(Little Dog Records) Cisco was raised in California's San Joaquin Valley and grew up listening to popular music while he was also exposed to roots music- country, bluegrass and the blues. His biggest influences however, were the great singer/songwriters like Bob Dylan, who wrote songs with powerful lyrics that reached into peoples' souls while they set their lyrics to unforgettable melodies. After moving to LA, he attended a Dwight Yoakam concert and soon found his attention focusing on guitarist/producer Pete Anderson. After the show, Cisco introduced himself to Pete and gave him a cassette of his songs, and so began a longrunning friendship between the two. In 1997, Mike Ness of the band Social Distortion caught one of Cisco's shows and was impressed with his performance. This meeting resulted in Mike producing Cisco's first album, Wishing You Well From The Pink Motel, which met with critical acclaim and gained him notice in the songwriting community. He then decided to move to Nashville, but soon realized his style of songwriting didn't mesh with Nashville's style and he returned to California. After his return to California, Cisco reconnected with Pete Anderson. They began writing songs together, one of which was "Alright, I'm Wrong" that was recorded as duet between Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens for Dwight's Last Chance For A Thousand Years, and was nominated in 2002 for the CMA's Vocal Event of the Year. Cisco next surfaced last year on Pete Anderson's Little Dog compilation album, A Country West Of Nashville, with a standout track titled "Say A Prayer."

The collaboration between Cisco and Pete led to the natural progression of working on a full album together. The fruits of that collaboration have resulted in Cisco's newly released 7740 Valmont St. Pete produced and arranged the album and in addition to Cisco's vocals, both he and Pete handle most of the instrumental duties with just a little outside help (Skip Edwards contributes some piano and organ, Jeff Roberts plays bass on "Say A Prayer" and Jonathan Clark provides some background vocals).

Cisco and his music have evolved since the release of Pink Motel, with it's twangy Bakerfield honky tonk sound. His highly anticipated new sophomore release, 7740 Valmont St., finds a different side of Cisco, one in full, rootsy singer/songwriter mode, his songs possessing insightful and poetic lyrics and well crafted melodies.

He delves into a range of different sounds and styles as he weaves his often clever and sometimes poignant tales. He leans towards the country-folk side with the mid-tempo title track that looks back on his past, "7740 Valmont St." The frustration of not being able to grasp a nagging feeling is told in "Something's Going Wrong." Memories of a lost love are reflected in the melancholy standout, "Dog Eared Memories." Valmont St.'s highlight is a mesmerizing, stunningly beautiful epic "Long Hard Ride," a poignant tale of not wasting life's chances. 

Cisco delivers a strong, hauntingly moody ballad of longing and hope in "One Day." The clever "Miss America" is a shuffling  country-blues look at life in the real world and making the best of what you've got, while "The Other Side" is a country shuffle that tells of searching for forgiveness after straying off life's straight and narrow path. "I'm Yours" is a roots rocker with an infectiously bouncy melody about finding true love. Cisco provides a pair of songs that are throwbacks to 70's era country-rock. "Say A Prayer" evokes Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" both musically and with a similar vocal raspiness. "Lost Broke Or Sold" has a jangley country-rock melody while the lyrics search for the reasons why a relationship keeps missing.

Trying to pick out 7740 Valmont St.'s highlights is pretty near impossible. The album is filled with all meat and not a filler track among them. Every song stands solidly on it's own with each one weaving it's own unique tale in it's own individually diverse style. His melodies are outstanding and mesh perfectly with the lyrics, most the kind you'll very likely find yourself humming. As well as Cisco vocally delivered the twangy Bakersfield sound on Pink Motel, on his new Valmont St. material he seems to have found his niche. He's a strong vocalist with just the right balance of slightly ragged raspiness around the edges. The mostly acoustic arrangements and just the right amount of polish puts the emphasis on Cisco's vocals and keeps his first rate songs front and center. The long gap between albums proves more then well worth the wait and 7740 Valmont St. should easily continue to gain Cisco acclaim both as a performer and as a gifted songwriter.     

Standout Tracks: "Say A Prayer," "Miss America," "One Day," "The Other Side," "Dog Eared Memories," "Long Hard Ride"

On The Net:  www.theartistcisco.com http://www.littledogrecords.com/artists/artists_cisco.htm

AnnMarie Harrington TakeCountryBack June 2004