Sopa de Cabra

Sopa de Cabra
Sopa de Cabra, 2011. From left to right: Xarim Aresté, Jaume 'Peck' Soler, Francesc 'Cuco' Lisícic, Gerard Quintana, Eduard Font, Josep Thió, Pep Bosch.
Background information
Origin	Girona, Catalonia
Genres	Rock, rock català
Years active	1986-2001 and September 2011
Labels	Salsetta Discos, BMG-Ariola, Música Global
Website	www.sopadecabra.net
Past members	Gerard Quintana Joan 'Ninyin' Cardona Josep Thió Francesc 'Cuco' Lisicic Josep Bosch Jaume 'Peck' Soler (from 1997) Julio Lobos (1994-8) Eduard Font (from 1998) Xarim Aresté (2011)

Sopa de Cabra ('Goat Soup') was a musical group from Girona, Catalonia, Spain, active from 1986 to 2002. They are considered to be one of the leading representatives of the rock català movement, though the band preferred not to be placed in the same category as other Catalan-language groups, some of whom had very different musical styles, simply on the basis of singing in Catalan. Sopa de Cabra's classic songs include L'Empordà, Camins ("Paths") and El Far del Sud ("The Southern Lighthouse").

In September 2011, the band reunited temporarily to mark the 25th anniversary of their formation and the tenth of their final performances with a tour of seven concerts.

Sopa de Cabra's origins can be traced to several bands formed in Girona in the early 1980s, and to the fact that all the members of what became Sopa de Cabra knew each other at that period. The band Copacabana, formed in 1979 by secondary school classmates, included Josep Thió, and was important because some of the early songs, including the classic L'Empordà, were originally written for Copacabana by its lead singer, Jaume Rufí, and Thió. This band dissolved in 1984 when Thió left to complete then-obligatory military service and Rufí went to study in Barcelona. Upon returning to Girona, Thió set about forming a new band, which would become Sopa de Cabra, recruiting bassist Francesc 'Cuco' Lisícic, guitarist Joan 'Ninyín' Cardona and drummer Josep 'Pep' Bosch. The line-up was completed with the addition of Gerard Quintana as lead singer. Cardona, Lisícic and Quintana had formerly worked together in 'Ninyín's Mine Workers Union Band', which may therefore also be seen as one of the direct progenitors of Sopa de Cabra. The name of the band ('Goat Soup'), was inspired by the 1973 Rolling Stones album Goat's Head Soup.

The basic line-up of the band as founded in 1986 remained virtually unchanged throughout its 15-year history. Julio Lobos became the regular keyboard player from 1994, and was succeeded in 1998 by Eduard Font. The guitarist Jaume Soler (‘Peck’) joined the group in 1997, because Joan Cardona's deteriorating state of health began to make it difficult for him to perform regularly. He was diagnosed with a genetically influenced form of colon cancer. Ninyín died on January 20, 2002, less than three months after the band's final concert in Barcelona, where he had managed to appear on stage for a few numbers. He was 42.