FORGIVEN REVIEW –
Forgiven
By Alan Sheckter
More stories by this author…
Success can be elusive in the music business, but some artists seemed destined for the top. In 2004, the success of Los Lonely Boys’ self-titled debut and hit single “Heaven” seemed to foreshadow superstardom for the brothers Garza, the pride of San Angelo, Texas. Unfortunately, the “Texican” rock ’n’ rollers’ sophomore effort, Sacred, disappeared from the charts after a few weeks in 2006 despite a big push from Sony/Epic. Which brings us to Forgiven. The new, crisply produced 12-tune disc delivers plenty of Henry’s scintillating, Steve Ray Vaughn-reminiscent guitar licks (even on the slow numbers), Jojo’s steady bass and smooth vocals, and Ringo’s—yes, Ringo’s—overachieving drum beats. Swamp rocker Dr. John lends keyboard support. Forgiven includes several fine romantic soft-rockers; the first single, “Staying With Me,” a love song sure to make the band’s large female fan-base swoon, is hovering near the Top 10 of Billboard’s Adult Album Alternative chart. While this album doesn’t offer anything as epic as the first album’s grand jam-fest, “Onda,” the Boys kick out a sizzling version of the Spencer Davis Group’s “I’m A Man” that leaves little doubt about the trio’s ability to flex its muscle. Good stuff!
Boys' day out – Boston.com
It’s a good day to be a Los Lonely Boys fan. This afternoon, the Grammy-winning Tejano-rock act will be at WGBH for a preview screening of the documentary “Los Lonely Boys: Cottonfields and Crossroads,” which premieres on WGBH2 on Sept. 17. After taking questions from fans at the premiere, the Garza brothers will head over to play hits like “Heaven” and songs from the new album “Forgiven” at the Paradise. The show will also feature Nashville blues-rocker Dave Barnes. WGBH: 2:30 -4:30 p.m. Free. Yawkey Theater, 1 Guest St., Brighton. 617-300-5465. www.wgbh.org (Online RSVP required). Paradise Rock Club: 8 p.m. $30. 967 Commonwealth Ave., 617-562-8800. thedise.com[M.G.]
Singing siblings offer easy listening – Vermon Morning Star
Vernon Morning Star
By Dean Gordon-Smith – Vernon Morning Star
Published: September 04, 2008 6:00 PM
Updated: September 04, 2008 6:50 PM
Early on in their career, Los Lonely Boys (Henry, JoJo and Ringo Garza) was over-simply lumped with the tag of being a Tex-Mex mix of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Santana.
Although worse comparisons could be made, that one seems to be short-sighted as the Boys favour material and arrangements that stray a fair distance from the blues/rock standard of Vaughan clones and the wailing Latin rock percussion of Santana acolytes.
Muted traces of Santana can be heard in their work here on Staying With Me, a sweet melodic rock ballad, and rural folk sounds also appear. The same goes for Loving You Always.
A strong strain of melodic pop runs through Forgiven – a characteristic responsible for their earlier hit, Heaven. The band tempers this with jaunty and earthy ensemble grooving that’s blessed with tasteful chops in abundance. Producer Steve Jordan (John Mayer, Keith Richards) and the group use these wisely, which result in some subtly sophisticated arrangements.
The pop aspect of the Boys is due to their easy-sounding, three-part vocal harmonies. This is an interesting phenomenon sometimes seen in groups with singing siblings. This layered sound is all over Forgiven, as is the shifting lead vocal duty.
A telling sign of a solid recording can be its seemingly speedy play time and Forgiven definitely doesn’t linger over long in a disc player. An impression is left of a group that is listening for and exploring different textures and moods within their music.
The Boys take their sound far beyond the confines that are usually inhabited by blues/rock trios and you can hear different influences filtering through (jazz, folk, R&B) that are given a spirited jolt of fire from the group.
Los Lonely Boys bring Texican rock to the Keswick – Montgomery County News
And that’s what fans of Los Lonely Boys will see – that spirit of family – when the group comes to the Keswick Theatre for one show at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11.
“It’s always got a family feel because we’re three brothers doing the same thing,” said Henry Garza, who along with Jo Jo and Ringo forms Los Lonely Boys. They are the sons of Ringo Garza Sr., who also was in a band made up of his brothers called the Falcones, which played in southern Texas in the 1970s and ’80s.
“We see ourselves as brothers who are blessed from the good Lord above. We were never trying to be anything. We’re proud and happy to be where we are, playing music.”
