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Alba Blanco is the soul of the ‘La Perra Blanco Trío’. On stage she bursts with energy and she is determined to smash stereotypes in a ‘male dominated world’.
She is a rocker from head to toe although her hair is in dreadlocks and her image is certainly far removed from that of a sweet look of ‘Peggy Sue’ or a Pin up. Rock and Roll rushes in her veins.
She is Alba Blanco, another hidden talent from La Línea waiting to be discovered.
The 23 year old has music in her genes. Her father, Aurelio Blanco, was part of La Línea’s legendary band Los Destrozamitos (the Myth destroyers) a band formed at the end of the ‘70s which included her mother María Ángeles Sánchez, one time lead singer of Mey Pop.
Alba is the soul of La Perra Blanco Trío called after her stage name. The name ‘La Perra’ she tells us that is what her friends used to call each other.
“I should have come up with something else,” she jokes when we ask her.
Although she has been playing the guitar for ten years, the group has only been together for just over a year. Juan Andújar is the drummer and Guillermo González plays the double bass.
Alba is the guitarist and singer of La Perra Blanco Trio with songs in English that she writes and defines as savage rock and roll; of course, albeit the rock and roll of the 50’s and 60’s of the twentieth century.
Her idol is Carl Perkins, pioneer of rockabilly and singer and writer of the legendary song “Blue suede shoes” which Elvis Presley later adapted.
The group is finalising an album of its own songs and expected to be ready in a few weeks. “It will be raw with few studio adjustments and no beating about the bush,” she says.
Machismo
Alba recognises that it is not easy for her to find a place in a world where men dominate and machismo is widespread. It is rare for this musical genre to have a female lead.
Her body image also doesn’t seem to help the cause. However, she is very clear on not being willing to change or turn into someone else. “I get asked a lot why I wear dreadlocks if I like this type of music. I respond as politely as I can,” she laughs.
And she argues that music is one thing and how you wear your hair and what your personal views are is another. That’s why, among rockabilly fans, stuck in the aesthetics of the male quiff and girls with poodle skirts, Alba breaks convention.
“I’m not going to a fashion parade, I’m going to make music because that’s what interests me. All else is superficial.”
This has closed some doors: “We had the chance to play at a festival in Germany and we were told no because I wear dreadlocks.”
Persistence and above all, talent, however, are opening many other doors for her, for example in England.
Next May, the La Perra Blanco Trio will perform at the Hembsy Rock “N” Roll Weekend, in England, considered one of the best rock and roll festivals in the world. In August, the band will perform at the Rockabilly Tarbes festival in France. They will also be performing throughout Spain.
The La Perra Blanco Trio are not a prophets in their own land, a place that does not support live music, and certainly not rock and roll.
“The same people always play here, but fortunately we are never short of performances throughout the country,” she explains.
When asked about the current musical environment, her answer is blunt:
“I only listen to music from the year 1964 or earlier. I do not understand the music that came later, and even less so, today’s music. It sends me into shock.”
