Miguel "Botafogo" Vilanova was born on February 7, 1956. He began playing classical guitar at age 9.
At 12 he got his first electric guitar. His professional debut was at age 17 joining Pappo's Blues. From there he participated in Engranaje, Avalancha (recording a single), Carolina and Studebaker.
Between 1977 and 1984 he lived in Madrid where he joined, among others, the group Cucharada. With Joaquín Sabina he records "Viceversa"; with Antonio Flores he recorded "Antonio", "Al Caer el Sol" and the music for the film "Colegas"; With Mariscal Romero he records "Zumo de radio".
He also played with Pappo, Micky, Ramoncín, Kevin Ayers, Whiskey David and Ciro Fogliatta. Upon his return to Argentina he formed Durazno de Gala, with whom he recorded "Algún Viejo Blues", "Banda de Garaje", "Asuntos de Blues", "Noche de Blues", "Sacále el Jugo", "Una Vieja Historia" and "Piratas".
At the same time he became a collaborator for Rinaldo Rafanelli; Miguel Cantilo (with whom he recorded “Locomotor” and “De Amores y Pasiones”); Vitico ("Ha Llegado la Hora" and "No sé si voy a volver"); Pappo's Blues ("Pappo Sigue Vivo"; "Caso Cerrado" and "Pappo y Amigos").
He also did recording work for Rasputin's Samovar album; with Las Blacanblus he recorded "Rituales", with Los Guarros he recorded "Pampas Lisergicas" and with Javier Calamaro he recorded "Diez de Corazones".
In 1995 Botafogo embarked on his solo career and released his debut album "Trío Botafogo Xpress".
In 1997, "Botafogo y Amigos" was released, which included "Trabajando En El Ferrocarril" by Pappo and "Todo El Día Me Pregunto", by Javier Martínez. He travels to the United States and offers concerts in Washington, Miami and Chicago.
The following year he released "Cambios" and, in 1999, "Solo-Acústico" and "Live in Hollywood 99", where the renowned Deacon Jones (organist), Paul Eckman and Fabián Jolivet participated.
With the arrival of the new millennium he presented "Live in Japan", having made an extensive tour in that country. Joining forces with the Australian Alan Tilsley and the Japanese musicians Hideo Ono, Yoshinobu Kojima and Akihiki "Julian" Nakauchi, he performed about thirty gigs in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nakamura, Hiroshima, Kochi, Takamatsu, Nagoya and Tokushima, to name a few cities. The live album granted him a new Japan tour in 2002.
In 2001, Miguel Vilanova played in support of Eric Clapton on the Chilean leg of his "One More Car, One More Rider" tour with local band La Rata Bluesera. This event prompted Clapton himself to celebrate Vilanova's proficiency and marked the start of a close relationship with La Rata Bluesera, making them his official live band in Chile.
Botafogo has travelled extensively across Argentina, including harmonica player Bruce Ewan in 9 cities in 2000; and Deacon Jones in 2001, in 13 cities, including Córdoba, Rosario, Mendoza, Santa Fe, Neuquén and Buenos Aires.
In 2004 he released "Don Vilanova", a more rock-oriented album that revealed the musician's change of identity.
He begins the television series “Botafogo TV” on CM, the Music Channel, doing live shows with guest artists for two seasons.
In 2006 he presented “Blues Maestro”, directed by Nicolás Herzog and produced by Bruce Foy; This DVD has an extensive combo of live shows, backstage, extras and mainly an unmissable documentary about the 30 years of Miguel Botafogo's career. "Blues Maestro" was translated into English and features interviews and images from his personal collection and from his latest tour.
On March 1, 2008 he performed his last show under the name Botafogo; This recital was baptized "Goodbye Botafogo, Welcome Don Vilanova."
With a name change, haircut and beard reduction, he recorded his first album as Don Vilanova under the production of Gustavo Rowek. In November he released the album "Adiós Botafogo, Bienvenido Don Vilanova".
In 2011 he presented "Don Vilanova y Sus Secuaces", an album that features the collaboration of several of his friends and colleagues, including Ciro Fogliatta, Emmanuel Horvilleur, Nativo, Pier, Celeste Carballo, Giulliana Merello, Lucas Sedler and La Mississippi. It was made under the production of Gustavo Rowek, Sergio Berdichevsky and Don Vilanova himself. This work is officially presented on November 26 at La Trastienda Buenos Aires.
In 2013 Don Vilanova released "Blues De Mi Corazón-40° Anniversary", celebrating the fourth decade of his career in music.
In March 2021 he opened his official YouTube channel where he has posted personal and unpublished archive material from his radio and TV shows such as Cabecitas Negras, a radio program from 2000 with interviews with Pappo, Ricardo Mollo and others. Likewise, his channel includes chapters from Clínica 21, and countless concert files rescued from VHS tapes.
In 2022 he releases "Hereje", which he began recording in 2020 with the collaboration of his children Andrés Vilanova on production and drums and Laila Vilanova on composition. The album included the participation of musicians such as Javier Calamaro, Lito Vitale and Piti Fernández. Hereje was officially presented in December at Club Lucille in Palermo. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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