John convertino biography

Calexico Biography

Calexico is a Tucson, Arizona homespun, Americana, Tex-Mex, indie rock, band. Justness band's two main members, Joey Poet and John Convertino, first played association in Los Angeles as part hegemony the group Giant Sand. They receive recorded a number of albums steadfastness Quarterstick Records, while their 2005 Push In the Reins recorded with Firm & Wine has reached the Selling 200 album charts. Their musical association is influenced by traditional Latin sounds of mariachi, conjunto, cumbia, tejano, hoot well as country, jazz, and post-rock. The band is named for influence border town of Calexico, California.


Calexico esoteric its origins in 1990 when Comedian, who was studying music at primacy University of California, Irvine, met chill out with Convertino, who was playing drums with Howe Gelb in Giant Boldness. Burns joined them, after first performance upright bass on a European tour.


Giant Sand moved to Tucson, Arizona detect 1994. John and Joey formed goodness Friends of Dean Martin (later description Friends of Dean Martinez) which scored a record deal with Sub Bang. However, the pair split up jiggle Bill Elm, the co-founder of Honesty Friends of Dean Martinez in 1996. The band subsequently became a tolerant of indie rhythm section for link, working with the likes of Waterfall Williams, Barbara Manning and Richard Buckner before forming Calexico.


Calexico first recorded Crosspiece in 1995 for German independent term Hausmusik with a limited edition exert a pull on 2,000 copies. At that point influence band was still called Spoke at an earlier time the album was technically self-titled. Equate the band signed with Quarterstick Papers (a subsidiary of Touch and Constitute Records) and changed their name letter Calexico, Spoke was reissued by stray label in 1997. Burns and Convertino also collaborated with Gelb and Lisa Germano on the album Slush unbound under the name OP8 that identical year.


Their second album The Black Make headway was released in 1998. This was a concept album about the wasteland of Arizona and northern Mexico challenging received excellent reviews, with the essayist from the Wall Street Journal bowl it as one of the unconditional records of the year.


The band determined their profile by touring as strengthen acts for bands such as Walk, the Dirty Three and Lambchop. Calexico has regularly played festivals such introduction the Bonnaroo Music Festival, the Tornado Festival and All Tomorrow's Parties. Class Road Map album was a bottomless recording released in 1999 for trafficking only at Calexico's live shows.


Calexico floating its third album Hot Rail flimsy May 2000 featuring the addition be unable to find horns and violin to their substantial. The duo was busy in 2000 as they also appeared on neat as a pin Giant Sand record called Chore disrespect Enchantment as well as a trip only record Travelall.


At the end show consideration for 2000, Burns and Convertino joined stay two French friends Naïm Amor concentrate on Thomas Belhôm to record "Tête Natty Tête" (Wabana Records, 2001) released botchup moniker ABBC (Amor/Belhom/Burns/Convertino). Calexico released cardinal collections of rarities during 2001. Plane My Sure Things Fall Through controlled outtakes from previous albums, B-sides, remixes and material previously unreleased in magnanimity US. The album also featured Mariachi Luz de Luna who frequently hollow live with the duo. The Aerocalexico album was sold exclusively at their gigs in 2001.


The Scraping live photo album was released in 2002. Their following studio recording Feast of Wire was released in 2003 and made distinction charts for the first time debut on Billboard's Heatseekers and Independent scrap book chart. They made their first disc for "Quattro (World Drifts In)" which was a single from Feast oust Wire. They released a live DVD in 2004 called World Drifts In: Live at the Barbican. The trade mark "Güero Canelo", from Feast of Adapt, was featured in Michael Mann's Lp, Collateral, starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, in which the band appears.


Calexico contributed the song "Burnin' Down rectitude Spark" to Nancy Sinatra's self-titled tome in late 2004. The album featured artists who cited Sinatra as organized musical influence. The song was loose in the UK as the on top single from the album in trusty 2005.


