MUSIC NEWS
Los Lonely Boys to play West Texas Music Fest
02/15/2011

from My West Texas on mywesttexas.com

Life's a party and you've got to dance, no matter what life throws your way.

Nobody knows that better than Los Lonely Boys' bassist, Jojo Garza.

The band's soon-to-be released album, "Rockpango," a Spanglish word meaning rock party, was delayed until March 29 due to some health issues involving the one piece of equipment Garza couldn't be without; that is if he wanted to continue his career in music.

Things for the band began to get dicey when a throat specialist in Denver found lesions on Garza's vocal chords. Needless to say, Jojo and his brothers in the band, Henry and Ringo, were worried.

"I thought I was just going to be a bass player from then on," said Garza. "You know, it was too bad because I enjoy singing, too, man, and it would have been really hard to accept. I couldn't even talk much less sing, and it was hard to even cry or shed tears, and at the time, I felt like I had to. You know, I couldn't even imagine standing on the stage with my brothers and not being able to sing."

"The whole family was feeling it, man, and everybody was really concerned and really focused on praying things wouldn't stay that way, but the Lord prevailed and it was like Him saying, 'Hey, I'm gonna' just scare you a little bit,' or something like that."

And if that was the plan, then it certainly worked.

Garza, whose voice still has a bit of a rasp, went into surgery to fix the problem and then headed back to San Angelo for some much-needed downtime. The band had to cancel 15 shows, but it's what had to be done to bring Garza back to the show.

And Garza didn't just stop there. He also started taking his health into consideration, and after several years of smoking, Garza decided to quit and to also start eating right.

And even though he wants to kick the habit, Garza has found out doing so is a lot easier said than done.

"It's tough being a human, man, but that's what we are."

Garza, who isn't shy about his religious beliefs, gives God the credit for not only saving his voice, but for everything the band has accomplished musically, including a Grammy for its 2004 hit single, "Heaven," which climbed to the No. 1 slot on the adult contemporary charts and No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single not only crossed over to the country chart, but also made its way into the virtual realm, as it was featured on, "Guitar Hero: On Tour."

More recently, the boys were named Best Rock Band in 2010 at the annual Austin Music Awards proving the Los Lonely Boys are still packed with a lot of staying power.

"We're just regular people, man, and the Lord has blessed us with the ability to reach a lot of people's ears and hearts," said Garza. "We definitely take that to heart. The most important thing to us is to do what the Lord has asked us and, that's to spread the message and the love."

(read full story on mywesttexas.com)





Back
LSM Gets Social