When Joss Favela’s father was a boy, his mother –Joss’s grandmother– gave him a small red accordion. But she did it secretly from her husband – Joss’s grandfather – because dedicating himself to music was not an option. How was he going to leave the ranch? Who would take care of the cattle?
“My grandfather told my dad, ‘You’re going to end up in a saloon,’” Joss said. “And it was true, but because that is the essence of our music.”
Now, as a way to fulfill the dream that his father could not, Joss backed up about fifty years and took up the norteño musical style of artists such as Carlos y José, Los Cadetes de Linares, Cornelio Reyna and many others who were architects of the golden age of this genre.
Joss not only got shirts with very long collars, flared pants made of “terlenka” -a synthetic fiber very popular in the seventies- and a buckle that his father used when he was young , but also refurbished the red accordion –which his father inherited from him– and with it he recorded the ten songs of “Aclarando la mente”, his fourth studio album. A few days ago he premiered “Gato de madrugada”, the first single from this work that will be released later this year.
Even the singer, born in a town in Sinaloa, Mexico, called Caitime, he recorded the Tiny Desk, a series of concerts sponsored by National Public Radio, with this accordion.
“It is difficult to play because it is a small accordion, without all the possibilities that the moderns have,” he said. “But that forces you to find value in that accordion and see what you get out of it.”
The song in question is a separate story. It is dedicated – like some others that Joss has included in other albums – to a person who apparently left him mortally wounded. Well, maybe not death but it did leave a deep mark on the performer’s life.
“Every day something extraordinary happens to me”, said the artist from 27 years. “Although I appreciate and value everything, I realize that at a certain time of day I need someone, and that someone has a first and last name; then a song is born.”
Joss hopes this is the last song he dedicates to that person. And although he does not specify if he is in a relationship, he assures that for now he is fine.
For now , the tour to promote the album will have to wait because Joss will be part of the group of coaches for the new season of “La Voz Kids México”. His schedule will be so busy with this show that he is thinking of moving to Mexico City for a while, where this TV show is produced.
Then he will return to his ranch, where he enjoys much to do his tasks as a rancher. There he stops being Joss and goes back to being José, his first name.
“There is a phrase that I really like, which says ‘fame is a place you have to visit but you don’t have to stay there,’” he said. “I like to be at home and dedicate myself to the most natural things; come to visitand [a la vez] singing is very beautiful, but without forgetting where you come from and what you are”.