Once a week on Friday, Uncle Bardie celebrates the creativity in others by shining a Spotlight on a movie, a song or a creator. This week’s Spotlight Creator is the band Calexico:
I have a real fondness for the border music of the Southwest. It’s a land where the gringo and the Mexican culture mix and you get such a wonderful sound. There’s the sound of horns and the sound of the mariachi and the guitar.
Calexico is a band that embraces that culture and creates a music that is Latin and rock and country and folk with a bit of border thrown in for good measure. Named after the town of Calexico, California, it’s a unique blend the band calls desert noir.
But it’s not just the music Calexico produces. It’s the lyrics that get me. Led by Joey Burns on guitar and vocals and John Convertino on drums, we get a true authentic American sound. Out of Tucson, Arizona, they’re celebrating a culture you don’t often hear celebrated in the United States Anglo community outside of the Southwest.
And off their latest album, The Thread That Keeps Us:
And now they are touring with Iron & Wine:
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