Short Bio

Francisco Jose Ginorio Viscal 

aka - Joe Ginorio Viscal

​

Born - San Juan, Puerto Rico - currently in Frederick Maryland - Singer / Songwriter

From my teenage years, I aspired for a life in music - Melodies are my love - like the waves on the ocean, they sweep you away without boundaries.

​

a good melody is I loved writing songs and singing them for friends -  However, Life happens - like many, got married, raised a family, worked at a various jobs and put my dreams aside. 

​

But it's never to late to dream, to rekindle the passion for a lovely melody and poetic lyrics. Now that my children are grown and gone, I find my voice, my music. 

​

I am grateful - Improvising in my small music room, with my guitar, I am inspired by beauty that captures my heart.

​

Born in Puerto Rico and raised in the Washington, DC metro area -  Mt. Rainer, MD, Fairfax and Loudon counties, VA. 

​

Inspiration comes in many forms - from sitting in a Café in New York, walking 450 miles across Spain, or made breathless by a Spanish beauty, inspiration prescribes a response. And regardless of the artistic depth a person is open to, the real treasure is finding your voice and having the courage to raise it up. I record on Studio One via a PreSonus Audio Box iTwo -with two ports - voice and guitar. I have two medium quality mics and a Martin dreadnaught, Takamine, and an Ovation nylon. Nothing fancy, but it works.   

​

Musical  Inspiration 

I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. With $50 and a 2 year old son, my mother immigrated to Washington, DC. A single, working mother, she worked long hours to make a home for us. Fortunately,  and we settled in Mt. Rainier, Maryland where I enjoyed my formative years. 

​

    She was a great fan of Puerto Rican music and our home was always bathed with the music of Rafael Hernández. Los Panchos, and Pedro Flores and on occasion, the great crooners like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

​

    I gained a sense that the core of a good song is a pleasing melody. When I was 10 yrs old, I bought my mother for her birthday, the 33 rpm vinyl record -  Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky - I was enamored by the flowing and powerful melodies and arrangements. 

​

    Sweet melodies have always inspired my attentions, no matter the genre - melodies that flow with an elegance that touches your soul.  

​

    I collect melodies on my smart phone - when I'm inspired or have an idea, I record into my smartphone for future reference -  most of my songs have started this way - Each melody lends itself to a particular mood  e.g.. serious and thoughtful, telling a tale, a love song, or, a life lesson - such that when there's a match between a melody and a specific theme I want to express my imagination and feeling combine to form the lyrics and poems to form the song.  

 

    J
 

 

Over the years - these musicians are but a few who have shaped my world. 

​

• Beatles, Rolling Stones, John Denver, Dan Fogelberg, America, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison

• The Who, Beach Boys, The Supremes, Temptations, Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young

• Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Michael Buble, Ann Murray, Simon & Garfunkel 

• Los Panchos, Linda Ronstadt, Connie Dover, Los Gypsy Kings, Juan Luis Guerra

• Rodrigo, Debussy

• Tim McGraw, Randy Travis, Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks 

​

​

 

Life Influences

​

    Three (3) women set the tone for my life - my mother, Irma Viscal Garriga, Alice Neal Robles, and Winifred Parkins Spicer

   

Irma Viscal Garriga

   Born in Canovanas, Puerto Rico to a family of 7, she was the 3rd oldest. A woman with a curious mind, an energetic spirit, and pragmatic approach to life, at 20, she immigrated to Washington, DC, escaping political turmoil in Puerto Rico.

 

   Her sister, Dr. Olga Viscal Garriga, had been arrested and sentenced to 7 years in prison for speaking out and defending the rights of Puerto Rican people against an oppressive  government. At 17, my mother was right there with her.

 

   At that time in Puerto Rico, there was no freedom of speech, or assembly, or the press. The US Government sponsored a program that covertly sterilized 10's of thousands Puerto Rican women - Latinos were generally viewed as inferior, but provided a cheap source of labor. As more women were sterilized, they became available to work in American textile factories in Puerto Rico and New York. 

 

    In addition to mass sterilizations, wholesale arrests and torture of suspected dissidents destroyed thousands of lives. Repressive laws sponsored by the US and enforced by the police, national guard, and the FBI, resulted in a rebellion by many Puerto Ricans.

​

    An outspoken student leader of a nationalist movement to oust the US government from Puerto Rico, Dr. Olga Viscal Garriga, spent 5 years in solitary confinement on charges of contempt of court. The future in Puerto Rico did not look bright. 

​

   With a 2 year old son, $50, and a desire to create a better life, my mother immigrated to Washington, DC.  She was smart and hard working. She graduated high school at 15 and secretarial school at 17 and worked mostly as an executive administrative assistant.

​

    Her language skills enabled her to be a translator during the late 50's and early 60s for President Sukarno of Indonesia. She accompanied him on numerous state visits and interpreted meeting with high level dignitaries such as the President of Mexico. 

​

    In Havana, Cuba she sat at the table with Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, facilitating negotiations with Sukarno. The president's entourage also visited Hollywood on several occasions, having dinner with the Warner Brothers, and various famous stars at the time. She always came home with gifts such as a Guiro or maracas. 

​

    She instilled in me the value of education, hard work, and a commitment to paying attention to what was happening in the world. Her insight into world politics and social issues was always insightful.

​

    To my good fortune, she was a great cook - I was spoiled by delicious and flavorful Puerto Rican food - arroz con gandules, plátanos maduros, arroz con pollo, flan, tres leches... 

     I am eternally grateful to my mother for the life lessons, practicality, and political consciousness so important to navigate our political landscape. 

  

   At 4 years old, we moved in the Robles home in Mt. Rainier, MD 

​

Alice Neal Robles

​

   The family of Don Ramon Antonio Robles-Reyes of Cidra, Puerto Rico, and his wife Alice Neal of Asheville, NC and 5 sons. They lived in a modest 2 bedroom home in Mt. Rainier, MD - Don Ramon worked in furniture maintenance for the Hecht company in DC. 

   Alice was the consummate mother, with a love for all children, tempered by the common sense of a North Carolina farm girl.  

​

   From Alice, I learned the unwavering commitment that keeps a family together, that keeping life simple made managing children less confusing -  I learned about consequences - if you break a simple rule, there are consequences. 

​

   She was never mean, always fair, and ever ready with a meal - breakfast cereal, sandwiches for school, and  traditional American fare for supper - pork chops & applesauce, southern fried chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs, and occasionally, liver and onions and boiled spinach ( to our mutual groans - never our favorite). On weekends we'd get hotcakes with Karo syrup, and fried dough. 

​

    Her loving presence set the tone for our lives. 

​

Under construction

​

Winifred Parkins Spicer

​

    She once told me a story that as a young girl, she witnessed during mass, the devil being driven from the church by the priest's prayers. 

​

​

​