ArtLoft is brought to you by the# friends of South Florida PBS.

ArtLoft.

It's the pulse of what's happening# on the South Florida contemporary art scene.

In this episode, the art of music.# We meet Ricky Valo and his hyalia hillbillies.

Pop singer and lyricist# Katarina Lis shares her journey from the lab to the stage.

Jazz vocalist# Marlo Vashtai on her first release.

And Susanna Behar brings song to the artist# and residence program at the Dearing Estate.

From bass to Latin vibes and disco,# Miami has long been known for music.

But country music, not so much.

We head to# Hyia to meet the artist working to change that.

Country music singer# and songwriter Ricky Valo.

I would spend a lot of time with my elders# and my family, my aunts, uncles, grandparents, and we would watch old tel nollas and even# spaghetti westerns.

and a lot of the the music had country music or had um influences# of country music and I think I picked up on the storytelling and then my grandfather had# a um vinyl collection there was Cuban music, there was wido music but there was always# country music in there whether that's Marty Robbins or Johnny Cash, Christopherson,# Buck Owens and I would listen to bits and pieces of of the albums and the songs and I# didn't know that that had such a big impact.

on me later on.

And I think that that set the# foundation for exploring country music in Miami.

My name is Ricky Valo.

I'm a singer, songwriter, and performing artist.

I like to define my# style as outlaw music.

It's a mixture of a lot of things.

It's got some honky tonk,# folk, americana, rock, and of course, traditional country.

that kind of inspires# my progressive approach with country music.

A lot of the uh poems and literature# that I grew up reading from school I think all influenced my my own# style.

A lot of it has to do with um my inspirations around me from the people,# the stories, the natural environments.

I'm very much inspired by the Florida Everglades# and our South Floridaian landscapes.

As a kid, um, I was really into amphibians and# reptiles, and that led to books, of course, and reading and then writing my own, um, stories,# my madeup stories.

And then at the age of eight, my great-grandmother gifted me a guitar.

And# I kind of mixed my my love of writing with the instrument.

That opened up the doors# for me taking guitar lessons.

Eventually, that led into songwriting and developing a# voice.

Once I started writing my own songs, I told myself, even when I was# younger, if I'm going to write songs, someone's someone has to sing them.

So, might# as well be me singing the songs that I wrote.

And that kind of opened up the doors for me# as as a singer and as a performing artist.

After high school, I started exploring# with playing live gigs.

And of course, I needed to learn a lot of cover material to# fill up um three or four set night at a bar.

So, I would learn covers and I would perform# covers, but I would slide in my originals in between those covers.

So, it's always# been a communication between, you know, the books and the writing and the# poetry and also my instrument.

I do like to keep an active live performance# schedule and I think that not only helps me develop my style but it keeps my band members and# my band tight.

Um my backing band of course is uh named after my hometown place of# birth Halia the Halia Hillbillies.

My band is a community of players.

I have# a a total of maybe 8 to 10 players that are constantly revolving.

A lot of the players# that are active in in the highly hillbillies are veteran players that have been playing# different genres of music for a long time, but they sort of give their influences and their# style within the style that I'm trying to put out, which is very progressive.

And I think that# really sets the Halia Hillbilly sound apart.

2.

See, I'm going to open forward.

Okay.

This music# project's always been a familyowned and operated business.

I've always involved my family and# having that family support has really helped me propel forward with with this crazy journey of of# a music career, chasing a music career, any kind of artistic career.

My father has always been a# a music fan.

His early background has always been a stage hand and roadie here in South Florida.# So early on as a kid, he would take me out to various concerts.

My first concert was Van Halen# and then we eventually went to an Alan Jackson concert.

I worked at the Hollywood Sport Der as# a roadie.

Man, it was so nice being, you know, being with those artists being there with him and# then Ricky man Ricky started listening, you know, country music and I say, "Keep chasing# your dream, kid, cuz I'm here for you.

I'm here to be there for, you know, for your# for your career.

What a good feeling, you know, being there with your son, you know, making it# happen.

And oh man, it's so Oh, man.

It's amazing.

I'm a person that's constantly# trying to learn something new, and the music project wasn't something that# I said I wanted to do from the beginning.

it kind of naturally happened.

My background in# environmental science, that's where I got my first two degrees from that led into education.

And I# sort of want to bridge all three of those passions that I have, environmental science, education, and# music.

I just finished releasing my debut album, a collection of songs.

I'm working on a# follow-up studio album to that and also a separate concept album dedicated to the# Florida Everglades.

The title of the album is Dear Everglades and it is a love letter# to the Florida Everglades and its ecosystem.

The mornings are where I kind of get more of# my writing out.

I like to write things down.

My songwriting process, it's a little bit of two# things, discipline and a little chaos as well.

A lot of the times they're just simple ideas# or loose poems.

I've sort of branched into a different way of writing where I'm now using# percussive instruments, drums, congas, bongos, and writing songs to rhythms and beats.

I'm# starting to explore my Spanish songwriting more than ever now.

And I think that I'm starting# to mix those two worlds together into bridging different cultures into the style of of country# music.

