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Bands and Solo Artists to Check Out

Los Lonely Boys- An excellent young band from Austin, Texas made up of three brothers named Garza.  Henry on guitar, JoJo on bass, and Ringo on drums.  Yes, his real name is Ringo.  They all play and sing very well and their harmonies are strong.  Henry is a great guitar player, whose style shows influences of Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, and Stevie Ray Vaughn.  They write their own songs which are mostly blues-based, but there are several with Latin elements.  Lyrically, most of their songs are in English, a couple in Spanish, and some are bi-lingual.  Willie Nelson calls them his favorite local band and guests on acoustic guitar on what's probably my favorite song on the album, "La Contestacion."  Their debut self-titled cd is on Epic Records, a division of Sony Music.  I saw Los Lonely Boys play on a late night talk show recently and was impressed with them.  Many Chicano rock veterans, besides me, are taking notice of Los Lonely Boys.  John Valenzuela, my former fellow guitar player from my 70s A&M Records band, Tango, gave me Los Lonely Boys' debut CD with a good review.  He liked them so much, he went to see them live on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," a national late night television show, and was impressed with their performance.  Manuel Valdez, former lead guitarist with 80s punk rock band Los Illegals, himself a great guitarist, also likes the band.  He particularly likes the guitar playing of Henry Garza.  If these guys keep their heads together, they should be around for a long time.  For more information, check out their website, www.loslonelyboys.org.

pc muñoz and the amen corner- pc is a mestizo Chamoru (Native American-Pacific Islander) from the San Francisco Bay area, who performs spoken-word poetry over funk, rock & roll, and hip hop musical grooves.  The Chamoru culture is from the island of Guam.  According to pc, 60 to 70 percent of Chamorus have Latino last names because the Spanish, who invaded Guam by way of Mexico, came in galleons that often included Mexicans as well.  Therefore, modern Chamoru culture has similarities to Chicano culture, with a  language that's a mix of the indigenous and Spanish.  pc's style is more in the spirit of Gil Scott Heron, rather than the style of most current rap artists.  According to pc's record company, "pc's music is more for listening than for partying."  That's true, but you can certainly dance to many of the tracks if you choose to because they groove.  His lyrics are intelligent, hip, and sometimes sprinkled with humor.  Many of his songs have choruses sung by guest vocalists and his band is versatile and very good.  His latest CD is called "California" and it's on Beevine Records, www.beevine.com.  My favorite tracks are "California," which features a chorus vocal by Jackson Browne, "Brunching Britney and the Homeboy," "I Didn't Steal Anything," and "Small Map."  "Brunching Britney and the Homeboy" is my favorite song on the cd.  It's about a homeboy whose got the hots for a white, good girl, cheerleader type.  The song addresses issues of race and class with a bit of humor thrown in the mix.  All this over a incredibly funky track.  pc muñoz is an excellent urban poet with a lot to say.  Check out his website, www.pcmunoz.com.

Chencha Berrinches- an L.A. based hard rock-ska en Español band who have been together about five years.  Their first CD, which did very well, included songs such as "Blanca Nieves" and "Brown Impala."  They've opened for such influential Latin bands as El Tri, Victimas Del Dr. Celebro, and Ozomatli.  Their second CD, "Cada Loco Con Su Tema," is being released on May 2, 2004 with a release party at the Roxy Theater in Hollywood.  Chencha is a high energy band, whose music and spirit is in the same ballpark as Mexican rock icons, Maldita Vecindad.  To underscore the point, their new CD is produced by Maldita's sax player, who's known simply as Sax.  Chencha Berrinches will begin a tour in May which includes shows in California, Arizona, Chicago, and Nashville.  For more information on the band, check out their website, www.chenchaberrinches.com.  Learn about the origin of their name, which is quite amusing, on their menu page called "the myth of Chencha."

