Rooted Time; 2026 Re-Issued

The album "Rooted Time" was the result of several things. From failed recording sessions far from home, manuscripts, and many postponed songs, to rescuing songs we had written years before. Although it's true that we wrote the best songs specifically for the album.

Technically speaking, "Rooted Time" began recording in January 2012 (fourteen years ago), although two songs released that same year ("The First Time" and "Moonlight") were reworked versions of songs I had previously recorded as a solo artist (in the versions included on "Rooted Time," the guitars and vocals were re-recorded, and Oly Betancourt recorded the piano and organ tracks).

The album took virtually five years to complete for many reasons, but especially because, after failing to find musicians who knew how to work in a recording studio, I had to record all the bass and drum tracks myself, in addition to the vocals and guitars. Giving credit, of course, to Oly Betancourt for the keyboard tracks and some acoustic guitars, and to Clarisse Hömmz, who recorded the drum track on "Spoiling Myself."

However, even upon its release (July 20, 2017), "Rooted Time" wasn't a polished work due to several errors, some grammatical (since my native language is NOT English), and also because the recording was made to be transcribed to CD format, and I didn't think to make the necessary corrections for its digital conversion. For this reason, the sound was quadraphonic, and some tracks were lost when played online.

Yesterday, December 31st, we finally finished making the corrections we had planned for eight years and which, for one reason or another, we had been unnecessarily postponing.

No, not everything could be fixed. In "The First Time," I say a line that doesn't exist in English: "You met my better friends..." and it should be "You met my best friends..." but I would have had to re-record the entire vocal track. But now the album is in its most acceptable version and no longer sounds like a demo.

With or without mistakes, this album is the result of a lot of hard work from Oly Betancourt and me, and we both endured many humiliations before we could even begin recording. And, by the way, NO ONE—except for Los Aldeanos—helped us. The album represented many sleepless nights, many cold meals, many frustrations, and so much more. Of course, a great sense of satisfaction in the end.

I'm not looking for a relationship on social media, and I only support your work as colleagues, I think I deserve at least a listen to my songs.

Thank you and Happy New Year 2026