Chances are that if you’re here, you already know who I am, but in a nutshell, my name is Becky Reyes and I’m a musician in southeast AZ and I have a lot of projects that I’d like you to know about.

I just started two online magazines with my friend, Charlene Mitchell to promote arts and entertainment in my hometown of Bisbee, AZ, and in the communities of Santa Cruz County where I mainly perform. So many times, people ask me, “Where’s a good place to stay? (Or eat? Or hear live music?)”. I thought I’d gather all the information I could about my little enclaves and compile them into two websites. Currently, the Bisbee Enclave is farther along than the SCRV (Santa Cruz River Valley) Enclave, but Charlene and I are working diligently to get them both updated with as much information as possible. So, if you’re coming to the area stop by the Bisbee Enclave or the SCRV Enclave to help you plan your trip.

Musically, my husband, Scott Muhleman and I usually play together. He’s a hardcore, electric blues harp player (for the uninitiated, a “harp” is a harmonica), and in my humble and some would say biased opinion, he’s one of the best. I am a straight up acoustic player and I play whatever song makes me feel good. I select from a VERY wide selection of genres. In one set, I can typically go from folk, to traditional Mexican, to early jazz, to blues, to Irish, and back to folk. On occasion, I play some of my originals, but it’s not something I like to do. It’s a bit like reading from my diary in public. But I love music. I’m a song-catcher, a story-teller, and Scott brightens all my colors. Alas, Scott is in demand and I’m trying to hang on to him as long as I can, but as much as we love playing together, and we DO, Scott’s first love is electric blues. She was there first and he’s never gotten over her.

I also have another partner, Jim Harrelson, with whom I play international Latin music. In 2002, I played bass and sang in Jim’s band, Santuario, and in June of 2010, we reunited to form the Latin duo, Harrelson y Reyes. We focus mainly on the music that interests us the most. For Jim, it is “trova” music from Cuba, and traditional and modern folk from Latin America. For me, it is early forms of tango from Argentina & Chile, bossa nova from Brazil, and traditional music from my birth country, Mexico.

People don’t quite know what to expect when they come see Jim and me. But when they leave, when they can, they’ve used these words to describe what they experienced: haunting, lovely, surreal, otherworldly. They tell me that our voices together are “amazing”. I have to agree, I mean, I thought it was just me, but when I sing with Jim, there’s this resonance in our voices that affects me to my core. The other really cool thing is that I play mainly percussion. I have bells, shakers, a mini-cajón (like bongos), I’m even trying to remember how to play my castanets! I’m having a blast!

I am also a frustrated artist. I love to draw, paint and sculpt but I don’t have the time. That is changing. With my beautiful son in school during the day, and the Enclave magazines running smoothly, I sometimes find myself with a little bit of time. I’ll be posting pictures of some of the pieces I’ve done.

Thanks again for stopping by. Life is good. -B