Soron Records:

Ysidro (Chilo) Cota

Although Ysidro (Chilo) Cota was born and raised in Gilbert, Arizona, his roots are based in the State of Sonora, Mexico, where his parents came from.

Chilo comes from a migrant family. His mom and dad used to travel from Arizona to California and work the fields picking fruits and vegetables – living in camps and sometimes makeshift houses that his dad had to build out of wooden fig trees when there wasn’t room at the camps.

After the seasonal work was completed, they would go back to Arizona just in time to make tamales and menudo for the holidays. His parents used to sit around in the evenings after working in the cotton fields and they both would play old love songs and ballads. Soon Chilo would join them in their songs, then the neighbors would join them with their instruments and before they knew it, they had a full blown dance in the dirt street. They would block off the dirt street, sprinkle the street with water and the dance was on. This is where Chilo learned how to play the guitar and sing.

Chilo didn't graduated from high school – he and his older brother Alex were kicked out for fighting with the math teacher. Their father said if you don’t want to get an education, then it’s off to the cotton fields, so off to the cotton fields they went. Chilo decided that the cotton fields were not what he wanted to do and joined the army. After his stint in the military, he finished his high school education and enrolled in a community college.

By day he would attend school and by night he would gig in bars and honky-tonks trying to earn a little extra money. Chilo has played with groups like Little Joe and La Familia in the early 70’s, Agustine Ramirez in Phoenix, Arizona, and opened two shows for Freddy Fender in San Diego.

Chilo now owns a Farmers Insurance Company with his wife. Four of his original songs are on "La Puerta Negra." One of the songs, Amelia, is for his wife. Chilo is making preparations to record his next compilation. It will be a mixture of Tejano, Rancheras and Country music.