Gabriela Ocejo
Petunia and the Vipers
With Gabreial Ocejo
Saturday, September 7, 2024
8:00 PM / West End Cultural Centre
Petunia is more than just an entertainer, he’s a modern musical enigma. Imagine David Lynch and Nick Cave had a hillbilly baby that yodeled… or Tom Waits meets Elvis at Woody Guthrie’s junction. He’s an adventure seeker, a poker player, and a mysterious stranger. He’s been referred to as “The Savior of Country Music”, and a man who exists in a different era. He both adheres to the country/folk genre, and finds space to experiment within it. Nothing about this music is quite what you’d expect, but it all fits somewhere familiar. Fans of country, punk, indie rock, and David Lynch will all dig this live show.
Backed up by his band the Vipers, Petunia stuns live audiences with his original music combining elements of classic 1920’s, 30’s 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s country, country blues, western swing, alt country rock, Mexicana, French cabaret, Romanian, ragtime, jazz, punk and folk music’s. It’s vintage yodel punk. It’s haunting Americana. It's a new music that springboards off of music of the past and jumps into the present day. Something in between 1920’s and steam punk.
The West End Cultural Centre will be home to this stop-you-in-your tracks live show on September 7th. Like a portal to a colourful past, Petunia and his very skilled vipers will carry us through sounds and stories of years gone by. Local opening artist Gabriela Ocejo will weave her own magic into the mix. The Argentinian-born guitarist and songwriter blends her love for R&B, jazz, pop and neo soul with lyrics that examine the joy, pain and neurosis of contemporary living. A spellbinding sonic swirl awaits. You are invited, as always.
More about Gabi: Gabriela Ocejo is an Argentine-born, Treaty 1-based guitarist and songwriter. Raised in a musical family, Gabi’s father, guitarist Guillermo Ocejo was a major influence to her love of music and artistry, introducing her to Jazz, Tango and Argentinean Folklore and rock and roll. Gabi continued honing her craft playing with her talented hometown musician friends in Buenos Aires and Bahia Blanca, as she bounced back and forth between the continents.
Decidedly relocating to Winnipeg in 2011, Gabi became immersed in the local arts and cultural community. Her range in style, gift in songwriting and tasteful arrangements quickly made Gabi a mainstay of Winnipeg music scene, effortlessly collaborating with some of the city’s best musicians across a range of styles including all-female Jazz Manouche band, Juvel, Polaris Prize-nominated 8-piece live hip-hop ensemble, Super Duty Tough Work, and Synth Pop band French Class, among many others.
Recently, Gabi has started her own project, showcasing her skill as a songwriter and arranger. Gabi’s music blends her love for argentinean music, R&B, jazz, neo soul and sounds the 60´s and 70´s , with lyrics that earnestly examine the joy,grief. pain and neurosis of contemporary city living.
Gabriela is coming back to Winnipeg after extending her stay for one year in her beloved Argentina, after joining Petunia on guitar for his Argentinean tour last September, along with Argentinean´s favorite bluegrass punk band Angry Zeta. She has since tried to reconnect to her roots and her local music scene, and is coming back to Winnipeg with a lot of new inspiration and music to play. She will be joined by her bandmates Kevin Waters on drums, Ashley Au on bass, and Keiran Placatka on keys.