In the 13 years since Los Lonely Boys broke out of San Angelo, Texas, with a savory stew of rock and blues, country and Tejano that the three Garza brothers dubbed Texican rock ‘n’ roll, they’ve had plenty of highs – a multi-platinum self-titled debut album and its hit single “Heaven” — as well as a handful of hard times: the injuries suffered by singer-guitarist Henry Garza in a fall from the stage, and the loss of their mother not quite two years ago now.
But the band is back to full strength now, says bassist-singer JoJo Garza in a call from his home in San Angelo, and eager to hit Southern California for a trio of shows this month, the performance of live music on stage the lifeblood for him and Henry and the third brother, drummer-singer Ringo Garza.
“If we’re healthy and able any time’s as good as any to play, man,” Jojo Garza says. “Because, man, we really love playing out there and being with the people.
“There’s nothing like a live show.”
The blows the brothers have suffered in the last few years might have staggered them for a bit, Garza says, but they’ve always kept moving forward.
“They’re all parts of life,” he says. “Having to deal with the punches that life deals to you, man, or I should say, the curves that it throws you on what should be a straight path? It’s really tough times.
“But if you’ve got the strength to keep moving and the will to survive, man, you’ve kind of got to keep doing that,” Garza says. “We’re basically at that now. There’s constant healing going on when it comes to losing somebody like your mother, but man, it is what it is, and that is what it is.”
The three brothers grew up in a musical family, their father Ringo Garza Sr. and his brothers playing in a conjunto band called the Falcones that was well-known throughout Texas and the Southwest in the ’70s and ’80s. And though you might think that’s where the brothers learned all about music – from their dad and uncles – JoJo says their late mother Mary had musical roots of her own.
“Believe it or not, she was actually a fantastic singer, and her dad and brothers also had a band,” he says. “I know from the history that she told me she shared a couple of stages with her dad and brothers.
“We grew up listening to our mom and dad singing every day,” Garza says. “That was pretty much an every day thing: drinking water, eating food, and listening to mom and dad sing. She was definitely a big part of how we learned to harmonize.”
And as their mom she also always kept the home running while they and their father were out playing shows, he says.
“You can definitely bet that she was a rock to the family,” Garza says. “Just a very loving person, very strong person.”
When the self-titled debut album and the single “Heaven” took off in 2004, life didn’t change so much for Los Lonely Boys – they were already road dogs playing shows from town to town by then, Garza says, though it did speed up dramatically.
“The only thing that’s different is the pace of how fast it was going, and when and where we were expected to be some place,” he says.
The five full-length studio albums they released from 2004 to 2014’s “Revelation” reflected the many different musical influences with which they’d grown up in the genre-busting musical scene in Texas.
“We grew up being versatile,” Garza says. “We never realized it was that different. There were a lot of reasons to play country music, there were reasons we played rock ‘n’ roll besides that fact that we loved that music.
“It was to adapt or get into some scenes that maybe wouldn’t have accepted some young Mexican-American boys and their dad just doing straight-up Mexican music.
“And through that music we found that music really breaks down barriers, man,” Garza says. “It can be used to create huge separations or segregations, or you may be turning somebody on to a style they never heard, or an ingredient they never tasted, so to speak.”
Even today, Los Lonely Boys will mix up the set list to reflect the venue or crowd, he says.
“One of the other nights we were playing a place we’d never played before,” Garza says. “It was called the Redneck Palace or something like that. And it was just the right night to play some Waylon Jennings and some Willie Nelson. And we did a little of that as well as some Bocephus, some Hank Jr., mixed in with what Los Lonely boys do.”
Even though “Revelation” is three years old now, there are no immediate plans for a new album, he says, though the band is writing new songs all the time. With album sales for every artist down in the age of digital and streaming, the brothers are considering new ways of getting their music out to fans.
“You can rest assured that there’s going to be music coming out very soon,” Garza says. “We’re on that path of learning the new ways of putting music out on Facebook, putting music out on YouTube, and things like that.”
In the band’s upcoming concerts fans can expect to hear plenty of music of the self-titled debut, long the fan favorite of their catalog, as well as songs the brothers like to pluck from all their other releases.
“It’s just trying to keep tasting all the little spices we made with each tune, man,” Garza says. “We’re just thankful that we’re still able to be doing it.
“If you can get some rooms sold out it’s good to get out there and do it.”
Los Lonely Boys
7:30 p.m. Friday, May 19: The Cave, Big Bear Lake. $39-$60. 909-878-0204 or thecavebigbear.com.
8 p.m. Thursday, May 25: The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano. $39.50. 949-496-8930 or thecoachhouse.com
7 p.m. Saturday, May 27: The Greek Theatre, Los Angeles. With War and Paul Rodriguez. $29.50-$125-50. 844-LAGREEK or lagreektheatre.com
For more: loslonelyboys.com
