We wanted this to be just like in the ’70s when bands would load all their equipment up on a truck and go play.
That’s what Hector Saldana of The Krayolas told us during a band break early Sunday evening. Casting aside the extensive national media attention focused on the unpretentious band three decades ago and now during the past year or so, The Krayolas trucked on over to the intersection of Nogalitos and Zarzamora to provide one of those puro San Antonio moments. The band enthusiastically offered those gathered at Los Valles Fruteria, the subject of one of their lighter songs, with two admission-free sets showcasing their diverse musical sounds.
The peppy “La Fruteria” is balanced by such songs as a narco-corrido, “Twelve Heads in a Bag;” a song mourning a soldier whose life was lost in Iraq, “Alex;” and a protest song about Arizona’s new immigration law, “1070 (I’m Your Dirty Mexican).” Hap Mansfield recently described The Krayolas’ Americano sound for the San Marcos Local News:
The Krayolas have been kickin’ out the Tex-Mex pop jams since the late 1970s. Their 2010 release, “Americano,” demonstrates that they’ve still got the chops, but their poetry is 30 years better and deeper. Unafraid of confrontation, the Saldana boys’ recent “1070 (I’m Your Dirty Mexican)” deals with the inherent racism in the controversial Arizona immigration bill. On a lighter note, their recent “Fruteria” may be the happiest Tex Mex pop tune ever.
Click here to catch David Martin Davies’ in-depth interview with the Saldana brothers for KLRN’s Conversations.
P.S. Please, please don’t fail to bail Gayle out of jail!
Note Added on July 25: The Krayolas are paired with a reading by author John Phillip Santos from The Farthest Home Is in an Empire of Fire as part of the Macondo Writers Workshop. The admission-free event will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in Thiry Auditorium at Our Lady of the Lake University on Wednesday, July 28.
Postcards from Barton Springs 