Los Lobos with special guests The South Austin Moonlighters
LOS LOBOS AT 50:
It’s a matter of time. 50 years to be exact. And in that time Los Lobos have created an unprecedented body of work, a legacy of greatness. The numbers are staggering: 100+ gigs a year for five decades running, crossing millions of miles to rock millions of fans. And that’s just at the live shows. In between they’ve recorded 17 studio albums, 7 live LPs, 3 compilations, 2 EPs, 2 DVDs, and contributed 40+ guest appearances on their friends’ recordings—all garnering 4 Grammys, an Austin City Limits Hall of Fame induction, the ALMA Ritchie Valens Pioneer Award, NEA and Hispanic Heritage Foundation Honors, Congressional recognitions, plus countless “Keys to the City” and “Los Lobos Day” celebrations. And those are just a few of the highlights. But beyond all the hoopla and applause (and the source of it all, really) is the tremendous heart. Rather, hearts. Cinco corazones. Five blood brothers who have dedicated their off-stage time to helping others, working for peace and justice, penning some of the most literate and important music of their time, transforming the hard cries from the East L.A. barrio into songs of hope, tales of common folk finding ways to endure. The young wolves were weaned on late-night radio’s soul, R&B, and doo-wop. Were cured through the African-American currents of the blues, jazz, and rock ‘n’ roll. An amalgam. As proud Chicanos, their songs have always glistened with the distillation from their Mexican and Latin American roots—nourished by Norteña and rancheras, buoyed by bolero and cumbias, soaring on the rhythms of son huasteco and son jarocho. Los Lobos have helped spread the rich diversity of cultures across every continent, throughout the global community. Kids in Antwerp now know about Aztlán. Residents of Luxor and Ghana are crooning Lalo Guerrero. People from Laos and Bulgaria are belting “La Bamba”—all thanks to The Wolves as cultural ambassadors. Talk about a living legacy. Talk about a productive half century. And in the true rebel spirit, they did it all on their own terms, against formula. For the ages. To our delight. Quite simply, they are one of the tightest, one of the best, one of the most prolific bands ever. And, amazingly, with the original founding members as the pack the entire time. Unprecedented. As their liner notes put it, quite simply: “Los Lobos still are David Hidalgo
The South Austin Moonlighters:
We are a roots & Americana band from Austin, Texas.
The band started in 2011 when Lonnie got together a group of local music veterans to occasionally play together for the sheer joy of making music. Pretty soon it became evident that something special happened when we played together, and the band—which was originally meant to be a moonlighting side-gig for all of us—became our main gig.
Those of you who know us know that our success has come from working as a team. We hold each other up and inspire each other to keep pushing and challenging ourselves to be our very best at all times. We all sing and write songs. We take turns leading the band, singing harmonies and coming together to lift each other up.
At the end of the day we all love making music, sharing it with people and basking in the joy that our audiences reflect back to us.
The Moonlighters deliver their own unique brand of Americana music with organic, show-stopping vocal harmonies, incredible musicianship, and well-crafted, heart-felt songs.
The joy of making music is a tangible and contagious part of the Moonlighters’ live shows. They are often compared to The Eagles, Little Feat, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young—but the Moonlighters have a voice all of their own.
They write and perform original music 2012’s Live at The Saxon Pub, 2013’s Burn and Shine, 2016’s Ghost of a Small Town and the highly anticipated, Anders Osborne-produced album Travel Light, which was released on May 17, 2019.