The Damascus Experiment- San Francisco bay area fusion band led by original drummer for Malo, Richard Spremich.  They have a new CD out on his Christian-based Prince of Peace record label called "Conversion."  The band is excellent with a strong lead vocalist by the name of Vincent Grimes.  Spremich is the chief songwriter, with Vincent as co-writer of several tracks.  My favorite cuts are Latin-flavored "When Did I Become So Weak" and the gospel/r&b styled "Road to Damascus."  Richard Spremich had e mailed me after reading my article on Malo and brought some additional information about the band to my attention.  According to Richard, he along with lead guitarist Abel Zarate, Roy Murray, Bob Olivera, and Fist Stevens, were in a band called Naked Lunch.  When they were in their late teens, they played a benefit concert with Tower of Power and Boz Scaggs and blew everyone away.  A Warner Brothers record executive was in the audience.  This led to the idea of combining members of Naked Lunch with members of the Malibus to form Malo.  Richard Spremich, Abel Zarate, and Roy Murray went with Malo.  Richard played with Malo on their first two albums before leaving the band.  That was then.  What's happening for Richard Spremich now is his new band, The Damascus Experience and the new CD, "Conversion."  For more information, check out their website, www.tdxband.com. 

 Dean Acevedo- East Los Angeles based singer/songwriter who has two CDs out on Layla Records.  The first, "Just Another Dude from Montebello," and the latest, "Chicali."  Some of the songs on the latter CD are comic and others are not, but my favorites are the humorous ones.  The titles are self-explanatory, "Soy un Cheaple," "Jail for Christmas," and "Como Friegas Mujer."  Some of his music is in the Tex Mex style, but there are songs with folk elements and even a reggae song.  Dean is capably backed on the Tejano cuts by the Garza Family Band.  He's received airplay on Tejano radio stations throughout the Southwest and some of his songs from his latest CD have been on the MP3.COM Tex Mex and Tejano charts.  For more information visit www.laylarecords.com or e mail Dean at deansowhat@aol.com.

The Sleepwalkers- Excellent band from the San Diego area that have been active in Southern California, South Texas and Mexico since the 80s.  Their influences are rock & roll, blues, jump blues, rockabilly, country, with a splash of Tex Mex.  They've headlined many shows and have opened for artists such as the Texas Tornados, Freddy Fender, Flaco Jimenez, Big Bad Voodoo Daddies, Link Wray, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Graham Parker, the Blazers, and the Blasters, among others.  They've been written about in periodicals around the U.S. as well as in Europe.  Their 1999  CD "Can't Stop Rockin,'" on Relampago-go Records, reminds me of the early Lobos in its rootsy, rockabilly style.  These guys can play, sing, write good songs, and are continuing to evolve.  Their bass player, "Action" Andy sent me an audio cassette with rough mixes of the songs they're currently recording for their next CD, and they're branching out into other genres, including some  Latin-flavored grooves.  Other members of the band are Johnny Valenzuela, vocals; Sean Styles, drums; and Gig Fortier, guitar.  For information on the band contact Andrew Rasmussen at:  (619) 474-4182 or Jaras101@cs.com.

Pepe Marquez- Singer from Santa Barbara, CA has a CD out backed by his band, the Flashbacks.  He's a excellent singer with a great band doing covers of "Grazing In the Grass," "That's All," Debarge's "All This Love," and Neil Sedaka's "Working On a Groovy Thing."  My favorite track is a cumbia called "Juana La Cubana/Mambo U/K.  There are songs in English and in Spanish and the CD is well produced.  Pepe has been singing for over 20 years and has opened for artists such as Malo, Tierra, and Little Joe y La Familia.  For more information visit www.jpmarquez.com.

Brown Bag- a young Chicano rock band from Pico Rivera, California, produced by Bob Keane and Billy Cardenas, have a new CD out entitled "Brown Bag" on the legendary Del-Fi label.  Bob Keane produced Ritchie Valens on the same label in the 50s.  Billy Cardenas produced many of the East L.A. bands of the 60s including the Blendells, Premiers, and my band Mark & the Escorts.  The music on Brown Bag's debut CD is funky, bilingual, and has a strong lead vocalist.  This is a good young band with a contemporary image and a shot at making some noise in today's market.  You can read about Brown Bag and order their CD at www.del-fi.com.

Songo, "Havana Soul" (Mo-Bana Records)- a new CD from Songo, a Latino/Blues style band from the bay area in Northern California.  Carlos Palomares is their guitarist/producer/ and co-songwriter along with Hector Quintana.  The musicians in the band can play and their lead vocalist "El Spider" has a strong voice.  Most of their material has a Latino groove (mostly sung in English), but they also have a few songs that are very bluesy.  "Walking On Water" (one of my favorite tracks), "Voodoo Woman," and "Little Annie" are examples of this.  "Revelations" and "Oye Gente" are two of my favorite Latino-style cuts.  The album is available at amazon.com.

Contact me at:  info@markguerrero.net

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