The renowned Mexican-American rock folk band, Los Lobos, is set to perform in the city. The Los Angeles-based ensemble, recognized for their unique blend of various musical styles, will be participating in the Phyllis and Bob Cowan Performing Arts Series.
Midland College revealed in a news release that the performance is scheduled for Sept. 21 at the Al G. Langford Chaparral Center. The group is celebrated for their eclectic mix of Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, rock and roll stylings with traditional Mexican music such as cumbia, norteños and boleros.
According to the same news release, the concert will commence at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening an hour earlier at 6:30 p.m. The event is open to all without any entry fee and no tickets are required for general admission seating.
The news release further stated that Los Lobos gained critical acclaim when they recorded a rendition of Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba" in 1987. This track was featured in a film bearing the same title and topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also achieved number one status in several countries including the United Kingdom. Their tribute to Tejano and Mariachi music in 1989 titled "La Pistola y El Corazón," earned them a Grammy for Best Mexican-American Performance.
Drummer Louie Perez spoke about the band's social impact during an interview with Variety recently. He said: "It’s very important. We started at a time when there was a huge cultural renaissance among young Mexican people throughout the country, throughout the Southwest to be exact." Perez continued by saying that there were parallel political events occurring which led to protests against educational systems for Mexican American children in cities like Denver and Los Angeles where they originated from.
Perez went on to say, "So, it was important that we were able to align ourselves with some of these causes, namely the United Farm Workers of America and Cesar Chavez. But I have to be perfectly honest with you, we were attracted to it as artists. It was the music that fascinated us. We would have done it anyway but the motivator was because we were musicians and we were fascinated by the music, that was, you know, in the background. That was at home and because we were fully homogenized young people we didn’t even notice it until we were well into our teens and playing music."