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diggLos Lobos to play acoustic 'en vivo' at Mesa Arts
For the band's fans, it really doesn't matter what they play, because it is all good
David Hidalgo is tired, struggling to speak by phone despite an onslaught of yawns that are pestering him.
Los Lobos had performed the night before on Conan O'Brien, touring in support of its last CD release, The Town and the City. The CD has been receiving critical acclaim as one of the best Los Lobos has produced. The band will perform an acoustic show Feb. 24 at Mesa Arts Center.
The Late Night appearance "was a little rough," Hidalgo admits. He yawns again. "Sorry!" he says sheepishly.
Although they try to keep tours short, Hidalgo says phone calls and making connections helps to keep family close as possible.
"I was lucky. My wife came out to meet me here in New York," he says. "We bring family when we can."
Traditional Latin folk music is just one of the sounds the group plays masterfully. On The Town and the City, Hidalgo and company play traditional folk, barrio rock, blues, cumbia, less definable electric sounds, even Western twang.
And it's no accident that Gila Bend is part of the album. Hidalgo's mother, who passed away in 1990, grew up there.
"I heard all the stories of her growing up in Gila Bend, playing with tarantulas and gila monsters out in the canals," he says, chuckling. "My grandfather was a contractor -- he came from Sweden. He met my grandmother in Sinaloa and they moved up to Arizona to start a family. He had a job of building the irrigation waterways to pipe water to the dry part of the desert."
Perpetuating traditional music while breaking new ground is nothing new to this gang.
"There are young Latino bands that are doing stuff in Los Angeles that's more urban sounding - hip-hop, reggaeton and more the Latin side of things," Hidalgo says. "I hope there are some young bands that embrace (traditional music)."
Hidalgo mentions the Texas Tornados, a Tejano group renowned for mixing it up, as another band that borrowed from several musical genres. (Late last year legendary TT member Freddie Fender succumbed to cancer.)
For the band's fans, it really doesn't matter what Los Lobos chooses to play, because it is all good. More than likely, the local audience will hear such classics as Volver, Volver, Maricela, Mexicano Americano and Saint Behind the Glass.
