The smell of sweat, alcohol breath and cheap cologne are enough to draw people away from certain bars. But at your typical Very Be Careful show, it’s those exact odors that signify a night of endless dancing, raving music, and good old raunchy fun.
Very Be Careful emerged as an energy-driven vallenato band that has taken a flashback through time. Composed of Ricky on accordion, “Brickems” on bass, “Peabody” on guacharaca, “The Rip” on campana, and Ralph Ellison on “the box”, the band is greatly influenced by Alejo Duran, Los Hermanos Zuleta, Alfredo Gutierrez, and Residente Calle 13, among others.
The vallenato rhythms of Very Be Careful have devoured audiences in Colombia, the U.S. and even Tokyo, Japan. Regardless of the nature of the venues in which the band plays, it’s impossible not to come out dancing, or even without breaking a sweat. Very Be Careful’s drums, accordion, and vocals create a tropical and festive atmosphere that guarantees a night that will leave you a sweaty pig, a drunken fool, or drenched in someone else’s cheap cologne…if you’re lucky.
Their first album “El Niño” was released under Pinto Records in 1998 and the EP “Cheap Chillin” the following year. Since then, Very Be Careful has performed anywhere from birthday parties and community events to playing opposite Joe Strummer, Carlos Vives, and Grupo Niche. Their repertoire has been heard at venues as diverse as the Copacabana in New York, the House of Blues in Los Angeles, Austin’s SXSW Conference, and at Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival 2007 as part of their Japan Tour. But regardless of whether the band is playing for a crowd of 2 or a crowd of thousands as they did at the Fuji Rock Festival, the band guarantees a celebration of traditional vallenato that will leave audiences everywhere dancing and yearning for more.
In 2001 the release of “The Rose” was immediately followed by “El Grizz” in 2002. By then Very Be Careful’s music was so contagious that their sound had been played on airwaves like California’s Cumbia Caliente, El Sonido and other stations such as KXLU, KCRW, KSPC, KPFK, WKCR and WFMU, as well as Internet radio in Japan and Australia. Regardless of whether the sound of their vallenato tracks are being heard through radio airwaves or being witnessed live, the listeners become entwined with the music. It’s almost just as much about the crowd as it is about the band and before anyone realizes it, you lose notion of whether the fans are dancing to the songs or if the songs are being played accordingly to the audience.
It’s with that power of creating moments of ecstasy that Very Be Careful hypnotizes and captivates its audience. They fuse the traditional cumbia tunes and accordion thumps of old school vallenato with lyrics that are heartfelt stories of everyday struggles and love, and the band is therefore able to relate to their audiences on a personal level.
Seven years after their original formation, Very Be Careful released “Ñacas” in 2005. The band’s most recent album, “Salad Buey”, consists of tracks that tell a story about life in the streets of L.A. accompanied by the cumbia-son sounds that have set Very Be Careful apart from other local L.A. bands. The band is currently scheduled to perform at Al borde’s Dia De los Muertos event on November 2, 2007 at El Gallo Plaza Theatre where they guarantee to give a performance powerful enough to raise even the dead.
