Calexico is a band from Tucson, Arizona that shares a sun-bleached border with many performers and musical styles. Comprised of two core members, Joey Burns and John Convertino, Calexico became its own entity in 1996 with the release of the Spoke LP. Although that record marked the band?s first official output, Joey and John had already been playing together as collaborating members of Arizona mainstays Giant Sand. A wide variety of tours, performances (including the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals) and recording sessions as Calexico and with other artists (Neko Case, Victoria Williams, Richard Buckner), as well as their continuing relationship with Giant Sand, allowed the band the opportunity to develop as artists. Over time, Calexico has featured a revolving cast of musicians and instruments, and the band?s sonic growth can be traced through its varied releases.
Their musical style is highly influenced by traditional sounds of the Southwestern United States and Mexico, and they have also been described as alt-country. Calexico is named after the border city in Southern California.
The current members of the group, as of October 2005, are:
* Joey Burns (guitar and vocals);
* John Convertino (drums and percussion);
* Paul Niehaus (steel guitar);
* Jacob Valenzuela (keyboards, trumpet and vibes)
* Martin Wenk (accordion, guitar, synthesizers, trumpet, vibes); and
* volker zander (upright bass).
Among other side projects, several members of Calexico have been playing regularly with Iron and Wine. Paul Niehaus' steel guitar can be heard on many new songs.
From Wikipedia:Calexico is a Tucson, Arizona-based Americana / Alternative country band. The band's two main members, Joey Burns and John Convertino, first played together in Los Angeles as part of the group Giant Sand. They have recorded a number of albums on Quarterstick Records, while their 2005 EP In the Reins recorded with Iron & Wine has reached the Billboard 200 album charts. Their musical style is influenced by traditional Latin sounds of mariachi / conjunto / cumbia / Tejano music and also the Southwestern United States country music as well as '50s-'60s jazz and '90s-'00s post-rock, and they have been described by some as desert noir or indie rock. The band is named for the border town of Calexico, California.