RCA HOME Page                                         

Max y Grupo Agave Are on the Rise

Story and photo by Ramón Hernández

Maximiliano Rivera (Navarro) has everything it takes to become an international star.

The same applies to brothers Diego and Alejandro "Alex" Coronado, who make up Grupo Agave.

Besides a tremendous dose of God-given talent, the members of this Grupo Agave have the looks and the youth to give them time to pay their dues and arrive at their predetermined goal.

Rivera, whose uncle and baptismal godfather is the world famous Joan Sebastián, was born and reared in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico where his father, famed singer, songwriter, composer, guitarist and promoter Humberto Rivera, owned El Centro de Espectáculos. Therefore Max grew up seeing Sebastián plus major bands and vocalists perform up close and personal.

As a songwriter, Max’s father and first influence, wrote "Yo Quiero Saber De Ti" for Vicente Fernández and "Arrinconamela" for El Campesino plus hits for other well-known singers. As a vocalist, Humberto recorded with Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan.

"My mother says I started to sing at three and that I later sang ‘Tatuajes’ at family get-togethers," Max said during an interview at the Hispanic Entertainment Archives.

Although there were no musicians on the side of his mother, Lolis Navarro, the countless musical cousins and friends he associated with gave Max a strong grip on the industry. As for his own talent, at eleven he started to enter and win talent contest all over Jalisco. He also started writing songs at fourteen and by the age of eighteen, he had won two songwriting competitions.

"When my uncle (Sebastián) learned that I was writing, he asked me to send him recorded demos to see how I was progressing in my compositions," Max continued.

Serious and determined about a career on the stage, he also attended the prestigious CEA Televisa School with Ofelia Cano and took voice lessons from Homero García, who has also penned hits for Valentin Elizalde, Mariano Barba and Julian Álvarez.

"I’m also an arranger," Max added. "And by the time I was 18; two groups had recorded my songs, Ary Zenheir had done ‘Fijate’ and Banda Carnaval recorded ‘Pideme.’

Once he learned from the best and he felt he was ready, Max commenced to sing with bandas and any group that would allow him to display his vocal talent. Meanwhile his father had entered the political field and was now president of the Confederación Nacional Campesina (CNC) in the PRI party and this position caused the family to live in fear.

"Mexico was getting too dangerous, especially since dad is a politician, so when I turned 19, he send me to live with family here in San Antonio and to learn English," the 23-year-old singer, songwriter, arranger continued.

It didn’t long for Max to make himself known through appearances at Rosedale Park, the Pearl Brewery Amphitheater, plus the Old San Juan and Antigua Grill restaurants. He also became television host of "Escondite" and co-host of Mario Vega’s "Aficionados," both on Azteca America.

Not one to wait for a miracle, last June Max took action and embarked on a search for young talented musicians when José "Pepe" Melendez, owner of El Jimador Mexican Restaurant arranged for him to meet Diego Coronado, a former member of La Huella.

"I spoke to him about the project and he told me that his brother played bass. And when we got together to see how we jived, there was a lot of chemistry and we quickly fitted together. They were young. They had a lot of new ideas and that appealed to me," Max recalled.

The Coronado brothers were born in the Detroit metropolitan area of Dearborn, Michigan, but their parents, originally from Jalisco, moved to San Antonio in 2002. In their case, the only musicians in their family are their father, Isidro, who plays guitar and their Uncle Isabel, accordion.

Although the Coronados were Motown boys, Diego says he was more attracted to the music of Los Tigres Del Norte and Ramón Ayala. "That’s when I started liking the accordion," said the 15-year-old multi-talented musician, who also plays keyboards, bajo sexto, guitar, up-right bass, trombone, tuba, drums, sings second voice and sometimes lead.

What is indeed unique is that Diego says, "I learned from watching how groups played their instruments on You Tube."

Alex on the other hand was initially forced to play guitar. Then, two years ago, Diego taught him how to play six-string bass. Alex continued to resist until they did a gig and saw the reaction of the girls toward him. "That’s what sold me," 17-year-old Alex said with a sly but shy grin.

As for the combined effort of Max, Diego and Alex, they said, "We are not norteño, norteño because we include a touch of pop and Colombian music. Ours are pop tunes, such as Mana with accordion."

"I call it regional pop," Max said of the new musical hybrid genre. "We are also going to have the cowboy look, but we will wear tuxedo jackets to give the group a touch of class because we are more refined.

"As for our logo, it has nothing to do with norteño, but we used the agave plant to identify the group as being from Jalisco."

Unfortunately, they may be confused with Grupo Agave from Denver, Colorado or Grupo Agave de Manzanillo.

Their first single is "Ay Morena," which they already performed on the "Tejano y Más" television show and will soon make into a video.

Readers who have yet to see this dynamic group in action can catch their act on November 4 and 24 at El Jimador Restaurant at the corner of Vance Jackson and I-10.

For bookings call Max at (210) 799-6790 or Diego at (210) 587-9763. For more information, check out their web sites at www.facebook.com/grupoagave and www.myspace.com/234642996.