VOA慢速英语2015 拉丁布鲁斯歌手推出新唱片

Latina Blues¹ Singer Releases New CD 拉丁布鲁斯歌手推出新唱片

Ms. Rubio was born in Mexico but now lives in Houston, Texas, in the southwestern United States.

She sings in English and Spanish.

She plays the saxophone with jazz and blues bands, but she began her career as a singer in Mexico.

“I start my career singing. I have been singing all my life and saxophone came later just for fun.”

She says record companies have shown interest in her music. But she decided² to use her own money to make her CD and music video. Because she works independently, she controls what songs she sings. But she must pay for her own photographs, videos and publicity³ campaigns.

“Before, you used to think that somebody is going to discover you. I don’t think it works like that anymore. Well, maybe for some people. But right now, you need to do, as an independent artist, a lot of work.”

She paid a professional crew to produce a music video in New York. Many people have watched it on YouTube.

One of her most popular songs is called “Hombres,” the Spanish word for “men.” She says she wrote it to protest the many blues songs that say bad things about men.

“Most of the blues songs that talk about guys, they talk about the bad stuff you know the cheating, the running around, the brawls⁵, blah, blah, blah. And I really think there are so many good guys out there that they deserve to have a nice song talking about them.”

Evelyn Rubio also recorded her songs in Spanish and produced a separate, Spanish-language CD for Hispanics in the United States and Mexico.

She says her kind of music is becoming popular in Mexico.

“Mexicans like and enjoy jazz and blues. Blues is about your soul, about your heart, and everybody can relate with that.”

Words in This Story

publicity campaign – n. the activity or business of persuading people to give attention to someone or something

professional – adj. relating to a job that requires special education, training or skill

cheat – v. to break a promise made to (someone, such as your wife or husband) by having sex with someone else

brawl⁴ – n. a noisy fight, usually in a public place

1 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

4 brawl   

n.大声争吵，喧嚷；v.吵架，对骂

参考例句：

• They had nothing better to do than brawl in the street.他们除了在街上斗殴做不出什么好事。
• I don't want to see our two neighbours engaged in a brawl.我不希望我们两家吵架吵得不可开交。

5 brawls   

吵架，打架( brawl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Whatever brawls disturb the street, there should be peace at home. 街上无论多么喧闹，家中应有宁静。
• I got into brawls in the country saloons near my farm. 我在离我农场不远的乡下沙龙里和别人大吵大闹。