Piloting Country Music

Flying over Colombian soil and around the world are four Bogota residents who, in addition to being pilots, have a country music band. The band Overwrite will perform in concert at the Villa Mayor Theater next thursday, august 29, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. Free admission.

Overwrite is a country rock music band, a subgenre that began in the 1960s and has since greatly influenced the United States and Canada. Overwrite, a 100% Colombian band, is determined to bring country to the south of the continent, to appropriate the sound with a Latin American perspective.

“I have liked country music since I was a child. I was traveling with my grandfather to the United States and there I discovered this genre that caught me immediately,” revealed Daniel Gallo, leader of Overwrite. “When I grew up and became interested in making music, I realized that in Colombia this music is practically unknown.”

Each of the Overwrite musicians has had independent musical projects. David Mendoza (bass) has belonged to different funk bands, Juan Camilo Montaño (guitar) has been in heavy rock bands, Cristian Van Brackel (drums) in metal bands, Daniel Gallo (voice and guitar) has made his musical career in rock and metal.

“I wanted to start a country band because when I proposed to my wife I thought about serenading her,” said Daniel, who has worked as a commercial pilot for the Viva Colombia airline for more than a year. “I think you can be romantic in many ways and country is able to express love.”

The origin of country music dates back more than 300 years, with the migration of Appalachian people from the southeastern United States to Tennessee. They brought European instruments and music and the peasants of the sector began to use them in music that would become North American folklore. The melancholic sound of country was what caught Daniel's attention.

“It all started on a flight to Madrid that Juan Camilo and I piloted together. We talked about music the whole way and from there the idea of starting the band arose, so we started looking for other members,” Daniel recalled. "Although we all come from rock, we get excited about country because it is something new for the country and they are two music that do not fight with each other, instead they have many common points."

Overwrite's sound is similar to Nickelback, Garth Brooks or Jason Aldean, but with the flavor of music made by Bogota residents. Although Overwrite performs covers of different country artists, he has launched his own compositions. It has six singles, with songs like She's my everything - which already has a video clip - and Lift me up, a collectively created song that represents the feeling of pilots during the crisis of important airlines a few years ago, although it does not speak in a way explicit of it but of sadness and unease.

Daniel recognizes that Bogotá is a deeply rock city, with countless bands from different subgenres and millions of lovers of this music that moves away from the tropical rhythms prevailing in the country. However, country, which has similar roots to rock, has not been explored in depth.

“Many hear the word country and think of an old man with a beard, wearing nothing but overalls and playing the banjo, but country has great versatility and we want to bet on that with Overwrite,” said Daniel.

Overwrite has been taking shape for several years, like a slow flight, because due to work vicissitudes it has been difficult to fit the four monkeys together for the photo. When the group began to establish itself and develop its own sound, all the members began music and singing classes, taught by Tomás Zuluaga, the band's producer.

The concert at the Villa Mayor Theater will be the first time that this band performs live for an audience other than the circles of family and friends, but the musical roots that each one has contributed to the group is present in the best style of the southern United States.

This concert on thursday, august 29, is held in addition to Blues in Bogotá, an event organized by the Villa Mayor Theater, of the Local Mayor's Office of Antonio Nariño, to bring together in the same place the best blues players in the city from august 20 to august 24.