From a youngster who was raised in a community "where there are more rabbits than people," to a nationally known music star, Roberto Jose Griego still considers himself, "just an ordinary guy." "I was raised on a ranch in La Joya, N. M. by my father, grandparents and an aunt. I lost my mother to cancer when I was two. My grandfather worked from before dawn until after dark to provide us with a roof over our heads and food on the table, and we were still on Welfare. As a teenager, I practiced playing the guitar for seven to eight hours a day. My grandmother would tell me to go find a job, so I would pretend to have looked all day and then come back and play my guitar again." Griego goes on to say that although they were considered working poor, and his grandparents were probably considered illiterate, "We were rich in love." Griego just recently lost his father at the age of 91. "We were very close." He began playing and singing with other bands and subsequently recorded his first record in a studio in Albuquerque owned by John Wagner. "I walked in and asked if I could record a song and they asked me where my band was. I told them, 'I am the band!'" It cost him $45 to record his record ($120 today). Griego said, "I played rhythm and sang on the first track and then played lead melody on the second track." Griego then remarks that, "What began as me, myself and I and my guitar producing my first 45 rpm record (Un Pobre No Mas, 1971-which still remains his biggest hit) I have since written and produced close to 40 songs with various other artists, and have just completed my seventh full length CD." Griego said that his first record label was his own independent label, 'Bravo Records', ("sounded like a cool name to me") but it eventually had to be changed to RJG Records, "because someone else already had the name "Bravo". He has kept the same label for the past 30 years.

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