New Horizons and A New Album for “Saving Damsels”
Followers of “Saving Damsels” Band will be thrilled to know that their new album will soon be available. The popular rock band, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is including ten songs that followers will recognize from their shows, plus two new songs. The full-length album, still unnamed at this point, will be available around the first of the year. A centerpiece of this second album will be “Protected – Beauty All Around,” a song in the Navajo language. J.J. Otero, the group’s lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, is Navajo and Hopi. He sang in both Northern and Southern traditional pow-wow styles in his younger years and traces can be heard in his rich, resonant voice. Band members say they play “Native Soul Rock.” Others have categorized their music as “red pop,” but audiences describe it as a blend of rock, bluegrass, and soul - with maybe a little country and blues. It’s quite a potent combination that fans in the Albuquerque area have come to appreciate. Saving Damsels plays at venues such as Low Spirits, The Press Room, and Malarkey’s. They have also played in Santa Fe and will be performing 32 - WOTN-The Magazine
at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in November. Although coordinating the schedules of five “weekend warrior” musicians and traveling can be difficult, the group welcomes opportunities to play in Arizona and other locations. The music has evolved since 2007 when J.J. Otero first teamed up with Carlo Johnson as lead guitarist, Joe Pacheco on bass guitar and Pax Garcia on drums. The focus was on J.J.’s vocals and acoustic guitar. Says J.J. “We now have a bigger wall of sound, but it’s still Saving Damsels. In 2009, Douglas Bellen joined the group and expanded the repertoire with a multitude of keyboard sounds. Audiences and radio listeners remark on the presence of great organ and piano
sounds provided by the skilled hands of Bellen. The lead guitarist is now the talented Chuck Hawley who joined up in 2009. Hawley’s first love is piano, but he enjoys playing with different instruments such as the mandolin for an “old timey” sound and slide guitar for a blues feel. His guitar playing is featured prominently in “Sweet Girl,” a soulful song that lingers in the mind’s ear. J.J. is the lyricist for the group. He writes about what he feels and experiences. One of the biggest sparks for early songs was the breakup with his girlfriend. He found solace in creating music. Through counseling for sobriety issues, he discovered that he has “Hero Syndrome.” A person with this syndrome, often a firefighter, nurse or policeman, seeks recognition or self-worth by An Arts & Entertainment Publication