Played a show with one of our biggest musical inspirations

Opening for the Greyhounds Featuring Steve Berlin and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos

Lorenzo's Music performing at the Gamma Ray in Madison - 📷 via -Richard Vargas

We've been incredibly fortunate to play some amazing shows over the years, but we got the chance to open for an artist who deeply influenced Lorenzo's Music from our very beginnings.

Lorenzo's Music - Cliff Hammer, Bryan Elliott & Tom Ray on stage at the Gamma Ray in Madison - 📷 via -Richard Vargas

Lorenzo's Music - Rob Gugel playing drums at the Gamma Ray in Madison - 📷 via -Richard Vargas

We were excited to play the show at the new Gamma Ray Bar in Madison, WI opening for Greyhounds from Austin, Texas. 

But here's the thing, we soon learned after we got this show that they would also be playing with saxophonist, Steve Berlin and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos!

Greyhounds with Steve Berlin & David Hidalgo performing on stage

David Hidalgo's side project, Latin Playboys, really captured my imagination when Lorenzo's Music was just starting out.

Latin Playboys Album

The Latin Playboys album, produced by the legendary team of Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake (who've worked with Tom Waits, Soul Coughing, and Suzanne Vega), became a major source of inspiration for me.  

David Hidalgo's other projects, like Houndog (his experimental album with Canned Heat's singer), further fueled my admiration for his innovative sound. Even today, I find myself referencing the Latin Playboys album when writing new songs for Lorenzo's Music – you can hear echoes of it throughout our "Rom Comm Mixtape" album.

Rom-Comm Mixtape by Lorenzo's Music

The highlight for me was getting to chat with David Hidalgo himself. I was able to ask him about the albums and techniques I'd studied for years.  He generously shared stories about his creative process and songwriting.

Tom Ray and David Hidalgo

My favorite moment was when I asked about the unique drum sound on the song "Ten Believers," on the Latin Playboys album.

He revealed that most of the album was written over a year at his kitchen table. When I jokingly asked if he had a drum set there, he laughed and explained that he used a keyboard with drum sounds, which he then compressed and EQ'd. I loved that!

We also had the chance to talk with Steve Berlin about Los Lobos' iconic album, Colossal Head.  

Lorenzo's Music, Greyhounds, Los Lobos - left to right: Rob Gugel, Anthony Farrell, Bryan Elliott, Tom Ray, Steve Berlin

He described how it came together after the band had poured their creative energy into the Desperado soundtrack for the Robert Rodriguez film. Feeling drained, they started with a simple riff that eventually became "Colossal Head", the album's title track.

This experience was a dream come true for me. Now, if only we could find a way to open for Tom Waits...

-Tom