Pena Branca and Xavantinho ranked among the most inventive and distinctive pairings in the modern caipira landscape. Their song choices broke fresh ground by weaving in material from city-based writers such as Djavan, Caetano Veloso, and Milton Nascimento. The strength of their readings drew praise from Milton Nascimento, Fagner, Almir Sater, Tião Carreiro, and Renato Teixeira. Across their career they earned four Prêmio Sharp trophies plus one APCA prize, and their popularity carried them to concerts in the United States in 1993.
The brothers first sang together in 1961 on Rádio Educadora in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais. Six years later Xavantinho settled in São Paulo, arranged housing, and sent a letter the following year urging his sibling to join him. Renato Teixeira heard them in 1980 and helped secure the release of their debut LP Velha Morada that same year. Also in 1980, Xavantinho’s “Que Terreiro É Esse?” reached the finals of TV Globo’s MPB Shell Festival.
Their distinctive reading of Milton Nascimento and Chico Buarque’s “O Cio da Terra,” likewise featured on the album, achieved national recognition in 1981 during an appearance on Rolando Boldrin’s Som Brasil broadcast. Deeply committed to a rural-rooted style, they won the endorsement of several peers, notably Nascimento, who shared stages with them on a 1982 Som Brasil installment, the TV Globo special Chico & Caetano, and a 1995 tribute at Rio de Janeiro’s Teatro Municipal on the night of the Prêmio Sharp ceremony.
The 1987 album O Cio da Terra featured guest work by Nascimento, Tavinho Moura, and Marcus Viana and ultimately sold 300,000 copies. Three further Prêmio Sharp awards arrived in 1991 for Best Duo, Best Song for Xavantinho and Moniz’s “Casa de Barro,” and Best Album for Cantadô de Mundo Afora. The next year Renato Teixeira & Pena Branca e Xavantinho collected another Prêmio Sharp together with an APCA honor, and by 1999 that project had reached 100,000 units sold. The duo kept performing and recording until Xavantinho’s death in October 1999, after which Pena Branca continued alone.
