Hialeah's Ricky Valido blends Cuban guajira and country on "Dear Everglades" ahead of a filmed Miami show

November 12, 2026

Singer and guitarist Ricky Valido, born and raised in Hialeah, is releasing "Dear Everglades," a 16-song album that fuses Cuban guajira with country, according to Miami New Times and Sun State News. Valido told Miami New Times he came to guajira through his grandfather's record collection, which also held albums by Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, and that he was drawn to the storytelling common to both genres.

The album's vocals were recorded in Everglades National Park itself on his smartphone, along with field recordings of plants, animals and moving water. He then took the material to Nashville, where he and a studio musician laid down the instrumentals in a single day. The record is also inspired by the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes he has performed for.

On October 30 he played two acoustic sets at a Tropical Audubon Society event. On Friday, November 27, at 8:00 p.m., he will perform with his five-piece band, The Hialeah Hillbillies, at Churchill's Pub in Miami, in a free show with RSVP that he plans to film and record as a live album. His third album, "Lost Lyrics," is scheduled for February.