Hevia

celtic

José Ángel Hevia Velasco was born in Villaviciosa, Asturias (Spain) in 1967. He first came into contact with the bagpipes when he was four years old during a procession in Amandi when he was with his grandfather. It was there that the image of a man and his bagpipes had an impact on the very young José Ángel. The unity between the pipe player, his music and the instrument seemed magical to him. Hevia then began bagpipe classes three times a week after school. He took the bus to Gijon, where Armando Ferdandez taught him in the traditional style and then accompanied him back to the bus. He arrived home at midnight and the following day practised what he had learned in class so that he hardly had time for other leisure activities. The same year in which he began classes, he underwent a baptism of fire in sporadic performances with folk groups. His sister, Maria José--noticing that a drummer accompanied all bagpipe players--wanted to participate. One of the best drummers in Villaviciosa, Sabino Cifuentes, agreed to tutor her in all the traditional rhythms. At the end of class Hevia took his bagpipes and played songs so his sister could try to accompany him. Shortly after, they began performing together throughout Asturias and traveling to different Asturian centres overseas. In 1985 José Ángel began to give classes and shortly afterwards formed a bagpipe band with his pupils. Thus, without abandoning the traditional pair of bagpipes and the drums, a new period in his li...