Courtesy of Cherrytree Records
San Antonio trio The Last Bandoleros have announced the release of their new album Tex Flex Folklórico on October 28, just in time for their Día de Los Muertos commemoration and hometown headline show at the prestigious Tobin Center on the same day. The first focus track from the album, “Vamos a Bailar” is out today and the band will perform it live on ABC’s Good Morning America on Thursday, October 6.
“It’s a companion album to our album Tex Flex which came out in June,” explains the group’s vocalist/guitarist Jerry Fuentes. “It’s a deeper dive into our Mexican-American roots, a nod to the Southern Texas melting pot that informs our musicianship, and a glimpse into the anchors of our ‘Tex Flex’ sound.”
“It’s like a prequel to Tex Flex!” chimes in Emilio Navaira IV, vocalist and drummer in The Last Bandoleros and, along with his brother, vocalist and bassist Diego Navaira, are the sons of legendary Tejano singer Emilio Navaira.
“We’re singing in Spanish and English,” Diego elaborates. “It’s what we grew up doing with my dad.”
The Last Bandoleros have been earning effusive praise for their accomplished musicianship and impressive harmonies opening for respected artists such as Sting, The Mavericks, Los Lobos, The Boss Hoss, and Dwight Yoakum.
The trio lovingly refers to their unique new sound – a mix of Rock, Pop, and Latin flavor – as “Tex Flex.” The group will be taking its energetic show to the Stagecoach Festival having just been announced on the line-up for next May.
Tex Flex is a delicious sonic “guiso” infusing elements of Bolero, Cumbia, Tejano, Bachata, and Salsa into modern rock and pop production, and its new sibling album Tex Flex Folklórico further explores those proclivities.
From Spanish renditions of band-penned originals such as the effervescent “Vamos a Bailar,” the sultry “Maldita,” and romantic bachata “Siempre Me Enamoré,” to modern takes on classics such as “La Malagueña” and Los Panchos’ “Sin Ti,” The Last Bandoleros’ Tex Flex Folklórico album is an inviting soundtrack to the many moods of a magical stroll down San Antonio’s Riverwalk. Moreover, who else but The Last Bandoleros could interpret a Bolero version of The Beatles “And I Love Her,” deliver a lovingly delicate take on Emilio Navaira’s “Naciste Para Mi” and bring Los Lobos’ cinematic “Canción de Mariachi” into the 21st century?
The initial taste of Tex Flex Folklórico is out today in the form of the first single “Vamos a Bailar,” accompanied by an energetic video filmed during The Last Bandoleros’ recent European tour and a bilingual video. The Tex Flex Folklórico album is scheduled to be released on October 28, 2022.
‘Vamos A Bailar” (Bilingual Version) — The Last Bandoleros
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