Like the Hanson brothers before them, three Tejano brothers who like to play the rock "n" roll music, as David Letterman used to say, are capturing the attention of music fans around the country. This includes the legendary Willie Nelson who has had them perform at Farm Aid and record in his famous Pedernales Studio in Austin, Texas.
I'm referring to the Garza brothers -- guitarist Henry, 25; bassist JoJo, 23; and drummer Ringo, 21 (no kidding!) -- who all hail from the west Texas city of San Angelo and call their group Los Lonely Boys.
These energetic hermanos know how to play great rock 'n' roll and sing while giving it an unmistakable Tex-Mex flair. Listening to Henry's bold and bluesy guitar playing brings to mind superstar guitarist Carlos Santana. Just listen to the Latin-flavored jam "Onda" on their self-titled major label debut and tell me I'm wrong.
Other obvious influences would be the late Texas guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Healey and guitarist Chris Perez, widower of the late Tejano pop diva Selena Quintanilla Perez. And their style is, as they put it, a "musical burrito" of influences -- Beatles, B.B. King, Los Lobos, Ritchie Valens, Elvis, and aspects of the Texas Outlaw music movement. It should also be noted that the lyrics are sung both in Spanish and English.
In a recent interview in their hometown paper, the San Angelo Standard-Times, the Boys said they got their musical start several years earlier after going to Nashville to start a career backing their country/conjunto singing father.
When it became clear Music City wasn't ready for an Hispanic country act, the brothers forged ahead on their own, with help from their father, forming their tight trio in 1998. These guys are clearly a musical force to be reckoned with -- and they've worked hard to get where they are.
"You never rest working out on the road," Ringo told the Standard-Times. "We're constantly working."
And listening to the album, all that work has paid off.
The anthemic blues-rock of "Heaven," their first single, is getting some serious airplay not only in Texas and the Southwest, but in places like Minneapolis and Chicago.
"Senorita," a mid-tempo pop-rocker, features a nice guitar solo from Henry, while JoJo's thumping bass comes through well.
"Hollywood," with its easygoing melodies, nice Spanish guitar flavorings, and percussion provided by Vallejo's Diego Simmons, is a great song about trying to make it big in Tinseltown.
"More than Love" is a straight-up soulful ballad that will have the senoritas swooning in the aisles.
"Onda" is the one I keep coming back to. Henry absolutely smokes on this one, while baby bro Ringo keeps a beat and gets a nice little drum solo going late in the song. This is one I'd love to see performed live.
The final track, a Spanish-language ballad called "La Contestacion," features Willie on acoustic guitar and shows the band's versatility.
It's safe to say that Los Lonely Boys have a bright future ahead of them.
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