Los Lonely Boys burst onto the scene in 2003 with a self-titled album that featured the mega-hit “Heaven,” which catapulted them into prime time and made the Texas trio one of the most acclaimed new acts in rock music.
The multi-platinum album, which was recorded at Willie Nelson’s Pedernales recording studio in Austin, Texas, produced a No. 1 song in “Heaven” and notched the group a Grammy Award for “Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group” in 2005.
“The first album was really positive and felt very good and we had our whole lives to prepare for it,” said Henry Garza during a recent telephone interview from his bus on the way to kick off a three-month tour at the Harley Davidson 105th Celebration in Milwaukee, Wis.
“The second album (“Sacred” in 2006) was kind of rushed. We’re still proud of it, but it was nowhere near as successful as the first album,” said Garza.
The group’s third studio album, “Forgiven,” which was released July 1, “just shows a different side of our lives, the bumps in the road, so to speak,” said Garza.
“The name of the album, the artwork on the album, the songs on the album – it all just kind of unfolded naturally,” said Garza. “It’s a time in our careers where we’re saying, ‘Hey, we’re still here, we’re not going anywhere.’
“Music is what we do and we love doing it. At the same time, we try to make it feel positive and spread the message that we can do the music that we believe in our hearts,” he said.
And whatever happens with the successes and albums and touring, it always comes back around to family, according to Garza.
“Being brothers, it’s a beautiful thing, man,” he said. “It’s just something that we do naturally and the audience that sees us feels that when they’re around us. They feel that family essence, that strength of spirit.”
That’s why at the Keswick gig – even though Garza said to expect the unexpected – the family theme will be evident.
“What I can tell you, what you’ll see is Los Lonely Boys doing what they do best, and that’s playing music together and being in front of people,” said Garza. “Expect to have a good family time. Good heart, good feelings and good music.”
Garza said it’s not the first trip to the Philadelphia area for Los Lonely Boys.
“We love Philly,” he said. “But it’s a lot more city than where I grew up.”
at the Keswick Theatre,
Easton Rd. & Keswick Ave.,
Glenside, PA 19038,
Thursday, Sept. 11, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $38 & $29.50.
Info: 215-572-7650 or
www.keswicktheatre.com.
For Los Lonely Boys, playing live's the thing – Courier Post
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2008: The summer of musical fun in review – Grand Rapids Press
Posted by John Sinkevics | The Grand Rapids Press September 03, 2008 09:21AM
So now that August is behind us, it’s time to recap the chaotic — and mostly satisfying — summer of music that kept me hopping, covering more than two dozen concerts/shows from May through August.
Best show of the summer: The Aug. 7 Los Lonely Boys/Los Lobos show at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture (absolutely riveting performances by both bands; the best shows I’ve ever seen either of them give). A close second was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers‘ tour-opening May 30 show at Van Andel Arena, with opening act Steve Winwood. The very definition of cool. I should have figured this would signal an astounding summer of music in West Michigan.
Los Lonely Boys thrive when live – Lower Hudson Valley Journal News
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If the new Los Lonely Boys CD, “Forgiven,” sounds like it captures the essence of a live performances, there’s a good reason for that.
Producer Steve Jordan thought the right way to record Los Lonely Boys was to make the process feel as much like a live gig as possible.
You can, of course, hear the band live on Thursday at the Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill.
Jordan set up a sound stage in Austin, Texas, hit the record button and documented what happened when brothers Henry (guitar), Jojo (bass) and Ringo Garza (drums) played.
“We had recorded pretty much live on every record,” Jojo Garza said, mentioning the self-titled 2003 debut and the 2006 release, “Sacred.” “But then there was a little dissecting going on toward the end of (those projects) and you were doing vocals or a separate guitar (track) or separate bass, you know, how it goes on other records. This, however, was very free.
“It was kind of like we had a stage in there,” he said. “There were some lights. We had our full rigs going, Henry’s guitar rig, my bass rig, and microphones set up and monitors, and no headphones – no headphones at all.”
The bassist also thinks what comes through on the recorded tracks was the actual in-the-moment spirit and atmosphere that Los Lonely Boys experienced as the three brothers played the new collection of songs.
“The creativity and the music was so thick that you could literally grab the notes out of the air,” Jojo Garza said. “I’m speaking with a little bit of exaggeration, but … we definitely captured that in a lot of these songs, particularly my personal favorite song, ‘Forgiven.’ It captures a total vibe and a total feeling of what we were feeling when we recorded it.”
