It was about 13 years ago when Joey Burns and John Convertino, then
the rhythm section for influential local act Giant Sand, put together a
quiet little album of home recordings under the name Spoke. That
self-titled album was released by a small German label.
Soon, though, the group changed its name to Calexico—and a
remarkable pillar of Tucson music came into being.
Let’s have Burns tell the story: “We only had the vinyl of that
recording out at the time, and we were guests on the (New Jersey) radio
station WFMU. A DJ comes into the booth and says, ‘Is this your record?
You’re called Spoke? Well, there’s this Florida pop-punk band also
called that.’ We found it interesting that other musicians had chosen
the same name.”
Burns briefly had used the name Calexico for another project.
“I just remembered the name Calexico, so we figured we’d use that,”
he remembers. “We just kind of changed the name on the radio that
day.”
Now, Calexico is a mainstay of local music, with more than a dozen
recordings to its credit (for Quarterstick Records and its own label,
Our Soil, Our Strength). The group is among a small number of music
acts that can be considered quintessentially Tucson, and—having
played many times throughout Europe, as well as in the Middle East,
Japan and South America—they’re an ambassador for the music of
the Southwest to the rest of the world.
In honor of its achievements, Calexico was inducted into the Tucson
Music Hall of Fame during the Tucson Area Music Awards, aka the
TAMMIES, on Thursday, Sept. 3, at the Rialto Theatre.
Calexico also received the much-coveted Best New Release TAMMIES
award for its last studio album, Carried to Dust, which was
released in the fall of 2008.
Burns, who plays guitar, bass and other stringed instruments, is
Calexico’s primary singer. He also writes much of the band’s material,
often in partnership with Convertino, a master of all things percussive
(and this year’s TAMMIES honoree as best drummer). Another mainstay of
the band is trumpeter and keyboards player Jacob Valenzuela—the
only member of Calexico who was born and raised in Tucson, Burns points
out.
Although Calexico might be considered an all-inclusive, nurturing
collective with a shifting lineup of guest musicians and semi-regular
collaborators, its current full-time membership also includes guitarist
Paul Niehaus, bassist Volker Zander, and Martin Wenk on brass and
keyboards.
Carried to Dust boasts guest performances by such Calexico
friends as violinists Michael Fan and Rose Todaro, singer Amparo
Sanchez, singer-songwriter Pieta Brown, guitarist Bo Ramsey, harmonica
player Mickey Raphael, multi-instrumentalists Jairo Zavala and Nick
Luca, Sam Beam (from Iron and Wine) and Douglas McCombs (from
Tortoise).
Don’t forget Craig Schumacher and Chris Schultz, go-to musicians and
top-flight sound engineers at Wavelab Studio, where most of Calexico’s
studio albums, including Carried to Dust, have been
recorded.
Zavala, by the way, recently released a new album under his
performing moniker DePedro, most of which was recorded at Wavelab and
features members of Calexico. Many fans also recall In the
Reins, a 2005 collaboration CD with Iron and Wine.
For a few years after its incarnation, Calexico existed concurrently
with Giant Sand, a longtime project of singer-songwriter Howe Gelb;
during that time, Calexico released such stunning albums as The
Black Light and Hot Rail. Around the end of 2001, Burns and
Convertino became too busy with Calexico to continue with Giant
Sand.
Burns and Convertino also keep busy by continuing their careers as
freelance session musicians for a variety of acts. You may be surprised
to find out how many of the CDs in your collection they’re on,
including recordings by Neko Case, Lizz Wright, Richard Buckner,
Victoria Williams, Michael Hurley, Bill Janovitz, Vic Chesnutt and Lisa
Germano, among others.
Most recently, the pair recorded with hard-boiled folk-Americana
singer-songwriter Tom Russell on his forthcoming album, Blood and
Candle Smoke, which is due in stores Sept. 15.
One of the strengths of the band is that some of its other members
hail from Germany, Spain and Nashville, a result of the group’s world
travels and an influence on its diversity. At any given moment,
Calexico’s music can contain elements of spaghetti-Western soundtrack
music, Portuguese fado, Italian guitar music, Afro-Peruvian music,
mariachi, Mexican son, traditional American folk, dissonant rock, ’50s
and ’60s jazz, country and surf music.
Incorporating the native music of Tucson—Burns moved here from
the Los Angeles area in 1993—was “very accidental and very
intuitive,” he says.
“I guess it started by moving to Tucson and living in Barrio Viejo,
which has a sensibility that is closer to a European city than an
American sensibility, going to the Tanque Verde Swap Meet or hanging
out on Fourth Avenue. But the barrio, with its distinctive
Mexican-American traditions, and the music that grows out from that,
really glows from within. And it’s about being linked to part of a
community.”
Burns also cited exposure to the champion of barrio music, Lalo
Guerrero, as an important influence on his musical perspective. He was
also influenced by opportunities to hear or perform with such local
artists as Mariachi Luz de Luna, Mariachi Aztlán and
singer-songwriter Salvador Duran.
Among its accomplishments, Calexico has played at Lincoln Center in
Washington, D.C., as part of its American Songbook series, appeared on
National Public Radio, performed and recorded Bob Dylan songs for the
soundtrack to the film I’m Not There, and—this is
especially cool—got to see its song “Crystal Frontier” beamed
into space to be played as wakeup music for the astronauts on the space
shuttle Discovery.
Carried to Dust isn’t even Calexico’s most recent album. The
group released the excellent CD Ancienne Belgique—Live in
Brussels 2008 this past spring on Our Soil, Our Strength. It’s a
rich set of music that shows off the dynamics and charm that mark
Calexico in concert.
Many local musicians have cited Calexico as being generously
supportive of the rest of the Tucson arts community. The group has
performed benefits for Solar Culture Gallery and Pan Left Productions,
and holds annual holiday concert fundraisers for community radio
station KXCI FM 91.3.
“I think it’s important to make connections between musicians,
whether it’s between people here in Tucson or between local musicians
and the rest of the world,” Burns says, noting that he remains grateful
to those who have given him a helping hand over the years.
Burns says he and Convertino simply have always sought artistically
rewarding musical experiences, and never dreamed that Calexico would
achieve some of the things it has.
Burns is humble but immensely pleased about the group joining the
Tucson Music Hall of Fame.
“This award that’s being bestowed is not so much about the
individual members as it’s about all the musicians who have helped us
or been a part of Calexico over the years.”
And that sense of community is one of the cornerstones of
Calexico.
Burns sums it up succinctly, saying: “What we like doing most is
getting people together for music and having a party and just
celebrating life.”
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This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2009.
