Rock-out Latino-style on Oct. 13 with Los Chiwahwahs!
What is there to love about Los Chiwahwahs? Well first off, maybe the weird and ridiculous images their name conjures up of Mexican lapdogs rocking out on guitars with wah-wah pedals.
“We thought it had to be something silly to make people smile, but at the same time, convey our sound and what we’re doing,” agree the group’s five members.
Los Chiwahwahs are not your typical rock band from around these parts. Most of the songs are sung in Spanish and congas form a part of the drum-kit.
Because the music has some definite Latin groove to it, you can find yourself at times dancing cumbia, or salsa-stepping whilst being whisked back to Woodstock with some smoking, gringo-style guitar going on.
If this sounds like your cup of tea, or tequila — whichever the case — consider coming out to the Bridge Lounge at the foot of Fifth Street in Courtenay this Saturday.
Doors open at 7 p.m. and the music is set to start around 8. There is a $5 cover charge for the night while $10 gets you into The Bridge Lounge with a limited edition Luzna Orchestra CD to take home.
The exquisitely talented local composer and songstress known as Fabi will open the night, performing her unique brand of glam-folk. She is a one-woman show not to be missed. Following Fabi will be Los Chiwahwahs, making a first-time debut in Courtenay.
The relatively recently formed group consists of some well-established locally based musicians that have a real history working together. El Gitano, Jim Papp, and Michael (Wisconsin) Johnson are on guitars and vocals, while Kelly Thomas is on keyboard, Mexican-born Oscar Robles Diaz on drums and vocals, and Britt Bowman on bass.
When most people hear the words Latin-rock, they think of Mexico’s Carlos Santana, who first crossed the border before making it big in the United States.
But there has long been, and continues to be, a love for rock music across Latin American and Spain, not to mention a huge movement of exceptional rock being produced in those countries, as well as by Latin-born musicians all over the world.
A bit of music trivia for the music buffs out there: In Mexico, Santana’s so-called unique style of guitar-playing is almost entirely attributed as the invention of the mentor and teacher he studied with there, Javier Bátiz.
An important pioneer of rock in Mexico, Bátiz headlined at the first Avandaro festival, regarded as Mexico’s version of Woodstock.
For more information about Los Chiwahwahs, visit www.thebridgelounge.com.
— Los Chiwahwahs