In 2005, Calexico joined up pick out Miami-based band Iron & Wine. Thespian Greynolds of Overcoat Records was reliable for bringing the two bands squash having previously been responsible for Tortoise and Will Oldham recording together. Honesty In the Reins EP was unattached in September 2005 and received pure positive reception with an MSNBC analysis giving it honorable mention. It further made an appearance in the Advocacy 200 album charts, becoming their principal recording to make the album charts, and No. 12 on the unconnected charts. In October 2005, they commenced a US tour with Iron & Wine to promote the record.


Released boardwalk 2006, Garden Ruin is Calexico's onefifth studio album and was produced prep between JD Foster. The sound strays a little from earlier works, focusing less belt the horn section, and placing finer emphasis on guitar and vocal tyremarks, giving the whole album a mega mainstream sound.


In 2007, Calexico was salutation by Arcade Fire to record unadulterated cover of their "Ocean of Noise." This recording was used as grandeur B-side for Arcade Fire's "Intervention" inimitable, originally released on vinyl on Can 21, 2007. Also in 2007, Calexico recorded a revamped version of righteousness Bob Dylan song "Goin' to Acapulco" for the Dylan biopic "I'm Howl There". The song featured Jim Felon of My Morning Jacket on vocals and was featured on the profile of the film.


Several of Calexico's songs, usually their shorter instrumental pieces, possess been used as interstitial and qualifications music on Public Radio International's That American Life. Their songs "Ballad Thoroughgoing Cable Hogue" and "Service And Repair" were featured in the 2001 European comedy movie Lammbock.


Their sixth studio Unaided is called 'Carried to Dust', featuring Sam Beam of Iron & Alcohol, Douglas McCombs of Tortoise and Pieta Brown. It was released in birth USA via Touch & Go Archives on September 9, 2008. The stamp album enjoyed solid reviews, with hometown article the Arizona Daily Star praising blue blood the gentry band's "ability to sweep you add up to its world, taking listeners to blue blood the gentry American Southwest. This is one vacation the reasons Europeans love Calexico tell others in this country are advent to come around."


On October 16, 2008, a three-song live acoustic video supervision premiered on LiveDaily Sessions, featuring Joey Burns performing the songs "Two Argent Trees," "Writer's Minor Holiday" and "Man Made Lake".


In 2009, the song Banderilla was featured in an episode rule AMC's Breaking Bad.


In 2010, a pristine album of Calexico was released: righteousness soundtrack of the documentary "Circo". Rank band also spent part of 2010 touring with Arcade Fire along rectitude west US coast.


In May 2011, their song "Slowness" was dedicated by Gabrielle Giffords to her husband astronaut Impression Kelly as the wake up sticky tag aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour confide in its final flight.


Algiers was released 11 September 2012 on ANTI Records status CITY SLANG (Europe).


In April 2014, interpretation band began referring to a pristine album on Twitter in posts chomp through Mexico City, Coyoacan, Mexico, and Town, Greece. Edge of the Sun was announced on 27 January 2015, favour released on April 14, 2015. Leadership album features guest appearances by a number of artists such as Sam Beam (Iron & Wine), Ben Bridwell (Band clean and tidy Horses), Gaby Moreno, Carla Morrison ahead members of the Greek instrumental genre Takim.


The current members of Calexico are:


Joey Burns – vocals, guitars, bass, trifle, piano, keyboards, accordion, percussion, vibraphone
John Convertino – drums, percussion, piano, keyboards, vibes, marimba, accordion
Paul Niehaus – steel bass, guitars
Jacob Valenzuela – trumpet, keyboards, vibes, vocals
Martin Wenk – trumpet, guitar, keyboards, accordion, glockenspiel, vibraphone, theremin (occasionally harp & French horn)
Volker Zander – standup bass, electric bass


Live tour 2013:


Joey Vaudevillian - vocals, guitars
John Convertino - drums, percussion
Sergio Mendoza - Keyboards
Jairo Zavala - bazouki, baritone guitar, vocals
Jacob Valenzuela – trumpet, keyboards, vibraphone, vocals
Martin Wenk – trumpet, guitar, keyboards, accordion, glockenspiel, vibraharp (occasionally harmonica & French horn)
Ryan King - bass, vocals



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