A month ago, if you had asked me what I thought of Los Lonely Boys, I would have said, “They’re ok.” This opinion would have been based on my reaction to one song: “Heaven.” Until a few weeks ago, that was the only song I had heard by Los Lonely Boys, and I thought it was ok.
On August 20th, I received a message on MySpace from Evelyn Ledesma Galan, co-producer of Los Lonely Boys Cottonfields and Crossroads, requesting my help in getting the word out about the opening of this movie here in San Antonio this past Friday.
I checked out the preview on producer Hector Galan’s MySpace page and heard the song “Cottonfields and Crossroads” for the first time. I immediately added this song onto my Napster playlist.
And today (Sunday) I went and saw the movie.
This is not your typical “rockumentary,” with some narrator leading you through a timeline of the rise and fall of a rock star.
This is a story of how, with hard work, patience and passion, a dream can come true.
Enrique Garza, growing up in the cottonfields of West Texas, had one dream: to make his life by playing his music for people. He has worked hard all his life to fulfill this dream. Enrique never made it big playing his country music in Nashville, as he had hoped. But he poured his love for music and his dream into his sons - Henry, Jo Jo and Ringo Garza - Los Lonely Boys. I guess sometimes it takes more than one generation to make a dream come true.
It’s more than just about the music, however. It’s about familia. Struggle, hardship, heartbreak, loneliness...joy, laughter, sharing, love...holding each other up no matter what. It’s about culture. Growing up as a “Chicano” in West Texas...discrimination, conjunto music, cantinas, barrios, zoot suits and Stacy Adams shoes.
The movie follows a loose timeline, meandering forward through time, as Los Lonely Boys, their friends and family talk about their experiences and emotions through the various periods of their life. It’s more arranged by subject than by date. The “Cottonfields” section is about their background; the “Crossroads” section is about when the boys began to veer toward their own style of music and away from their father’s. The timeline is punctuated by songs that make you feel the emotion of that time.
Leaving, I felt like I had just spent an hour and a half talking to Los Lonely Boys, with them occasionally playing me a song, not like I had just watched a movie.
Galan did an excellent job of bringing the movie around full circle and tying the end to the beginning. Very heartfelt and inspiring. I highly recommend seeing this movie. I thank Evelyn Ledesma Galan for letting me know about this movie. And for making me remember not to judge a band by one song.
Covering San Antonio's music scene since 2005