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Homecoming kings

From their native San Angelo, Texas to the world and back again, Los Lonely Boys have come full circle.

It might seem odd that Grammy-winning artists, who have garnered nationwide fame and are considered household names in many communities, would choose to remain in their small Texas hometown when they aren’t touring. Not so for Los Lonely Boys. The trio made up of twenty-something Chicano brothers Henry, JoJo and Ringo Garza wouldn’t live anywhere else.
Most recognize the three from their 2003 self-titled album, whose No. 1 single Heaven was a radio favorite and whose video for the song appeared for months on VH1. Others know them from their years of touring and constant performing, which they still do. And Texans know them because, well. they just do.
Their father, Enrique, dreamt of fame as a country-western singer, but encountered audiences unwilling or unable to reconcile his country sound with his ethnicity in the 1960s and 1970s, when he attempted to make a name for himself in Texas and in Nashville. It wasn’t until he returned to Tennessee to perform with his teenage sons in the original incarnation of Los Lonely Boys that he had a taste of fame.
Theirs is a story chronicled in the film Cottonfields and Crossroads, now out on DVD, which takes its name from the San Angelo scenery—it was home to many cotton pickers, their father among them, who made their living from the fields. Directed by Héctor Galán, the film not only sets the boys against their hometown backdrop, giving viewers a sense of what the three are really like off-stage, but also reveals how they came to be a top-selling band with a sound that’s decidedly Texan—albeit peppered with Spanglish—yet universally evocative of home.
Hispanic Magazine got a chance to speak to Henry, the guitarist, lead vocalist and eldest Garza of the group (JoJo plays bass and youngest brother Ringo is the drummer), while on a tour bus headed for a performance at the Houston Rodeo and dish on the making of the DVD, their music and what’s in the future for the boys. Hispanic Magazine: I just saw Cottonfields and Crossroads on DVD. How were you three approached to make this film? What was it like to have a director interested in your story?
Henry Garza: We were just playing and developing crowds when Héctor Gálan approached us. He said he was from San Angelo and he showed us these films he made in the past [which include some for PBS’ Frontline, American Experience as well as the series Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement]. He said, “Hey, I would like to film you guys.” We really didn’t know he was making a documentary or even what it was going to be like, but it was an honor and a blessing to show the rest of the world a Chicano musical family, another part of America.
HM: What was it like to see the movie for the first time?
HG: It was awesome. I cried, I laughed, I got goose bumps. We saw it premiere at an Austin film festival. We were watching it with everyone in the theater and we even heard Dan Rather was in the crowd.

HM: As described in the movie, your lives seemed as if they were lived on the road, constantly looking for the next show. Was that ever tiring?
HG: Back then it was fun. We thought, “Man, this is awesome, this is great.” We got to go places most kids our age didn’t get to go to. We were never tired. Because we were so young, we wanted to play every day of the week. We wanted to write songs and practice with each other and our father. It felt great then, but there was the other side. In Tennessee, we were the only Chicanos in our middle school. They would look at us and ask “What are you?” And we’d say “Well, what are you?!?” We wanted them to see us as true Texans. We felt we had to set an example. Represent.

HM: Your music mirrors the experience of many Mexican Americans of being a part of two different worlds. How does it feel to not only be making music, but to represent an entire group of people?
HG: We represent being Chicano. That’s who we were when we were born and who we were growing up. Our music is about showing [people] who we are and what we think. We don’t just build your houses. We are living the American Dream.

HM: Describe your sound. In the movie you describe your music as a musical burrito, starting with a homemade tortilla and adding in the influences of great musicians, and also as Texican rock ‘n’ roll. What do you mean?
HG: We call it Musical Burrito Theory. We were goofing around on the road, acting out fake interviews and it came out, and so it stuck. Texican rock ‘n’ roll is basically whatever gets you to move. It can be anything and everything. It’s not limited to one sound. It’s not about being specific; we are being who we are naturally—the drums, the bass, the guitar and rock ‘n’ roll.
HM: How do you guys get together to write your songs? Where do you get the inspiration for your lyrics?
HG: It’s from the lives that we live and the people that we know. The songs are about love and about God, about feeling strong and tough times, its all in there. JoJo and I just wrote one last night. We are working on a bunch of stuff even more now than in the past.

HM: The film touches on the time when Los Lonely Boys went from being a foursome with your dad, to a threesome of just brothers. What happened?
HG: That was the most hurtful and rough time in our lives. We went through it as a family. It wasn’t like we said, “Hey, Dad, we aren’t going to play with you anymore.” But you want to do your own thing and we developed our own stuff. But, now our dad plays with us and records with us. He’s stoked; he’s so excited and proud.

HM: You three have several celebrity fans. Tell me about your relationship with Willie Nelson. Why do you call him your Yoda?
HG: He’s like Yoda in Star Wars, he knows he is the wisest, a badass dude. And Willie is like that. He took notice of us and a lot of his people did, too. When we played for Willie, a huge door opened up. It was my dad’s dream to [play with Willie Nelson] and our dad’s dream is happening through us. Dreams come true. HM: Tell me about opening for the Rolling Stones. How did that happen?
HG: That was crazy. It was huge for us. They contacted us through our agent and said they wanted us to play. Actually, we were the first band in history to cancel on the Stones. I was sick and had to cancel. But they invited us back and we got to meet them in Chicago. They were great chaps.

HM: You recently opened the Texican Chop Shop, a custom car shop, in San Angelo. Why go into this business?
HG: We love cars. It really goes back to our hearts and [our commitment to] helping out our brothers back home. They were always with us, like our brother [friend] Joe del Rio. As kids, we would say, if we ever got famous, we would work together. We had been best friends and Ringo’s father-in-law knew cars, so it worked out.
HM: Why stay in San Angelo? Why not relocate to Nashville or someplace bigger?
HG: We have seen a lot of places but we can’t wait to get home. To tell you the truth, I lost a son from SIDS [Sudden Infant Death Syndrome] and he’s buried in San Angelo, and that’s a big part of my life. There’s no place better in the world than where we live. It’s where you’re from. The lay of the land calls to you. You know every back road. You remember that tree from when you were a kid. It’s what’s most familiar. When it just falls into place, San Angelo is where you wind up.