It is not everyone who can say they have been a participant – and a nominee — in a Grammy Awards celebration at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. However, Converse resident and keyboardist Art Guillermo can.

As a member of the Ram Herrera & the Outlaw Band, Guillermo recently found himself shoulder-to-shoulder at the February 2008 event with the music industry’s leading artists, many of whom were vying for top Grammy honors in their respective categories.

Guillermo and the other members of the Ram Herrera & the Outlaw Band were nominees in the “Best Tejano Album” category for their “Ram Herrera & the Outlaw Band” album.

More personally for Guillermo, this meant the opportunity for him to perhaps win three Grammy Awards as he not only played keyboards on the album, but also produced and engineered the Grammy-nominated album.

Although Guillermo and the band did not leave the Staples Center in Los Angeles with the “Best Tejano Album” award in hand, Guillermo has taken a great deal away from the momentous experience. Besides rubbing shoulders and conversing with music icons such as Stevie Wonder for the evening, Guillermo believes he has gained a great deal of “credibility” as a result of being nominated for the illustrious Grammy Award.

“There’s a lot of credibility to be gained,” said Guillermo. “After something like this, you can put on your resume that you’re a Grammy-nominated artist in the ‘Best Tejano Album’ category. That’s something special.”

While Guillermo admits it would have been nice to have been on the receiving end of what would have been a total of three Grammy Awards for his work on the Tejano album, the loose is not expected to diminish the musical drive of the artist who has now joined the ranks of other legendary Grammy nominated artists

“The music is my first blood,” said Guillermo. “I’ll probably play forever.”