And I feel that by having songs in English and full Spanish and maybe even bilingual# banglish will just help me spread my message, my storytelling to even more audiences and a# little bit of showcasing my roots.

I'm proud to be a Cuban American and just, you know, having having# my roots being a part of what I do all the time.

I've always been sort of an unknown or an oddball, an oddity in in a world that was pretty much# coming up with different styles of music.

But I feel like I've been able to carve out# a little bit of a of a niche for myself here in South Florida where the landscape# is so different from what I'm doing.

When I started this project, I decided that# I wanted to sort of pay homage to my my roots here in South Florida and give the community# a style of music that maybe isn't really represented here.

And instead of transplanting# what I'm doing here in another music scene, I wanted to kind of bring listeners and# audience attention to yes, country music can be done in a different place with different# cultural backgrounds and kind of mix genres.

At the end of the day, I dedicate this# project to to my community and hopefully inspire other artists, other creatives,# give back to the causes that I believe in, and make music that's genuine to me.

I feel# like if I release music that's true to me, there's going to be an audience# that would hopefully relate to that.

Jazz singer and vocal stylist Marlo Vashtai is# preparing to release her first solo project.

Let's get to know her.

Romance came and in this heart# of yours burned a flame.

My name is Mara Vashtai.

I'm an actress, jazz vocalist, and storyteller.# And there were two moments in my life that I feel were very pivotal in me wanting to pursue music# long term.

And the first one I was very little.

I think I was in kindergarten actually.

And I# had watched the Cheetah Girls, the movie.

And I was just so inspired by the music that I went# and I wrote my own song.

And I remember going to the family room and singing it for my dad.

And the# song was called So Be It.

And I loved singing it for him.

And I loved that feeling that I had.

And# at that moment I was like I want to be a singer.

I love jazz music for a very long time.

It's# unpredictable and I think it reflects life how life can be unpredictable.

Um but you make it work# and that's a lot like jazz music and jazz style of singing and performing.

Many things inspire me# on the day-to-day, like really experiencing life, the good and the bad.

It just there's no# denying how much it impacts my art.

I think um in my process of making music and songwriting,# it's a bit of both of what I experience, but then I'm also really impacted by those around me.

Um# I'm very empathetic and I care about others a lot and how other people are feeling.

And I think# that's also part of why I love theater so much.

So it really is a mix of some of my experience and# then the experience that I see other people have.

South Florida is such a special place.

There's so# much amazing talents and arts and just soul down here and culture.

A lot of that is because# of just the richness in the culture and the people and the languages we have down here.

It's# like truly a beautiful mosaic of arts and music and that inspires me greatly.

I'm working on# an EP and it'll be my first extended project that I'll be releasing and it's something that# I've been working on for a couple of years now.

I have a lot of music that I've created# and based off of experiences that I've had and just things that I've learned and# um I really want to share it with the world.

And for whoever may enjoy it and# need the message that I have, honestly, um what's on my heart the most to share is this# experience of grace and how that may show up or the lack of it uh from yourself, from other# people, what it feels like when you do have it from yourself, from other people.

I think# that's like a major theme of it.

But it's just truly just reflections of like growing up and# my experiences and my perspective on things in this vessel deep.

I have a music video for my song called Muse.# And Muse was actually my first release ever.

Feels like to be amused.

Are you?

That song was# a song that was a poem that I had written over the course of years and it was a reflection on# just the experience of how art inspires us and the feeling of something or somebody being# a muse for you, a source of inspiration.

um what that feels like especially in the sense# of like a relationship of love of being amused for somebody or them being amused for# you.

How beautiful that feeling is the responsibility it may come with the uncertainty# because inspiration may not always last.

Katarina Lis' pop songs are a bop.

She crafts them# with whimsy and a fine-tuned lyrical sensibility.

Here, the M grad explains her unusual path# to the mic and shares her latest music video.

I'm Katina Lumis.

I'm an independent artist# in Miami and I graduated from M in December of 2023.

I studied biochemistry and nutrition.# Then I worked in a cancer research lab at the Miller School of Medicine and now I am leaving# my job this month to pursue my artist project, my artist career and music.

I was labeling thousands# of tubes like singing to myself and I was like, "Oh my goodness, what am I doing?"

like like oh# my gosh, anyone could be labeling tubes right now.

And so I I it was almost a moment of like# frustration, but I like set up my phone and I sang 9 to5 by Dolly Parton.

I was like, oh, this# is so funny.

Like it's like just so ironic.

So I'm going to I redownloaded Instagram and I posted# it.

And then out of curiosity that same night and I saw that it had 200 likes.

And at that moment,# having been offline for so long, 200 seemed crazy to me.

Like I couldn't imagine what 200 people in# a room looked like.

And then I just continued.

I I didn't There was no part of me that thought that# I was gonna be doing this forever, like that I was going to be doing it as long as I did.

But I# just stayed consistent just in the beginning.

It was passion that drove me.

And then after like# the first couple of videos started going viral, maybe three or four months in, I was like, "Wow,# like I could really I could do this and I could I could go all in."

It's a mixture of jazz and# musical theater, pop, and some elements of folk.

