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Photos by Nick Kask P 1 803 446 8254 W http://www.kaskcreativity.com |
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Richard Cortez is one of the most ambitious young men in our town. As a child he knew that he would be doing something with music using his tinker piano for countless hours. His family is very musically inclined and feels that his love for music is in his veins. Participating in every music class and performance he could only started in Grade School but followed him through Middle and finally High School. At the tender age of 15 Richard left school and studied for his GED to which he passed at 16, then left for touring around the East Coast by Greyhound, only to settle in at The American Musical and Dramatics Academy in New York City by 18. All while attending the Academy for Theatrics, Richard went around to various clubs and found places to call home where he could, practice, play, and improve his craft. One such place was The Orange Bear in the Financial District that he called him home for over six months. They allowed an 18-year-old folk singer to perform once a month with a small intimate crowd, most of which were friends from the dorm and classes, while others were escorts and prostitutes, stoners, and drunks. He loved The Orange Bear because of its mystique—having bears and other wildlife having sex in picture frames covering their walls. What it also helped him was with opening his feelings and to be able to expose his life to audience and connect with them on a more personal level.
A lot of his angst, pain, and mental anguish you feel in both of his albums Craving Something Beautiful and Live at the Red Room comes from some specific failed attempts at relationships. One of which was his high school sweetheart of over five years he was waiting for him to move in, who did, but then developed a nasty meth problem, and hid out in a tent for months in New Jersey. In Greg’s Song he talks about how much he loves somebody, idyllically, wants to tattoo his name across his own chest…because I love you! In another two songs: If It Weren’t For Me and Birdhouse, he tackles the subject of falling for a “I’m Straight”—but wear an Indigo Girls shirt and knock on your door at 3am drunk and expect to spend the night Straight Boy. My absolute favorite song off Live at the Red Room album would have to be Craving Something Beautiful where he explained to me that it was about this guy he met, had a great time with and was supposed to go to a concert with but then stood him up while he was outside for three hours and a bottle of wine. Needless to say, he drank the entire bottle and came to the realization that he didn’t need him, needed to stand up for himself, and that he wanted something more out of life. One of Richard’s favorite songs from this is 100 & Some Odd Minutes where he told me was about the first time getting an HIV test and the mental anguish over waiting for the results. For the first time in his life, he realizes the situations he’s been in and realizes his own mortality. He tells the story as if he was sitting in the movie theatre and all about the coming attractions and wishes the previews were longer, that the movie is too short, and the end is inevitable—Life is a timeless story and never ends with goodbye.
Before moving back to Florida, working as many gigs as he could, one of which being Helen’s in Chelsea, he sadly realized that he really did not fit into the Theatre World. He was: too small/thin for a Leading Man role, not funny enough to be The Comic Relief, and had a unique voice to be just a Chorus Member. When he would have completed school, he would only receive a Certificate that would aid him proving /certifying he could work in a Broadway production, but he decided to make it on his own. Richard felt that he had spent way too much time singing other peoples songs in the voices that they wanted that he hid behind them, that this was not for him, his voice and perspective is unique and needed to be heard. Upon making the decision to make it out on his own, he was recruited to a production company from mid-town Manhattan and was totally impressed—when he walked in, the Receptionist was on the phone with Madonna. Well, they told him that they would get him a band, they would sign him, they wanted a professional studio album, and they said he would be the next Big Star—only he had to loose The Gay. He was to do a complete overhaul of his image with things such as: speech classes to talk straighter, different clothes, and get a girlfriend for photo shoots such as Red Carpet events and Premiers. Oh, did I forget to mention he would have to change most of his lyrics? That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. He realized that he was loosing himself, his voice, and that he would rather be a fish in a small pond than one of a million sharks in a big ocean. Richard returned to his roots in Fort Lauderdale back in the Fall of 2005 and has not regretted it one bit.
Even though he has Wollenberg Records, he collaborated with the people from The Red Room, a recording studio who helped him to create his two albums, Richard Cortez: Live at the Red Room and He Loves Me Not—which is due out this Winter. He recorded all the songs within five months, with a full band and orchestra, and everything was overseen and created by him. Every string part, every piano, every instrument—was mapped out and written by him. He worked so hard on this album, but sadly, almost did not happen. Somewhere along the line, someone messed up and ended up deleting everything! Ooops, sorry, computer glitch. Luckily he still had all the latest revisions and was able to work with that and produce this album. Sadly, the same thing happened with He Loves Me Not and was able to recover it—it was almost like they completely deleted Richard Cortez. As a fan of the small and intimate performances, he invited a select few friends to be a part of his recordings and you will feel the warmth throughout the album. Where can you catch Richard Cortez? Even though he has set us a base of operation in the heart of Wilton Manors, he still is available to all of his fans through the Internet, Itunes, and personal appearances. He will be featured at The Naked Grape in Wilton Manors on Monday nights starting September 25th with times to be determined, performs every second Friday at Boomtown Theatre in Jacksonville, FL, is a proud supporter of Trannie Shack Tuesdays at Elements, and will be hosting a benefit concert at The Gay and Lesbian Community Center GLCC on September 22nd at 8pm. With the $10 cost of admission, you will receive a copy of his latest album Richard Cortez: Live at the Red Room and all the proceeds will be going back to the GLCC’s Youth Group—the one that helped him out when he was just getting started. He remembers performing a Farewell Concert at The Pride Factory before leaving for NY and remembers looking at the $150 and at age 17, feeling like he had proved everyone wrong—he was not a looser dropout, but he was going to make something of his life and wants to aid the very organization that helped him get started.
Some important websites to visit: to purchase Craving Something Beautiful you can go to www.cdbaby.com/cd/cortez and finally, all of his songs are available on Itunes. |
I
don’t know if you have had the opportunity to meet the wonderfully sweet
and talented Richard Cortez, or met someone that uses the phrase Folk
Singer as a title…well, that would be him. If you have not met
him, then definitely be on the lookout for someone that will be taking
the Southern Florida Gay community by storm. He not only has had a
Jewel-esque
struggle to get to where he is, but has made something of his life, and
is more than willing to honor his roots and give back to the community
that has helped. 
Before
leaving for New York, he asked his mother to buy him a recorder to
attach to his computer and while in his dorm, he was able to record over
five albums and then burn them and then sell them at his performances
which is where he gained his first cult following. While he was in
school, getting a traditional theatrical education leading towards a
Certificate, Richard was writing songs, recording them, printing up
flyers, and performing at whatever venue he could get. He
remembers one such performance where he went down a street and purchased
about 20 dirty gay magazines, went home, and cut out all the penises and
made a flyer with the words, “Want Dick? Come to the Orange Bear.”
Ingenious eh?
One
of the first things that he did when he returned home was to start a
recording label—Wollenberg Records, which has helped him achieve
certain things. Even though right now it’s more of a Grass
Roots/Mom & Pop project, (he does all the bookings, accounting, and
songs) he hopes, in the future, to help out other struggling recording
stars to help them so not to endure the pain and humiliation that he
has. He wants to sign not-necessarily gay or folk singers, but
anyone who loves doing music for the simple fact of getting their
messages heard. What is funny about the name is that he chose it
because it is his Maternal Grandmother’s Maiden Name and the logo for it
is of her when she was about five. She’s happy knowing that he
loves her and will always be a part of his professional life.