From the ACL Taping Program on October 12, 2006:
From playing gigs as their father’s backing band to world-wide success with their own brand of Texican blues, Los Lonely Boys have come along way since they debuted on the music scene three years ago. In that time, the band has wowed critics and fans, become one of Willie Nelson’s favorite acts and won a Grammy Award.
Brothers Henry, Jojo and Ringo Garza began their musical career at a very early age. Their father was in a family conjunto group, The Falcones, and he taught the boys to play. The West Texas boys eventually branched out on their own with a very unique sound. Their self-titled debut release was a critical and commercial success. They were nominated for four 2005 Grammy Awards including Best New Artist and their song “Heaven” won for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group. The success spawned the release of several live recordings and an intimate documentary about the band,
Cottonfields and Crossroads, by veteran PBS filmmaker Hector Galán.
Earlier this year, Los Lonely Boys released their sophomore CD,
Sacred, to even more critical praise. This confident and mature follow-up debuted at No. 2 on the
Billboard charts.
USA Today gave the CD three stars and wrote that on
Sacred the trio crafts “more tidy and compact bluesy, soulful songs with shades of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Santana. They also more clearly define their own rootsy stamp. ... Henry’s masterful picking often dazzles, and the band’s organic sound and easy harmonies lend warmth to the music.”
From the ACL Taping Program on June 6, 2006:
Few bands could take the gansta rap stylings of Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice” and turn it into an Americana anthem. But Austin’s The Gourds have done that and more during their career of making quirky, witty, fun music.
Since the release of their debut CD,
Dem’s Good Beeble in 1997, the band has been one of the stars of the Austin music scene. At the heart of The Gourds is the songwriting dichotomy of Kevin Russell and Jimmy Smith.
Texas Monthly wrote “Kevin Russell is the meat-and-potatoes foot-stomping foundation of the group, whose best efforts resonate like charismatic old friends. The flipside is Jimmy Smith, whose work stubbornly refuses to yield to expectations. Like someone who asks, ‘You know what I think,’ and then doesn’t tell you, his songs can frustrate until they creep into your consciousness and stay there.” Add to that the musicianship of Claude Bernard, Keith Langford and Max Johnston and music fans get the “literate redneck party music for the well-read and unwashed” (
Houston Press).
Earlier this year, The Gourds released
Heavy Ornamentals to critical praise.
Bumpershot wrote “The Gourds have been making music that celebrates American folk traditions ranging from good ol’ country to blues to cajun to whatever-you-care-to-name. On
Heavy Ornamentals, the tradition continues.
"{It} is a demonstration of everything that The Gourds do best. And that’s plenty.” And
Glide Magazine wrote on
Heavy Ornamentals “The Gourds have allowed each song to become an excuse to meld their mishmash hybrid bluegrass style with relatable lyrics that makes everyone laugh and feel at home.”
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