Notes on the OKLAHOMA Corridor by Rick Reiley

NOTES

ON THE OKLAHOMA CORRIDOR

PHOTO PROVIDED

MARCO TELLO:

One Talented Amigo!

with

RICK REILEY

Idon’t recall where I first met Marco Tello (pronounced Tay-o), but it must have been at one of Joe Baxter’s Round Barn music sessions over in Arcadia several years ago. His talents on the guitar are a result of serious study, dedication to purpose, determination, persistence and attention to detail. He’s a master bluegrass picker and equally adept at about any other style of music, be it blues, western swing, or rock and roll. Armed with a great sense of humor and quick wit he’s a delightful performer and storyteller.

Not content to simply play within the confines of the USA, he’s also toured Europe on several occasions, thanks to the connection he made with Robert Gruber, a member of the Reggae band Kinky Slinky.

Whether he’s singing Billy Joel’s Piano Man or one of another 350 songs in his repertoire, playing harmonica, bass, harmonizing or telling a tall tale he’s a delight to hear.

At one time Tello worked at a recording studio. By virtue of that, he was involved in many different aspects of recording on several different projects, thus becoming a part of about a dozen or so of other people’s recordings.

His most recent recording, his first solo effort, ‘The Edge of the Middle of Nowhere’ is a fun trip! The self penned title song refers to conjuring up daydreams while cruising a flat stretch of Highway 50 in western Oklahoma. It also has a couple of Joe Baxter tunes on it as well. (Joe Baxter from OKC is one of my favorite Okie songwriters. I think of him as Oklahoma’s answer to country songwriter/storyteller Tom T. Hall, with a mix of John Prine thrown in for good measure. He’s influenced many other Okies enormously too!)

Tello cites Kane Hollins, Edgar Cruz and Joe Baxter as his biggest influences.

Marco Tello has long been associated with Joe and when I questioned how that came about he told me...

Upon moving back to Oklahoma City from Boulder, CO around 1989, he had a new Les Paul electric guitar he

In addition to performing solo he also plays regularly with The Brave Amigos, a trio consisting of Edgar Cruz, 14 year old prodigy, Blake Bricker, and himself. Between them they know hundreds of popular songs covering several decades.

seldom played. So he went to a music store in the Oklahoma City area thinking about selling or trading it. While there he saw a flier on a billboard in the store from a band looking for a ‘50s rock/surf band guitar player. He was interested, so he called the phone number listed and some guy named Joe Baxter answered. They set up a meeting and when Tello opened the guitar case to uncover a cherry sunburst Les Paul, as legend has it, Joe knew he knew he had his man.

The two have played off and on together for 30 or so years.

Marco Tello was born in Oklahoma City. His mother was a classical pianist so his young ears were accustomed to classical sounds at home. That, paired with his musical guitar playing cousins, Manuel, Mark and Edgar Cruz, caused all this to find deeper roots which expanded his musical horizons.

“At the age of 10 I knew I wanted to play something”, he said.

He was living with his grandparents at that time and they paid for piano lessons. However they didn’t have a piano at home so those lessons didn’t achieve the desired results.

When he entered the 6th grade he joined the school band program and that re-energized his musical spirits and it was there that he learned the basic fundamentals.

From Marco Tello’s website:

While still a child, he was exposed to the music of the Summer of Love and Woodstock, Mariachi, the great classical composers, the Beatles and other British invasion acts, and the early Folk movement. As a young man, Marco explored all manner of Rock and Pop, Folk and Country.

The 80s brought new influences. Upon moving to Boulder, CO, Marco started working with Colorado State Champion Banjo Player, Kane Hollins and, with the guidance of Hollins, set about to learn Bluegrass. The pair traveled all over the Western US playing their brand of Bluegrass known as Fastgrass. At the same time, the Colorado New Wave and Punk scene was in full bloom and bringing a huge range of influences. Tello plays primarily guitar and bass but also performs on the mandolin, dobro, harmonica and occasionally keyboard. He also sings lead and harmonies as well. And to top it off, he’s also an excellent song writer. In addition to performing solo he also plays regularly with The Brave Amigos, a trio consisting of himself, Edgar Cruz and 14 year old prodigy, Blake Bricker. Between them they know hundreds of popular songs covering several decades. They often play a ‘stump the band’ contest with people calling out songs to see if they can… stump the band! It’s a fun and sometimes challenging time but these guys are seldom stumped. They’ve spent their entire lives studying what they perform. And they know their business well.

The Brave Amigos also plan to record in 2023.

Tello has also performed on occasion with Okie born, Texas fiddler, Rachel Stacy and last year recorded on a project of hers at a studio in Dripping Springs, Texas called The Zone. Texas Americana legend Ray Wyile Hubbard is producing the recording. From everything I’ve heard about this woman and her music, this project should be a barn burner.

Tello’s regular recurring gigs consist of performing with the Brave Amigos, every other Wednesday at Broke Brewing in Oklahoma City, on third Thursdays at Frenzy Brewing in Edmond, and on the last Sunday of the month at Othello’s in Norman. They also perform four or fives time a year at the UCO Jazz Lab in Edmond.

In fact their next gig there will be The Brave Amigos celebrating Marco’s 60th birthday and will be featuring perhaps a few unexpected guest artists. That will be on December 20th.

To find out more you can follow Marco Tello Music on his Facebook page or at www.MarcoTelloMusic.com Also check out the Brave Amigos FB page.

You’re most assuredly in for a treat!!! n