Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The Terminator Tango

“My music is a combination of classical, Latin, and world-music influences,” says guitarist William Wilson, who studied with renowned flamenco guitarist Fred Benedetti while attending SDSU from 1996 to 2001.

Wilson says people are often surprised about his South American heritage. “Unless they know me personally, most folks aren’t aware that my mother is from Argentina. I don’t look Hispanic, and my name is William Wilson, so it’s not something you’d guess. My first two CDs are all South American music, and another explores the contemporary tango of Argentina.... I think a lot of my love and feel for that music comes from [my mother].”

Sponsored
Sponsored

The San Diego native — who turns 32 this week — says that his political concerns aren’t necessarily the same as those that Hispanic Americans worry about, say, immigration issues. “The biggest problem in America is that work is scarce right now. I’ve played for most of the big companies that are being bailed out by the government or have gone under. But government bailouts and takeovers don’t seem to be the solution. I’m self-employed, so I work my butt off or I don’t eat. What is the old communist saying about government workers? ‘We pretend to work, and they pretend to feed us.’ Also, as a Catholic, President Obama’s one-sided stance on abortion and other social issues is not endearing him to me.”

Not that Wilson shuns politicians; he expressed himself to one very visible political leader in the context of a song. “I played for Governor Schwarzenegger a little while ago, a duo gig with bassist Jeff Basile. I did a tango album, so I decided to play ‘Por Una Cabeza,’ the dramatic tango featured in Arnold’s movie True Lies. I don’t think he noticed or cared that I played it, and I doubt he realized the connection between my feelings and the movie’s title. But it had to be done.”

Also a guitar instructor, Wilson’s website GuitarGames.net features video games that he created, designed to teach guitar and music fundamentals. “You can learn to read music while fighting space monsters! I force my students to play the games, and I play them all the time myself, to keep coming up with improvements. Right now, I’m working on putting them on the iPhone.”

William Wilson appears with the Peter Pupping Quartet on Saturday, September 11, as part of the San Marcos Summer Concert Series.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again
Next Article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach

“My music is a combination of classical, Latin, and world-music influences,” says guitarist William Wilson, who studied with renowned flamenco guitarist Fred Benedetti while attending SDSU from 1996 to 2001.

Wilson says people are often surprised about his South American heritage. “Unless they know me personally, most folks aren’t aware that my mother is from Argentina. I don’t look Hispanic, and my name is William Wilson, so it’s not something you’d guess. My first two CDs are all South American music, and another explores the contemporary tango of Argentina.... I think a lot of my love and feel for that music comes from [my mother].”

Sponsored
Sponsored

The San Diego native — who turns 32 this week — says that his political concerns aren’t necessarily the same as those that Hispanic Americans worry about, say, immigration issues. “The biggest problem in America is that work is scarce right now. I’ve played for most of the big companies that are being bailed out by the government or have gone under. But government bailouts and takeovers don’t seem to be the solution. I’m self-employed, so I work my butt off or I don’t eat. What is the old communist saying about government workers? ‘We pretend to work, and they pretend to feed us.’ Also, as a Catholic, President Obama’s one-sided stance on abortion and other social issues is not endearing him to me.”

Not that Wilson shuns politicians; he expressed himself to one very visible political leader in the context of a song. “I played for Governor Schwarzenegger a little while ago, a duo gig with bassist Jeff Basile. I did a tango album, so I decided to play ‘Por Una Cabeza,’ the dramatic tango featured in Arnold’s movie True Lies. I don’t think he noticed or cared that I played it, and I doubt he realized the connection between my feelings and the movie’s title. But it had to be done.”

Also a guitar instructor, Wilson’s website GuitarGames.net features video games that he created, designed to teach guitar and music fundamentals. “You can learn to read music while fighting space monsters! I force my students to play the games, and I play them all the time myself, to keep coming up with improvements. Right now, I’m working on putting them on the iPhone.”

William Wilson appears with the Peter Pupping Quartet on Saturday, September 11, as part of the San Marcos Summer Concert Series.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Eating dinner while little kids mock-mosh at Golden Island

“The tot absorbs the punk rock shot with the skill of experience”
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader