The Baraquios - Making Music Together Since Birth

---

Strong Family Bands Start With Strong Parents

Music has always been a part of the Baraquios' lives. Their parents made it a central part of all their children's lives. This started from a young age with piano and guitar lessons for each of the kids. Instruction was not voluntary. Mr. & Mrs. Baraquio made sure the kids not only made it to every lesson, but that they also practiced regularly.

The Baraquio music program was not restricted to home. The siblings sang together as a group regularly at church, establishing solid Christian music roots. With 10 kids, they easily made up a small choir that knew the value of shared harmony. Together they made a whole greater than the sum of the parts. Individual Baraquios might have been reluctant to sing solo, but each readily lent their distinct tone to the group.

High Tide - Baraquio Sisters Band

The first official music grouping within the family took the form of a project made up of 4 of the sisters. Tess, Rose, Bernadette & Angela came together to form a band they called High Tide. The all-girl formation pre-dated the 'Girl Power' movement, an example of the ladies' strong, pioneering spirit. Their line-up consisted of Bernadette:drums, Angela:keyboards, Tess:guitar & Rose: bass. Along with playing shows around Oahu, High Tide took their pop/rock sound to the 1991 Brown Bags to Stardom talent.

As the siblings went away to college, began careers and started families of their own, the opportunities to make music together inevitably lessened. Still, what is built in a family, from common genes and experiences, cannot fade. The musical bonds remained strong and were exercised whenever the family(ies) gathered.

Brought Together by Loss, Strengthened by Harmony

The Baraquios had talked many times over the years of doing a music project together. With the rush and obligations of life the time never seemed to be right - or available. It wasn't until the tragic passsing of brother Albert that the siblings felt that they needed to finally make their music dream a reality. Not just as an outlet for their talents, but as a way of healing themselves from the absence of a beloved family member.

Brother John Baraquio took the lead, calling the family together to move forward on the work. From there it was a full family project, with all involved and determined to see it through. The resulting songs were written by different family members. The sound - a mix of Christian praise music, family harmony, grief, faith, strength and celebration of life - was a product of all the Baraquios.