Tião Carreiro (real name: José Dias Nunes), born in Monte Azul, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, started to learn how to play the acoustic guitar at a very young age. Later, only 13, he went to work in the Giglio Circus, where he made a music pair with his cousin Waldomiro. The circus owner encouraged Tião to learn the viola caipira (a kind of steel ten-string acoustic guitar). Tião Carreiro played along with various other violeiros (viola caipira players that create música caipira or Brazilian country music).

He reached fame with Pardinho (real name: Antônio Henrique de Lima), consolidating the music double as Tião Carreiro e Pardinho. Alongside Pardinho, Tião Carreiro is credited as the inventor of the Pagode (not to be confused with the Pagode style of Samba), the rural Pagode (Pagode Caipira). Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.