From traditional bachata and merengue to Luis Días, the godfather of Dominican Republic rock, Yasser Tejeda is a lifetime student, purveyor, and boundary-pusher of his country's music.
Like Días, who melded Dominican folk with rock and punk, Tejeda and his band Palotré are their own kind of fusion artists, bringing together the chorus-drenched tones of bachata guitar, Caribbean rhythms, and modern rock, R&B, and pop.
In our video above, Tejeda breaks down the history of Dominican guitar playing in just under 20 minutes. He covers not only bachata, merengue, and Afro-Dominican roots music, but the pedals he uses to push the sounds forward today: MXR M234 Analog Chorus, Eventide H9, TC Electronic ND-1 Nova Delay, EHX Micro-POG, and more.
Stay up to date with Yasser Tejeda at his website here.