Los Lobos - Gates of Gold (2015)

Los Lobos were already East L.A. neighborhood legends, Sunset Strip regulars and a Grammy Award winning band (Best Mexican-American/Tejano Music Performance) by the time they recorded their major label debut How Will The Wolf Survive? in 1984.

Although the album’s name and title song were inspired by a National Geographic article about real life wolves in the wild, the band—David Hidalgo, Louie Perez, Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano and Steve Berlin—saw parallels with their struggle to gain mainstream rock success while maintaining their Mexican roots. Perez, the band’s drummer, once called their powerhouse mix of rock, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues and traditional Spanish and Mexican music “the soundtrack of the barrio.” Three decades, two more Grammys, a worldwide smash single (“La Bamba”) and thousands of rollicking performances across the globe later, Los Lobos is surviving quite well -- and still jamming with the same raw intensity as they had when they began in that garage in 1973.

Gates of Gold, the band’s new studio album on Savoy / 429 Records, their first in five years, is an American saga in the rich literary tradition of Steinbeck or Faulkner. Uplifting, hopeful and whimsical, the music touches their diverse musical potpourri, evidenced by the title track, “Mis-Treater Boogie Blues,” “Poquito Para Aqui.”

Produced by Los Lobos, Gates of Gold will be released on September 25th, the night the band will perform at The Beacon Theater in New York City’s Upper West Side. A full national tour will be underway with stops in LA, San Francisco, Chicago, and Nashville.

Gates of Gold follows Disconnected In New York City, a dynamic live album that marked the band’s 40th anniversary and launched their new association with 429 Records