Sometimes elements of rap.

Um, it's definitely a# genre blend.

And sometimes people get confused cuz they're like, "What?

I don't know how to classify# this genre."

But it's definitely an exploration.

I feel like each song is it taps into different# aspects of one of those and or multiple.

And yeah, it's sometimes very fast, very wordy.

A lot# of focus on the lyricism is something that I really admire.

So I try to encapsulate that# in my songs.

Each one is very different.

My my most known ones so far are a song I wrote# called Mr.

Adams, The Ladies of the Opera, and Ladies Room.

And all three are very different# from each other.

The song The Ladies of the Opera, I posted a video of me singing that and it went# semiviral.

It was at I believe like five million views on Instagram and it like did a similar# number on Tik Tok and there was an animator and he animated the video of me playing the guitar# and I was just fascinated.

I couldn't believe that he had animated that.

I was just blown away.# He's so talented and it was just a collaboration found through the social media.

I feel like it's# all been a big experiment to figure out what's true to me, but also what what people are really# enjoying listening to.

And yeah, as long as I'm enjoying creating, I feel like that's just a good# a good guide for what I should continue to do.

My baby bumps me by the barers.

Don't tip you.# Don't do it by the cuts.

I watch him stare.

Oh, how he looks at me.

I love it how he looks at me.

Don't do it by the shop.

I tell you it's# wrong to do it by the shop.

Them boys, they laugh.

The smoke screen stacked in the# middle of the old man's face.

We shake our heads disgrace.

Why are the people getting# down to the sound by the bar?

They ride those nights out every time when they light# up by the barers.

It cuts the air lights up.

Get it down to the barershop.

The cops show up and the resolution.

This is the# part where you all take the babys by the barers.

Don't dip tap tongs.

Don't do it by the shop.

They# cut my hair.

I watch him stare.

Oh, how I love it.

Next, we head to Cutler Bay for a musical escape with dearing estate artist# and residents Susanna Behar.

When I'm on stage performing, I really am not# thinking of anything outside the moment.

But every time what I feel at the end, it's like it# went too fast.

It went so fast.

Sometimes I even turn around to Michelle and I said, "We are going# to do the last song now already."

It's like it didn't happen because you are so within the moment# and connected to the audience.

It's not the same thing to sing in a studio than to sing in front# of an audience because that emotion that you feel feeds you because it's food for the soul.

Is food# for the soul.

So I don't think of anything else.

I don't think of anything else.

I am really in the# moment when I'm on the stage and it's the best.

The songs I choose to sing are songs that# touch my heart.

Songs that go directly to my essence to who I am.

And who I am is# the product of migrations of many cultures.

So when I decided to really dedicate more# seriously, more permanently to this craft, I knew that I wanted to do Cuban music,# safaric music, Latin American music.

It was an easy decision.

I didn't have to to# think about it.

It came to me naturally.

My home was a musical home.

My mom had a# beautiful voice.

I remember clearly she singing during household chores.

And some# of the songs that I still sing and that I remember clearly come from those first songs# that I heard from her lips.

My father loved music too and loved to sing.

We used to go# him and I alone in the car.

I was six, seven, eight years old.

And I remember clearly windows# down and singing those songs that were his songs.

This is my dad.

And this is my um my uncle Pablo.# And my beautiful mom and me.

And this is my uncle Pablo again.

Probably teaching me a song or just# No, most probably at this time we were singing together.

My uncle who was a composer, guitarist,# singer by love.

He was not a professional.

He definitely influenced me profoundly.

I think of# him and I think of music.

I remember going to this beach at night.

We would sit out and friends that# were also staying in the area would come and my uncle would be playing the guitar.

My brother# who also sang very beautiful and played the guitar.

He was already a teenager.

So family and# music that connection inform what I love to do.

So I thought how can I relate music which# is what I do to Charles Daring's legacy and that's how I came to the idea of an# imaginary soundtrack of his world travels.

The fact that it's the music of my ancestors that# had left so many lands before coming to Cuba, I think when I sing Sephardic music that# I'm honoring them, that if any of them, my any of my grandparents was# around and could see me in a stage, it would be such It's a emotional moment for them.

In the concert, we do songs from# different countries and I went to one of the most important composers,# George Gershwin.

among the fox and I found this beautiful song called Swani.# The Swani River comes from Georgia into Florida and goes out to the Gulf and I felt that was# a very strong connection with Charles Daring.

Any other song of Gashwin# would have been beautiful, but this one had that connection with this land.

The daring estate artist and residence# program.

It's a fabulous opportunity to any artist because there is freedom in# it to develop what you want to develop.

you have the time and you have# an environment that invites you to work and to go deep into whatever you# are exploring.

For me, it has been great.

Thank you.

Fun song, huh?

Coming soon to our# digital platforms, Inc.

The International Noise Conference marks its 20th year.

We meet the# legend behind this most Miami of gatherings.

ArtLoft is on Instagram at ArtLoft SFL.

Tag us# on your arts adventures.

Find full episodes, segments, and more at artlofts.org# and on YouTube at South Florida PBS.

ArtLoft is brought to you by the# friends of South Florida PBS.