Polo Montañez

Early life

Montañez was born Fernando Borrego Linares in Sierra del Rosario, Pinar del Río, in a farm known as El Brujito. At an early age he worked various jobs including driving a tractor, milking cows, making coal, assisting on the family farm, and as a lumberjack. In his spare time, Montañez would go from house to house singing. He began to sing and play in local parties and family gatherings with his father. In those gatherings, he started playing the tumbadora with 7 years old, and the guitar.

From Anonymity to International Fame

"…Polo composes while he's walking or driving a tractor, while he's swimming, under the rain, the sun or the moon, when he's seeding the land... and even when he's sleeping".

He starts to manage a group playing in some touristic places of La Cordillera de los Órganos. He lived in la Cañada del Infierno, Casa Blanca, Finca del Cusco, and in 1972 he occupied one of the houses in the touristic community of Las Terrazas. He composed his first song in 1973, titled "Este tiempo feliz" (This happy time), after that he continued creating, but he stored his songs in a drawer, because he didn't consider them valuable.

When the Complejo Las Terrazas was founded, Polo and his own ensemble of sort started playing at its different touristic installations around 1994, like Hotel Moka, Rancho Curujey and Cafetal Buenavista. Between those tasks, he met a Lusafrica European label owner and in 1999 signed a contract to make a few records. From there was born his first album "Guajiro Natural" and the song "Un montón de Estrellas", it sold in Colombia more than 40,000 copies, obtaining Gold and Platinum Discs, and being recognized as the most listened international artist. He became known as the Guajiro Natural (Natural Countryman) because of his humble personality and songs about the peasant life in Cuba.

With 44 years old he had more than 70 songs written as an autodidact, because he neither had any professional training nor musical knowledge, any others than listening the countryside sounds. He composed with a mix of genres, taking reference from rhythms he heard and knew, so he was making a proper style with themes about outside or personal events, impregnated with rural elements: the ox yoke, the smell of coal, the smell of bateys.

In Cuba, Polo's popularity skyrocketed. Spectators' numbers in his concerts broke every expectations.

Concert in Holguín:

In the year 2002 he played a master concert at the city of Holguín, where so many people attended than event planners ever thought.

Visited Countries

He visited five times Colombia, France in two occasions; he went to Portugal, Belgium, Holland, Italy, México, Ecuador, and Costa Rica too. He shared the stage with artists as Rubén Blades, Andy Montañez, Margarita Francisco, Cesária Évora, Cándido Fabré, Francisco Repilado (Compay Segundo), Eliades Ochoa, Adalberto Álvarez, Danny Rivera, Gilberto Santa Rosa and others.

Death

Polo Montañez died on November 26, 2002, six days after being hospitalized in the Carlos J. Finlay Military Hospital, as a result of a tragic car accident in the Coronela zone near San Cristóbal, Pinar del Río. He was buried in the cemetery of Candelaria, at Artemisa. The Centro Cultural (Cultural Centre) on the main square in Viñales, Pinar del Rio, is named in his memory.

Soon after his death the songwriter José Valladares compose a song in honour of Polo titled "Cazador de Estrellas" (Stars Hunter), which was interpreted by various artist as Pedro Calvo, Paulito FG, Jenny (Los Van Van's vocalist) among others, making a tribute to the unforgettable figure of the Guajiro Natural.

Discography

His greatest hit in his career was the song titled "Un montón de estrellas", included on his albums Guajiro Natural and Memoria, demonstrating his influence and love from everything that touched his heart. It had so much success that was played all around Latin America.