Miltinho Edilberto

Miltinho Edilberto, a celebrated member of the new generation of Brazilian viola players who has being praised by Xangai, Elomar and Renato Teixeira, was born on a farm in upstate São Paulo, close to the border of the Mato Grosso do Sul state. With his 10-string guitar known as the Brazilian viola, as a self-taught musician he wandered through his region and then Rio Grande do Sul, Tocantins, Minas Gerais and Bahia, absorbing regional caipira (hilbilly) accents offered by the immense diversity of these vast regions. In 1997 he had his first long player launched, Viola Que Fala, winner of the Sharp prize of 1998 in the New Artist of Regional Music category with its deeply folkloric approach privileging cateretês and modas de viola (and a duo with Renato Andrade in "Pagode pro Tião"). The second release, the live Como Alcançar Uma Estrela (1999) was completely different, with a heavy pop-sertanejo accent for basically Northeastern rhythms. In that period he was acknowledged as a most popular forró artist in São Paulo, with his live performances disputed by people by the thousands, and his "Não Tenha Medo" was recorded by Maria Bethânia in A Força Que Nunca Seca.