“More than playing the guitar, I caress it’- Juan José Ramírez Campos
Singer-songwriter Juan José Ramírez Campos is the creator of the song «Jocotepec, la tierra de Dios.» Photo: María Reynozo.
By: María del Refugio Reynozo Medina
Juan José Ramírez Campos, a native of Jocotepec, is a chess player, teacher, and lawyer, but above all, a singer-songwriter.
His mother tells him that, as a child, when they were on their way to school, Juan José used to sing. “Why don’t you shut up,” he was told one day. – “I can’t,» he answered.
In high school, Juan liked to play the flute. He composed his first song while studying for a bachelor’s degree in Education at the Escuela Normal Superior.
In high school he also entered the world of chess. He would go over and watch a group of students who played chess. He spent about two months watching them; one day one of them was absent and they asked him if he wanted to play. He remembers that he played against the weakest player and lost.
“I’m really bad,» he thought. He took it as a challenge, and with the help of a friend he learned. Since then he has not let go of chess; he has participated in municipal, state and world tournaments. He teaches chess at Tecnológico de Chapala and Colegio Jocotepec. He has two diplomas in chess didactics certified by the Ministry of Public Education, and has won international awards.
As a teacher, he has taught philosophy, sociology, economics and history at the Technical University of Guadalajara (UTEG).
Juan José also studied law with an interest in the area of public service. He was secretary general of the Jocotepec City Council from 2015 to 2018. He served as trustee and interim president of this body from 2018-2021.
However, of all his interests, the one that is essential for him is singing and playing the guitar. –“I don’t just play the guitar, I caress it,» he says.
He has 160 songs registered with the National Copyright Institute (INDAUTOR) over a twenty-year career. «Jocotepec, la Tierra de Dios» is his most recent work, written in 2020. For “Juanjo,” nickname for Juan José, the municipality is made up of a diversity of colors. In this piece, the images of the towns that make up the municipality emerge. Each delegation of the municipality has something beautiful to show, he says. The sarapes of Jocotepec and articles made in San Cristóbal Zapotitlán with corn are only a few of the diverse crafts of the lakeside municipality.
The first group to perform Juan José’s material was Banda Esmeralda («Por Ti Mujer»). «El Santo Cristo de la Expiración» has been recorded by Dina Buendia. An agreement is pending with a production company in San Luis Potosí to record «Que Nos Espera» and «La Flor del Edén.» In 2019 he recorded his album «Desde el Corazón de Mi Tierra» with eleven songs, nine of which he wrote himself.
The genres he sings most are huapangos, ballads and rancheras. His compositions are inspired by personal experiences or the issues he observes in society. The song «La Pobreza» came from watching a fire-eater and seeing a homeless man looking for food in the garbage.
Sometimes he is also commissioned to write compositions, like one that a friend asked him to write, «Make me a ballad.» The ballad came out between sips of beer.
His biggest dream is for his songs to be heard by more people.
A notebook and a pen are all he needs when inspiration strikes.
His grandparents taught him a taste for the voices of Agustín Lara, Armando Manzanero and Martín Urieta, and from them he also inherited the love for his land.
«Jocotepec is the land of my love,» he concludes.
Translated by Elisabeth Shields
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