americana

Los Lobos is a mexican-american rock band from East Los Angeles, heavily influenced by rock and roll, tex-mex, country music, folk, blues, and traditional spanish / mexican music such as boleros and norteños. Formed in the late 1970's, band members Dave Hidalgo, Cesar Rojas, Steve Berlin, Louie Pérez and Conrad Lozano became the bellwether for Mexican-American music in the U.S. when they recorded the music for "La Bamba" in 1987, which added popular acclaim to the critical praise they had received for their 1984 album "How Will the Wolf Survive?".

Sam Amidon (real name Samuel Tear) was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, on June 3, 1981. His parents are Peter Amidon and Mary Alice Amidon, both well established folk musicians. Folk music runs freely throughout the New England heartland of Vermont, and the Amidon family are a strong lifeline in that movement’s heritage. Both Sam’s parents, Peter and Mary are performers and teachers of music. Growing up in this solid environment with strong family ties most certainly set the scene for Sam’s musical trajectory. His little brother is the great Stefan Amidon, who is a drummer.

Roots/alt. country duo The Yearlings combine warm harmonies with delicate flat-picking and sparse country blues to create songs that are at once haunting and soothing. Hailing from Adelaide, The Yearlings have pushed new limits in Australia's Roots/Alt. country scene. Robyn Chalklen and Chris Parkinson have wasted no time in getting down to the business of making music since meeting at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2000. Their successful self-titled debut album (released on Reckless Records in 2003) was recorded live in 8 hours and long-listed for an ARIA nomination.