The Garza brothers grew up surrounded by music. Their father fronted a popular band with his brothers and sister in San Angelo, Texas. That group, though, came to a sudden and tragic end when one of brothers died.
So as Henry, Jojo and Ringo were entering their teens, they became their father’s backing band – gaining a deep appreciation for early rock ‘n’ roll, blues and their native conjunto music, as they played clubs first around Texas and later in Nashville during the 1990s.
The first Los Lonely Boys album produced a number one single in the pop-soul tune “Heaven.” The song’s popularity kept the “Los Lonely Boys” CD on the “Billboard” album chart for 76 weeks. “Heaven” won a Grammy for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal.
Looking back, Jojo Garza admitted that the group could have used more time on its second album. To him, the pressure the band felt is apparent in the performances.
“I don’t think it got the recognition it did deserve,” Jojo Garza said, “but that’s speaking myself because I did write the songs and what not. … If you listen back to it, you can definitely tell the difference in how this (new) album breathes.”
Indeed, there were no time pressures in making “Heaven,” and Los Lonely Boys sound both energized and relaxed throughout the record, as the group once again delivers a wide-ranging mix of bluesy rock ‘n’ roll, pop and soul, all spiced with a touch of their Mexican heritage.
Even on hard-hitting bluesy tracks like “Heart Won’t Tell A Lie,” “Superman” and a stirring cover of the Spencer Davis Group standard “I’m A Man,” the group’s playing sounds unforced yet crisp. On mid-tempo songs like “Forgiven” and “Staying With Me,” the brothers meld smooth melodies with soulful performances.
Los Lonely Boys diversify the mix with songs like “Loving You Always,” (a sweet ballad with some definite Tex-Mex spice), “Cruel” (a shuffling blues-rocker) and “The Way I Feel” (a song with a bit of an Allman Brothers feel to it).
The set they’ll play Thursday at the Paramount showcases material from “Forgiven,” without forgetting about earlier favorites.
“Now that we have ‘Forgiven’ out, we’re really trying to hit the new songs, of course, because that’s what it’s all about, trying to get the new album promoted.” Jojo Garza said.
“But at the same time, we now, I guess I should say, have the luxury of having three albums out, so we’ve got a lot of material to pick from. And we (still) do the occasional cover songs that we still enjoy doing.
“But the show’s going to change up pretty much every night. We’re doing anything and everything we can, man.”
Forgiven on JSITop21 by John Shelton Ivany
Los Lonely Boys – Forgiven
Epic/Sony BMG |
If you had to split the musical universe of Texas (Austin excepted) down the middle, you’d end up with the Hip Hop scene DJ Screw built on the east and on the west, you’d probably have something that could be best represented by Los Lonely Boys.
While retaining a measure of the aesthetics of the Tejano scene (though not much of it’s sound), these are boys reared on suburban interpreters of purely American blues. And they’re the better for it; this is a rare example of integration helping a Chicano band stand out against it’s peers.
“Retrospective: A Look at the Works of Hector Galán”
Valerie / SAMFA
San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts
One Love Street San Angelo, TX 76903
325-653-3333 www.samfa.org
September 2008
FMI Call: 653-3333 Valerie Bluthardt
or Howard J. Taylor @ 653-3333 &nbs! p;
September 1 – September 16, 2008
What: Program by San Angelo native and leading documentary filmmaker, Hector Galán, entitled,
“Retrospective: A Look at the Works of Hector Galán”
Hector Galán, who has been producing long form documentaries for the PBS national schedule for over twenty years, will talk about his documentaries and will show selections from them, including among others Los Lonely Boys: Cottonfields and Crossroads and Accordion Dreams.
Come and help us welcome back to San Angelo a very accomplished artist for the initial program of, All Over the Place: The Motion Image Theater, a new program series at the Art Museum, which will explore the work of individual filmmakers, resources that present, preserve or produce motion image! media, and classic and cutting edge film and video from aroun! d the wo rld.
Enjoy music and light refreshments too!
Where: San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts
One Love Street
San Angelo, Texas
When: Tuesday, September 16, 2008
6:00 p.m.
TICKETS:
Tickets prices for the program are
$7.00 for the general public
$5.00 for Art Museum members
$2.00 for senior citizens / $2.00 for students / $2.00 for military
Tickets may be purchased at the door the evening of the program
Season tickets for the 8 program series are also available
FMI: Call the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts @ 325-653-3333
The Museum is supported by generous contributions from both individuals and businesses. This program is partiall! y supported by funds from the San Angelo Cultural Affairs Council, the City of San Angelo, the Texas Commission on the Arts, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.