Cindy's first Jam Session on her Red Piano! Santa brought it for her when she was 3 years old.

This is “Popu,” my mother’s dad. The day I was born he looked at my hands and said, “One day these little fingers will play the piano.” Unfortunately, Popu passed when I was 6. Although he never really saw me play in life, I somehow know he watches me from the heavenly realm, I would imagine he was with me when I recorded all of my piano CDs. It was real to me.

Tita, my grandmother, absolutely adored her husband. Because of what Popu said, Tita bought me my first piano and later, loaned me the money for my baby grand K.Kawai. I call my beautiful, piano my “soul sister.”

🎵 "A Mother's Heart"

I picked up the guitar when I was 12 years old. I met a girl a little older than me who played and I thought it was cool. Although I loved playing the piano, it was not convenient when I wanted to play music outside of my home. I picked up the guitar and found that I could play many songs by simply learning the A, D and E chords.

I played at girl scouts, campfire girls and anywhere I could gather a group who liked to sing. I remember playing and singing with my family on long car trips. We were quite a musical family.

After I wrote Jose Cuervo, I began working as a promotional representative for Heublein in Los Angeles as Miss Jose Cuervo. I was pretty much a walking billboard advertising Jose Cuervo tequila at the 2 man volleyball tournaments in Redondo Beach, CA. I thought my song could be used to promote their tequila. They ignored me and told me T-shirts were a better way to advertise.

I believed in the song simply because people loved it. I recorded a record with the help of my friend, George Anderson. When I took it to KLAC’s midnight trucking DJ, Larry Scott, the phone lit up like a Christmas Tree!

An executive from Warner Bros. signed the record, and in 1981 my version went #1 in Los Angeles. That same year Jose Cuervo tequila sales improved by 70% in southern California. In 1983, Shelly West recorded the song. That same year, USA Today reported a 14 million case increase nationwide. Heublein actually bought an island with the profits. That proves the absolute power of music.

After Shelly West’s version of Jose Cuervo went #1, Heublein put me on tour promoting Jose Cuervo in 28 cities from San Diego, CA to Fort Lauderdale, FL. My current husband, Dennis, was my manager at the time. My brother Mark went with me and my daughter Julie helped sell T-shirts when she could join us.

I performed with house bands and talked on every Country Radio Station I could. Super fun but the road life can be harsh.

Later on, Snuff Garret brought the song to Shelly West’s recording session. Steve Dorff, who was producing Shelly, thought the song was too much of a novelty song. John Hobbs, who happened to be the piano player on my recording session, was also the piano player on Shelly’s session! He said, “Let’s do it. It’s a good song.”

John wrote a music chart in about 5 minutes. I believe it was a God thing! Jose Cuervo by Shelly West was the 1983 #1 Country music song of the Year in Billboard magazine.

Dennis and I now had a new, blended family. Dennis had 3 daughters - Stacey, Jessica and Kristi, and I had my daughter Julie who was 12 at the time.

I got pregnant on our honeymoon with our daughter, Denise. Fifteen months after her birthday, almost to the day, we had our son, Jordan.

Although I was still writing Country songs, I was about to embark on a new adventure - writing songs for children.

While living in East Texas, I performed lots of country gigs and wrote country songs.

I recorded an album of original songs, "Cowboys, Cuervo, & Texas" that told the story of my life on the ranch with my favorite cowboys. Two of the songs were translated into Spanish. This album was never published, but is now part of the Secret Songs of Cynthia Jordan!

🎵 "You Make Beautiful Love With Your Eyes"

Jerry Webb was my "Magic Man" while recording all of my instrumental music and some of my demos. Jerry read me so well that he knew when I was just playing the music and not really feeling it.

I couldn’t find a piano that played as well as mine anywhere in Nashville, so Jerry brought his recording equipment to my house, found musicians, and mixed everything to perfection. We worked together like peas and carrots.

These photos were taken at ASCAP in Nashville. This piano was used on many, many hits including Elvis Presley recordings.

In 2005, we moved to San Angelo, TX to be closer to oil (Dennis's field of work at the time).

I found the history of San Angelo to be very fascinating! The town was founded with saloons, gambling and bordellos. It was the Wild West at its best.

I started dressing up in saloon outfits and hosting 1920s events in honor of the city’s history. It was a hit!

Writing and singing old honky-tonk tunes like my grandmother Moe used to perform inspired me to write the musical Pearl. As I was developing the characters, the project grew into writing a historical fiction also called Pearl. Finding a new creative passion I wrote a sequel called Diamond and then Ruby to complete the trilogy I call, The Gem Series.

When I first moved to San Angelo I visited Paint Rock, which is only about a 45 minute drive from San Angelo.

There I heard the most incredible story of The Lady in Blue. She was a cloistered nun in Agreda, Spain who bilocated to the New World where she taught the Indigenous tribes Christianity.

I became obsessed to tell her fantastic story, and did so by writing a musical about her life.

The musical was performed as a musical ballet in San Angelo. The music was also used in a film called Needle and the Thread, a documentary of the story of Maria de Agreda.

🎵 "Mystical City of God"