Local artist celebrates much-anticipated CD release with outdoor bash

The moment he woke up, he started sounding off.

“Today is the day!” Tony C de Baca said. “Today is my day! Today is the day I have been waiting for over three years.”

“Today” was July 21, the day his first solo album, Losing Youth, was to release, with a party was planned at El Paseo Bar and Grill. It included two opening acts, a beer tent and a food tent, not to mention gifts for those who attended.

Before he set out on his big day, C de Baca got a phone call from his son, 3-year-old Tristan, who wished him good luck.

As he rode to the downtown area, he couldn’t help but look up into the sky.

“I don’t like the way those clouds are looking, man,” C de Baca told his friends. “Those clouds over there need to move that way.”

But his friends made sure that the only thing he had to worry about was putting on a great show, rather than fretting about what he couldn’t control.

That turned out to be good advice, because the party got slammed with rain. It started in the afternoon when the first of three acts, local band La Junta, was on stage. Then, just as C de Baca was set to take stage in the evening, the rain came again.

But that didn’t stop the 200-plus fans, family and friends who came for the music.

C de Baca, 28, has been a fan favorite on the Santa Fe music scene for several years. His act includes a mix of hip-hop, rock and pop; he wrote several of the songs himself.

This isn’t the first time C de Baca has released an album. In 2002, his band at the time, The Lush Life, recorded its only album, More than Yesterday. The band is separated now, but the experience of making that record helped C de Baca create his first solo effort.

“It took us two years to make that first album,” C de Baca said. “This current album took us six days to record, mix and master. I had been playing all these songs for years and years and I just haven’t had the chance to record them. It was a situation where everything fell into place so nicely, especially with the musicians that I had. It also helped that I had the financial support this time. That took a lot of pressure off me and allowed me to work more in the creative process of the album.”

The financial support came from Matt Chavez, owner of El Paseo and the executive producer of Losing Youth. It was Chavez who gave C de Baca his first gig at the bar in 1997, and the union has been a success since. When C de Baca plays at El Paseo, it’s mostly standing-room-only with little space to dance, which is what C de Baca’s fans love to do. That made it easy for Chavez to pay for everything.

“My faith in Tony came from just listening to him play,” Chavez said. “I like his product. I think he is marketable and he is a talented young man. I felt in my heart that his was a good thing, so I wanted to help out in anyway that I could.”

This is Chavez’s first experience in the music industry, so he and C de Baca took their time shopping the local recording studios and making preparations. The experience has been good enough for Chavez to want to do more. He’s keeping his eyes and ears open for anyone else good enough to record. Or, if and when the time comes, make another album with C de Baca.

Now that the album is out, Chavez and C de Baca hope it gets noticee. It’s available for sale at El Paseo, but plans are in the works to have C de Baca’s songs played on 98.1 FM and they’re looking at several local record stores to sell it. It’s part of a long, drawn-out process to turn C de Baca from struggling artist to a bona fide hit.

“We’ll be exploring different avenues with the CD,” Chavez said. “We will be sending CDs out to music directors and people who write movie soundtracks. I think there are a couple of these tunes that are very marketable for them. I want to talk to Tony more in depth about sending out the CD as a promotional and pick up some shows in the area. Maybe do a tour.”

But that’s for the future. At this particular moment, C de Baca is doing his best to greet and meet everyone who came to enjoy eight hours of music, despite getting wet. After La Junta’s two-hour set, local artist Jono Manson then took the stage. Manson was an artist C de Baca would listen to with dedication when he was younger.

“It’s amazing,” said C de Baca’s mother, Glenda Sandoval. “Tony would drag me to go listen to Jono and we became fans of his work. Tony would tell me how great Jono is. And now look, he is opening up for Tony. Jono told me it was a pleasure to open for someone who is as talented as Tony is. As a mom, that makes me smile.”

C de Baca’s performance at the launching party has to be great if he wants his album, now “three years in the making,” to succeed. And there is no reason why it shouldn’t. C de Baca said he has had nothing but good vibes from the project since the moment he conjured the idea in the living room of a friend’s home.

That’s because the support was there. Chavez’s financial backing was a huge score. C de Baca calls the six “sleep-deprived” days at the recording studio “organic.” And the devotion of his fans continued to push him to help realize his dream.

“This event is bigger than my birthday, and I hope it changes my life,” C de Baca said. “I also want tonight’s event to be a success. I want to put on a good show for all my family and fans who have come out to support me.”

Hours later, as Santa Fe’s downtown looked like a flood area, there was C de Baca, playing in front of more than 200 family, friends and fans. In a poetic kind of way, C de Baca’s attitude about the weather didn’t detract from his performance. It enhanced it. He took all his fears — from people not showing to the fear of being electrocuted — and applied it to his music. The result was more than he could have asked for.

“This is one of the best shows Tony has done,” said one attendant to another as they left for the evening. “He really outdid himself.”

“What makes Tony such a great performer is that he sings from his heart,” Glenda said. “The music that he writes is from his life experiences and from that emotion, is where he gains his strength as a musician.

“And it’s that kind of strength that I admire.”

In the end, a physically and emotionally spent C de Baca spent time with his friends and family before leaving. And the smiles on his face told everyone what kind of day he had.

“It was a good day,” C de Baca said. “It was a good day.”

Contact Todd Bailey at 986-3088 or at tbailey@sfnewmexican.com.