In today's musical climate, with synthesized instruments and auto-tune running rampant, Los Lonely Boys represents the epitome of music-making: outstanding playing with no trickery - just great melodies, great harmonies and fiery solos. The Boys are everything that I like about live music.
The story of Los Lobos is intriguing: three brothers (Henry Garza on guitar, Jojo on bass and Ringo on drums) formed the band while still in their teens; after a brief move from San Angelo (Texas) to Nashville, they returned to Texas to record their first album in Willie Nelson's Pedernales Studio. The self-titled debut went double-platinum, and the single "Heaven" earned a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance. Since then they've performed around the world, including opening spots for groups like the Rolling Stones.
Any time a band works together closely for a long period of time a certain chemistry develops; when the band happens to made up of brothers, the connection is deeper - maybe even genetic. The three musicians can truly believe in the music they are performing; their shared history means the lyrics and melodies have a shared importance. As a result, we get tight harmonies and moving melodies, like this one:
The title of their newest album, Rockpango, a made up word which loosely translated means "rock party", is an 11-track celebration of the Boys' self-described brand of "Texican rock and roll". And, as I suggested above, this trio can rock out live just as well as they can in the studio. It's going to be a party...here's how they sound live:
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