Los Lonely Boys

Outside the Cascade Theatre..the evening was young

We took the nephew to the Los Lonely Boys performance at the Cascade Theatre in honor of his 22nd birthday. The Cascade Theatre is an Art Deco style theatre that opened in 1935 in the downtown area and has been beautifully restored. It was done with community effort and donations. The acoustics are great and you can see well from every seat.

Oh, so lonely waiting for the Los Lonely Boys to come on stage...they took their time...no shi* but it was worth it.

The Los Lonely Boys are a band of Hispanic brothers. The Garza brothers, to be exact. Henry on guitar, Jojo on bass and Ringo on drums. Their father was a musician too but wasn't able to pursue music as a career as he had babies instead. He often tours with the boys and gets choked up when he talks about how proud he is that his babies grew up to find success in doing what he was unable. If they had a fourth brother, it would be a lot easier on them to make all that music. But the way they sound, they really don't need one.

Still waiting...this family left four songs into LLB...I think man on right was with a disability.

The first time I heard the band was in 2003. The husband turned me on to them. They were the official band of the PGA, Professional Golf Association, tour that year and their music was featured during tour telecasts. That year they released their first Grammy winning, debut album that included the hit single, Heaven. Their style sounds like what you would get if you put a Mariachi band, Jimi Hendrix and Chuck Berry in a blender and hit frappe.

Los Lonely Boy's Bus

This is the second time they have played in Redding in two years. Tonight they gave us the honor of being among the first people in the world to hear songs from their new album that will be released next month. The album, 1969, covers songs from that year. The music was wild, driving and the brothers had a great time. I've rarely seen musicians have so much fun playing...last night it was more than a job...that was clear. They tossed picks they had used into the audience. Ringo passed out drum sticks. And one lucky sucker in the front row took home a guitar Jojo gave him. Sheesh! A flippin' guitar!

Los Lonely Boys recently returned from Iraq where they entertained our troops. The boys (men) were truly humbled by what they saw of every day life...on both sides...during war time. They have videos on You-Tube chronicling their trip and invite you to view them. Blessed are we to live the life we do--is their motto upon return. The way the Garza brothers conduct themselves always touches me. It is clear that they truly honor the higher power that graces their music and gives them their fans and their zest for life. It was a great way to end hump day! It was Heaven!