Lola

Carrie Rodriguez made a couple of great albums with Chip Taylor, and here she is solo doing Tex Mex. "I still remember the first moment I listened to a 1940s-era Spanish language recording of my great aunt, Eva Garza, a San Antonio-born international singing sensation. As the strings and trumpets soared behind her gutsy alto voice, I was immediately moved to tears, awestruck by the connection I felt to her and to my family history. Ever since that first listen it has been a dream of mine to create my own blend of Tex-Mex music. In June, a successful crowd-funding campaign enabled me to record this music with an all-star band, The Sacred Hearts, with legendary producer Lee Townsend at the helm. The band features acclaimed composer/guitarist Bill Frisell, long-time member of Lyle Lovett's Large Band Viktor Krauss on bass, my duo partner in crime Luke Jacobs on pedal steel, guitars, and vocals, Austin's immensely talented David Pulkingham on nylon string and electric guitars, powerhouse drummer Brannen Temple, special guest vocalists Raul Malo and Gina Chavez, and Grammy Award winning bajo sexto player Max Baca. I took a handful of original songs in English and "Spanglish," and mixed them with modern interpretations of songs in Spanish written by my favorite Mexican composers. The result is the album I dreamed of, inspired by the rich landscape of blended cultures that I call home: Texas."