David Hidalgo
Guitarist-vocalist-songwriter David Hidalgo, best known for co-fronting Grammy-winning Mexican-American roots-rockers Los Lobos, has proven himself to be a multi-hued musician who likes to walk the razor’s edge. By the time Lobos’ Kiko album hit shelves in 1992, it was clear Hidalgo wasn’t interested in remaining cozily within the band’s previous borders, though those borders themselves were expansive, cutting a wide swath through blues, boogie and American rock in addition to traditional Latin styles.
Hidalgo and Los Lobos bandmate Louie Pérez veered even farther from home base by forming Latin Playboys in the early 1990s and creating the most experimental recordings of their careers to date.
Late in the decade, several members of Los Lobos, including Hidalgo, became part of a supergroup-styled rotating collective known as Los Super Seven. Another means of creative escape that incorporated styles similar to Los Lobos’ far-reaching Hispanic-American hybrid, the group’s revolving-door lineup ensured that its sound would not remain mired in any particular style.
Given Hidalgo’s now-well-established experimental bent, it’s no surprise that he has been teaming with kindred spirit Marc Ribot, a guitarist with a long and varied back catalog, a penchant for short-term band collaborations in a variety of styles and an arm-length list of sideman credits ranging from Elton John to Elvis Costello. Ribot’s impressive résumé also includes a long association with the nearly unclassifiable singer-songwriter Tom Waits. The guitarist’s Cuban-music explorations with his sometime band the Prosthetic Cubans are only one of the simpatico stylistic connections between his work and Hidalgo’s; never mind that the latter developed his chops as a Hispanic-American in East L.A. and Ribot is a native Philadelphian whose reputation extends to the avant-garde fringes.
Marc Ribot
Put them together on one stage—as they’ll be in The Lounge at Nashville’s classy City Winery for a 7:30 p.m. show on Wednesday, March 21—and listeners can expect to hear a heady brew that’s as left-of-center as it is south of the border: that is, music with no walls. Find tickets here.
