to Detroit. Stay tuned for the release of his second salsa album that should be out towards the end of the year!
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