Los Lobos Performing at the Golden State on March 17th

The popular Grammy award-winning band, Los Lobos will perform at the Golden State in Theatre in Downtown Monterey with opener Jonah Smith on Friday, March 17th. 

AT A GLANCE:

WHAT: Grammy Award-winning Los Lobos with opener Jonah Smith to perform at the Golden State Theatre 

Los Lobos (Spanish for "the Wolves") is a multiple Grammy Award–winning cross-cultural American rock band from East Los Angeles comprised of David Hidalgo, Louie  Perez,  Cesar Rosas,  Conrad Lozano  and Steve  Berlin. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional music such as cumbia and boleros. They gained international stardom in 1987, when their cover version of Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba" topped the charts in the U.S., the UK and several other countries. In 2016, they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They also toured with and performed covers of Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan hit songs among others, with their own special Los Lobos approach.

Jonah Smith recorded his first album, Industry Rule, in 2000 at engineer Matt Stein's studio in New York. The album was completed in under a week and featured Smith's regular lineup of musicians for the next several years: Marko Djordjevi - drums, Bob Reynolds - sax, Ben Rubin - bass and David Soler - guitar, pedal steel guitar, as well as harmony vocals by Maya Azucena, a frequent guest at his live shows. The sound of the album was a mixture of soul, jazz and country and the material was mostly inspired by Smith's recent move to New York to pursue music. The album was well received by the New York press and soon led to a regular spot at the famed 55 Bar after Smith was discovered by its owner, Queva Lutz. Coinciding with Smith's gaining stature in New York was the band's popularity in Spain due to the influence of guitarist David Soler. Soon Smith and his band were touring regularly in Spain as well as on the East Coast of the United States. 

WHEN: Friday, March 17, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.

WHERE: Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado, Downtown Monterey. (831) 649-1070. 

TICKETS: Tickets are now available at www.goldenstatetheatre.com, or by calling 831-649-1070or on the day of the show. Tickets range from $34-$60. Group ticket discounts are available for 10 or more.  

More About Los Lobos:   Los Lobos is a multiple Grammy Award–winning American rock band from East Los Angeles and 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional music such as cumbia and boleros. They gained international stardom in 1987, when their cover version of Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba" topped the charts in the U.S., the UK and several other countries. In 2016, they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Vocalist and guitarist David Hidalgo and drummer Louie Pérez met at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, California, and bonded over their mutual affinity for obscure musical acts such as Fairport Convention, Randy Newman and Ry Cooder. Pérez recalls, "We’re looking at each other, 'You like this stuff? I thought I was the only weird one.' So I went over to his house one day for about a year, which we spent listening to records, playing guitars, and starting to write songs." The two borrowed reel-to-reel recorders from a friend and created multitrack recordings of music spanning from parody songs to free-form jazz. They later enlisted fellow students Cesar Rosas and Conrad Lozano to complete the group's lineup in 1973. Their first album, Los Lobos del Este de Los Angeles, was recorded at two studios in Hollywood in 1977 over a period of about four months. At that time, they all had regular jobs, and it was hard to get together for the sessions. To accommodate that situation, their producer Louis Torres would call the engineer, Mark Fleisher, who owned and operated a high-speed tape duplicating studio in Hollywood, to find a studio when he knew all the band members could get off work that night. Most of the songs were recorded at a studio on Melrose Avenue, located next to the Paramount studios at the time, and a low-priced studio on Sunset Boulevard.

The band members were unsatisfied with playing only American Top 40 songs and began experimenting with the traditional Mexican music they listened to as children. This style of music received a positive reaction from audiences, leading the band to switch genres, performing at hundreds of weddings and dances between 1974 and 1980. However, Los Lobos took notice of the popular groups on the Hollywood music scene and added influences of rock to its sound. 

The band's first noteworthy public appearance occurred in 1980 at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, when they were hired by David Ferguson and CD Presents to open for Public Image Ltd. In 1983, the band released an extended play entitled ...And a Time to Dance, which was well received by critics but sold only about 50,000 copies. However, the sales of the EP earned the group enough money to purchase a Dodge van, enabling the band to tour throughout the United States for the first time. Los Lobos returned to the studio in the summer of 1984 to record its first major-label album, How Will the Wolf Survive?, in 1984. The album's title and the title song were inspired by a National Geographic article entitled "Where Can the Wolf Survive", which the band members related to their own struggle to gain success in the United States while maintaining their Mexican roots.

The film Colors includes "One Time, One Night" in the opening credits, although the song was not included on the soundtrack album. In 1986, members of Los Lobos appeared alongside Tomata du Plenty in the punk rock musical Population:1.  In 1987, they released a second album, By the Light of the Moon. In the same year, they recorded some Ritchie Valens covers for the soundtrack of the film La Bamba, including the title track, which became a number one single for the band. In 1988 they followed with another album, La pistola y el corazón, featuring original and traditional Mexican songs. 

1988–94: The Neighborhood and Kiko

In the late 1980s and early 1990s the band toured extensively throughout the world, opening for such acts as Bob Dylan, U2 and the Grateful Dead. 

Los Lobos returned with The Neighborhood in 1990, and the more experimental Kiko (produced by Mitchell Froom) in 1992. In 1991, the band contributed a lively cover of "Bertha", a song which they often performed live, to the Grateful Dead tribute–rain forest benefit album Deadicated. In 1994 they also contributed a track, "Down Where the Drunkards Roll", to the Richard Thompson tribute album Beat the Retreat.

On the band's twentieth anniversary they released a two-CD collection of singles, outtakes, live recordings and hits, entitled Just Another Band from East L.A. 

1995–98: Papa's Dream and Colossal Head

In 1995, Los Lobos released the prestigious and bestselling record Papa's Dream on Music for Little People Records along with veteran guitarist and singer Lalo Guerrero. The band also scored the film Desperado. The album track "Mariachi Suite" won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and stands as their last Grammy Award to date (the other two Grammy Awards were in the category of Best Mexican-American Performance in 1983 and 1989 for the song "Anselma" and the album La Pistola y el Corazón). 

In 1996, they released Colossal Head. In spite of the fact that the album was critically acclaimed, Warner Brothers decided to drop the band from their roster. Los Lobos spent the next few years on side projects. The band contributed along with Money Mark to the AIDS benefit album Silencio = Muerte: Red Hot + Latin, produced by the Red Hot Organization, on which they performed "Pepe and Irene."

1999–2006: Mammoth Records, subsequent releases 

Los Lobos signed to Mammoth Records and released This Time in 1999. Mammoth also reissued 1977's Del Este de Los Angeles. In 2000, Rhino/Warner Archives released the boxed set Cancionero: Mas y Mas.

The band released their Mammoth Records debut, Good Morning Aztlan in 2002. They released The Ride in 2004. The Ride featured Tom Waits, Mavis Staples, Bobby Womack, Elvis Costello and others covering Los Lobos music along with the band. 

Los Lobos released its first full-length live-show DVD Live at the Fillmore in 2004. The DVD captures the band's act over a two-day period in July at the famed San Francisco venue.

In September 2006, Los Lobos released The Town and the City (Mammoth Records) to much critical acclaim. The album's lyrics deal with Louis Pere