A budding Mexican musical duo has been forced to cancel a series of U.S. appearances because one of its members has not been able to renew his U.S. work visa, apparently because he has a name similar to a wanted criminal, the group´s management said.Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero - known as Rodrigo y Gabriela - have been forced to cancel shows at festivals in Miami and Austin, Texas, and a sold-out gig in Boston because of the visa issue, said Chris Tetzeli, a Charlottesville, Virginia-based partner at their label ATO Records. They may also be forced to cancel upcoming shows in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, he said on Wednesday.
The group, now waiting on the visa request in Mexico, appeared as recently as late January on the Jay Leno show and has not had visa problems in the past, Tetzeli said.
But when Sánchez applied at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City to renew his papers, he was told the request was on hold because officials had to verify he was not the same person with a similar name who is on a wanted list, a process that could take up to three months.
Details on the identity of the wanted man were not available.
"Rodrigo has nothing on his file," Tetzeli said. "He´s absolutely clean. It´s just this name confusion."
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Judith Bryan said as a policy the embassy does not comment on individual visa applications.
The band is known for dueling acoustic guitar instrumentals that blend heavy-metal riffs with Latin rhythms.
Their self-titled album - including covers of Led Zeppelin´s "Stairway to Heaven" and Metallica´s "Orion" - came out in October to critical acclaim. The March 22 issue of Rolling Stone magazine plugs them as new artists to watch.
"There was a lot of anticipation going into these (U.S. concert) dates," Tetzeli said. "The timing is pretty rough."
The duo was formed in Mexico City but, after growing frustrated with the late 1990s Mexican music scene, moved to Dublin, Ireland.
In Dublin, the musicians flourished where they played in the streets for money, and later broke into the local club scene, building a loyal following in Europe.
Their visa problems come amid controversy over heighten security checks and a "no fly" list of suspected terrorist and criminals that have led to people wrongly being prevented from boarding U.S.-bound flights or frequently being picked out for additional scrutiny.
