34 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY November 14-20, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com MUSIC A symptom of a friend’s success in the spotlight is that, unfortunately, you won’t see them much anymore. Johan Sotelo was always destined to make it as a successful musician. And so it goes he won’t be sprinkling his auditory bliss around Carmel on Nov. 14. Instead, he’ll be at the Latin Grammys. Sotelo, who is Mexican American, will be attending the star-studded event in Miami with the 25-year-old producer for boutique music label Socios, Israel Aispuro, in recognition of their work with Mexican singer-songwriter superstar Carín León. Sotelo wrote and sang an English part of León and Kane Brown’s “The One (Pero No Como Yo),” which now boasts over 24 million streams since its release in February. Sotelo is credited as a songwriter for two tracks on Boca Chueca, Vol. 1, which is nominated for Best Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Mexican Music Album. He is no stranger to success, but meeting Aispuro through his brother turned the page on his music career. “I went from playing 350 events a year to only playing like 10,” Sotelo says. “But I’ve written over 100 songs since we started.” After Sotelo was asked to write and play for León, a cascade effect began. Producers for other artists began asking him to lend his songwriting talent to them, as well. Some of those include producers for A-list performers like Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson and Kacey Musgraves. Aispuro says that he was inspired by Sotelo to get him to play with Léon through “chilling in the studio,” where they were producing and writing music. The Latin Grammys are stop number one for the duo, and with Sotelo’s songwriting talent now unlocked, they are setting their sights on moving to Nashville. “It’s a musician’s dream to be in Nashville,” Sotelo says. The duo have already been recording there, flying back and forth for the past year. They say an album should be in the works soon. Sotelo admits he was self-conscious about writing songs in English. According to him, 90 percent of his original songs are in Spanish, many written at iconic Monterey County locations. Should Sotelo continue his success, perhaps even to the American Grammys or beyond, it’s clear that the only thing that surpasses his talent is his humility and love for this place. So look for him when he comes back to town. Star Rise Local musician Johan Sotelo heads to the Latin Grammy Awards following songwriting success. By Sloan Campi A familiar face in the local music scene, Johan Sotelo of Monterey is becoming increasingly familiar on the national level. 101 WORD STORY CONTEST First Prize is $101 2nd and 3rd place winners receive gift certificates! We’ll publish the winners in our December 26, 2024 issue 1. All stories must contain the word “free” (or freely, frees, freedom, etc.) 2. Stories may contain fewer than 101 words. 3. If a hyphenated word can be broken into two (or more) free-standing words it will be counted as two (or more) words. 4. Abbreviations are counted as one word. (“CA” or “California,” it’s still one word.) 5. Contractions are counted as one word. (“Isn’t” is one word; “is not” is two.) 6. Titles are not counted and are not necessary. 7. We reserve the right to re-title stories. 8. Poems are not acceptable. 9. Limit 3 entries per person. 10. If you mail in your entry, it must be submitted on 8.5 x 11 inch paper. Upload stories at: www.montereycountynow.com/101words or by mail: Monterey County Weekly 101-Word Short Story Contest 668 Williams Ave., Seaside CA 93955 FRIDAY, NOV. 29 BY 5PM Write your name, address and phone number on each page you submit. Monterey County Weekly assumes no responsibility for returning submissions. PRINT | WEB | MOBILE december 21-27, 2023 montereycountyweekly.com locAl & IndePendent wInter weAther forecAst 16 | merry squIdmAs 21 | flower Power 42 | holIdAy beer cheer 46 check out the wInners of the 101-word short story contest, those thAt cAme close And A few thAt mIght rAIse A curIous eyebrow. P. 26 A Tale Wagging 101-Word Short Story Contest 2023 ♥ Shop LOCAL this holiday ♥ season ♥ p. 24 New for 2024! All stories must contain the word “free” (or freely, frees, freedom, etc.)
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