Geneva Cruz looks back on Smokey Mountain: 'We were just all hungry to sing'

Geneva Cruz turned sentimental on Instagram late Saturday, as reposted Ryan Cayabyab's old photo of the original Smokey Mountain.

The picture showed her with her bandmates Jeffrey Hidalgo, James Coronel, and now Assistant Secretary of the Department of Finance Tony Lambino in their early years as the group.

"I got teary-eyed when the maestro posted this," Geneva began. "We were all so young, we had no idea what we were getting into other than we were just all hungry to sing."

Expressing gratitude to the National Artist for Music and Ramon Magsaysay awardee Ryan Cayabyab, Geneva said, "Smokey Mountain changed our lives forever. 

 

 

 

 

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“RT @myranetorsa (Maestro) ???? Couldn't find my college teaching materials from among the piles of brown folders. Naubos oras ko today! Pero nakita ko ito. In the summer school break of 1989, we ran an audition at the music school of Ryan Cayabyab looking for young singers aged 12-14, and found 8 finalists who underwent almost 2 months of training in singing and dancing. When the training ended, we chose the final members of a group of teeners who ended up as the 1st batch of Smokey Mountain. These kids... whew. Look at them then. May mga uhugin pa dyan. Hehehe. Aylabett.” ???????????? I got teary-eyed when the maestro posted this... we were all so young, we had no idea what we were getting into other than we were just all hungry to sing. Smokey Mountain changed our lives forever, and we are forever grateful to have the best mentor/tatay-tatayan — 1 of our country’s ???????? National Artists but is super Low-key for life. We love you, Mr. C! ???????? #smokeymountaingroup #opm #ryancayabyab #jamescoronel #genevacruz #tonylambino #jeffreyhidalgo #tb

A post shared by Geneva Cruz (@genevacruzofficial) on

Oct 30, 2020 at 8:16pm PDT

In his post, the Maestro shared that in the summer break of 1989, his school of music ran an audition for young singers between 12-14 years old. "[We] found 8 finalists who underwent almost two months of training in singing and dancing. When the training ended, we chose the final members of the group of teeners who ended up as the 1st batch of Smokey Mountain," he wrote.

"These kids...whew. Look at them then. May mga uguhin pa dyan," he added jokingly.

Smokey Mountain is a group of young singers assembled by Ryan Cayabyab in the late '80s and early '90s. Under his tutelage, the group would go on to top the charts, and win international singing contests. They are best known for songs like "Paraiso," "Da Coconut Nut," and "Kailan." — LA, GMA News