Interview: “Music makes us equal”: Jojo Garza talks about the return of Los Lonely Boys before their Berkshire perfomance
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- 4 min read
After more than two decades touring, winning a Grammy, and bringing their blend of rock, blues, and Mexican roots music to audiences of all ages, Los Lonely Boys will visit the Berkshires on September 25th. Garza brothers Henry, Jojo, and Ringo will take the stage at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center with a simple idea: music shouldn't divide people, but bring them together.
“We’re going to bring everything we have to Mahaiwe. It’s going to be a great time. When we’re all together that night, every single person there will make it an even bigger moment,” said Jojo, bassist and vocalist of the group, in a telephone interview from San Angelo, Texas, with Somos Berkshires.
The performance in Great Barrington comes after a long hiatus for the band. In October 2019, Jojo announced he would be stepping away from the group to focus on his family and personal matters, which led to the cancellation of their shows. Then the covid pandemic hit, and the hiatus lasted longer than expected. It wasn't until 2024 that The Lonely Boys decided to return to the studio with Resurrection, the album's title, Jojo explains. It wasn't chosen solely to represent their musical comeback:
“It definitely has to do with two things: getting back on track musically and with many other personal situations we’ve had to overcome,” he added. “Resurrection can take many forms. For us, it was about remaining the same, but at the same time finding some new way to express it.”
From their beginnings in 2004, the group incorporated Spanish and English words into their compositions, blending rock and blues with classic Mexican instruments like the acordeón and bajo sexto. Over the years, this Mexican influence has become more visible, especially on Resurrection , but the band avoids forcing it to satisfy the expectations of an industry that sought to categorize them.
Jojo explains this process using an image: when using a crayon, pressing too hard doesn't necessarily improve the result.
“Mexican music is part of who we are,” he affirmed, but also added, “We learned very early on that we didn’t have to press the crayon hard to reveal the color. We have to let it flow so that there is uniformity . We can’t change the fact that we were born in the United States, but that we are also Mexican by heritage and by our roots.”
Those roots trace back to San Angelo , Texas , where Los Lonely Boys followed in the footsteps of their father, Enrique Garza, who also had a musical group with his brothers called The Falcones. The Falcones, but above all their father Enrique Garza, were the foundation of Los Lonely Boys, creating a sound they themselves have dubbed “Texican rock and roll”: a combination of rock, blues, soul, country, and Tejano music, crystallized in their Grammy-winning song “Heaven” that same year.
Jojo recalls that throughout his long career, some people were surprised to discover his Mexican heritage. Others even congratulated them on being able to sound "so American," as if the two identities were incompatible. For the vocalist, the answer has always been to let his work speak for itself.
“Music doesn’t segregate. They’ve tried to create genres and classifications, but music is music. It makes us equal and, even more importantly, it brings us together. It didn’t matter what kind of music we were singing because the roots of Los Lonely Boys were always firmly there ,” he added.
But even before the music, family has always been there. For Henry, Jojo, and Ringo, family isn't a marketing strategy or a secondary feature of the band: it's the principle that has allowed them to overcome disagreements, hiatuses, and resolve difficulties for so many years.
“Family comes first,” Jojo emphasized. “When we are born, family is all we have: our mom, our dad, and, if we are blessed, our brothers, sisters, and cousins.”
The same hierarchy is maintained even when they enter the studio, make creative decisions, or have to resolve economic issues.
“If you have a business with your siblings or someone in your family, the business comes second,” he explained. “What has allowed us to get here after more than twenty years is recognizing that we are family first, and the business comes second.”
Oasis, The Kinks, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and many other bands are examples of what can go wrong when family members are involved in a musical group. Jojo knows this, but in his case, he believes that facing difficulties as siblings rather than as business partners allowed them to stay together.
"If you can get through the tough times first as a family, everything else becomes easier."
Their father played a special role in this, as he taught them lessons about perseverance.
“He taught us everything we knew about life in general,” Jojo recalled. “We could see it in his eyes when he told us stories about his family, his brothers, his music, and the things they had to overcome. He knew physical labor on the plantations and in the cotton fields.”
Music was what he mastered best, what brought him joy and made his soul sing, and for that reason, it was the craft he decided to share with his children. That's why, when Jojo is asked what remains to be conquer for the Lonely Boys after such a long career, he rejects the very idea of conquest.
“It was never about conquering. It’s about creating a space of unity,” he replies. “ That’s a job that must be done every day. When you reach a certain point in your life, you realize that you’re just a small part of something much bigger.”
That's what awaits attendees of Mahaiwe, a big night that Friday September 25th in Great Barrington. For the Lonely Boys, it will be a reunion as they perform songs that have accompanied the band for decades. It will be a musical journey through the songs that made their legacy and, of course, also songs from their latest album , Resurrection.
Tickets are available on the official Mahaiwe website.
