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A tribute to Rosie Salas, the consummate team player

I lost a good friend last night.

Her name is Rosie Salas.

She was what I liked to call the “den mother” of the little league baseball teams I helped coach.

Soon after moving back to El Paso in early 2008 to help out my family, I was welcomed into a new family, one I never could have foreseen when I was packing to leave Michigan after 25 years there.

That’s when one of my longtime friends, Pam Cross, asked if I wanted to help her husband, Rick Cross, and brother, Ray Stallings, coach their Little League baseball team.

I said I would as long as they needed me. But I stepped into a whole new world from all the men’s and coed softball and volleyball teams I ran for so many years.

This was a world of 10-year-old kids and — gasp! — their parents.

I met Rosie that first season. 

If ever a first name described one’s personality, it was hers. She seemed to have a permanent smile on that sunny face. She was small in stature, but big in heart.

Rosie and her quiet, shy husband, Ruben, had entrusted their younger son, Alex, to us.

Rick and Ray were old hands at this. Me? I was kind of mortified, but excited by the prospect of passing along my love of the game.

Alex was a good kid from the start. Still is. Ever so polite. Still is.

And what a talent. Smart. Athletic. A quick study. And he’s a southpaw, a kid after my own left-handed heart.

Rosie and Ruben were consistently good about getting Alex (they have an older son, Andy) to practice and hanging around themselves and going out for a bite afterward.

We’re talking some long practices, especially on weekends.

They were very supportive of what we were trying to do, which was teach these kids fundamentals, and maybe a few lessons about life.

Alex, who’s now playing at Socorro High School, was the kind of versatile, instinctive, team-oriented kid that we could plug in anywhere. With both the Warriors and Heat teams, he played first base, center field and pitcher.

He also was one of our best hitters, usually batting in one of the top three spots in the lineup — a bona fide base stealer, run scorer and run producer. 

If I told him to pump up his teammates, he’d say “Yes, sir” and do it.

That’s a reflection of his parents. That’s how Ruben, a steadfast guy, and Rosie, the consummate team player (and mom), were.

What made Rosie, 46, so special was her positive outlook, her upbeat nature and her willingness to help. She helped the coaches be coaches.

She’d call all the parents to remind them about the next practice or games (just in case their little Einsteins forgot to tell them).

She put together the post-season parties, and made sure that all the kids and their coaches felt appreciated for what they had done after each summer, fall or spring that we played a season. 

I have a framed team photograph, signed by all the kids from last year’s team, on my bedroom wall. Rosie’s the one who put that project together.

She also kept the parents in line in her own sweet way. Rosie didn’t yell, scream or belittle. She was such a friendly soul, a real sweetheart. She made it hard for some of the less charming among our parents to let their bad sides out. We had few problems with parents because of her.

She also made newcomers feel welcome. This was no mommy mafia situation. She went out of her way to talk to anyone who was new to our extended family.

Last year, Rosie was stricken by cancer. She had surgery. She survived. But she felt a pain last November. She started chemo once a month.

It was time for us to help her. We started organizing team outings around her chemo. There was one at Julio’s, another at the new home of one of the player’s parents. By then, Rosie was almost too weak to make it up the stairs for a tour.

We wanted to do this monthly, you know, to boost her spirits and help her heal. But this cancer was too pervasive. Monthly chemo became weekly chemo. There was a brain tumor that had to be removed. Then a mass that caused severe abdominal pain.

She went in and out of hospitals.

We met for what turned out to be one last, tearful goodbye at their home last week.

It wasn’t easy. We gave her a signed team jersey and an apple pie, which she loved and had been craving.

Rosie got to savor a few bites and smile that incandescent smile, even through the pain and fog.

Goodbye, Rosie. I didn’t know you for long. But I know you are in a better place, and I’m a better man for having you and that warm heart of yours in my life.

 

Concert update: SCMF performers announced

Sander van Doorn, Wolfgang Gartner, Umek, Brodinski, Funkagenda, Knife Party and Morgan Page are among the 32 acts confirmed for the second Sun City Music Festival.

David Guetta, probably the most popular DJ/producer in the world right now, and England's Above & Beyond already have been announced for the Sept. 1-2 festival, which moves from Cohen Stadium to Ascarate Park this year.

There's a lot of young (i.e. cheaper) talent on this year's roster, with DJs, producers and bands from LA, Las Vegas, Chicago and several European countries, including England, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Slovenia.

They represent a wide variety of styles, from dubstep and crunkstep to electro house and Detroit techno on three stages. 

Promoter Adam Lucero of SMG Events calls it as "really different and very versatile" from last year's two-event, which included sets from Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren and others.

Van Doorn, Gartner and Funkagenda also performed at last year's SCMF.

Also confirmed: Crizzly, Dada Life, John Dahlback, Destructo, Nic Fancuilli, Dirtyphonics, Downlink, Kevin Focus, Dillon Francis, Gesalffestein, Kill the Noise, Lucky Date, M.A.N.D.Y., Modestep, