But before Watina, Andy Palacio - or as he was known in the punta rock days, "Andy P." was regarded as a very special artist. Today we spoke to two men who've stayed very close to the music scene from the 80's - and they told us Andy Palacio was special from "back in the day."
Keith Swift Reporting,
Before Andy Palacio was on the world stage - he was on the walls of record stores in Belize. He has released at least five CDs in a career that dates back to the early 90s - which is when Stone Jam Hyde met him.
Stone 'Jam' Hyde, Stone Music Outlet
"I have been dealing with Andy Palacio music for some long years. Andy Palacio's first video, I was in that video. I was the deejay in the video so I've been working with Andy Palacio for a while. Andy is like one of the early founders of Punta Rock Music and Paranda music so his contribution is very very important and with the last album Watina - it sends Belize on the world map now so it is very very important."
JC Arzu introduced punta rock and Andy Palacio on Krem radio
J.C. Arzu, KREM FM Deejay
"Andy's music has always been dance music. His new project Watina differs slightly but its gotten more recognition than anything else because
its global."
Keith Swift,
How big was his music on radio?
J.C. Arzu,
"Extremely big. Andy's music has always been very big on radio in Belize beginning in the late 80s so it's been 20 years for him. I used to watch him play guitar and piano at St. Peter Claver College and at the church. He got a lot of practice before he started with music groups which played outside of school."
Keith Swift,
How did the Andy we saw in 2007 who became this mega international star compared to the Andy that you knew way back when?
JC Arzu,
"He was more inspired than I knew or we knew at the time."
And stay tuned because at the end of tonight's news - we'll have clips of some old school performances from Andy Palacio.
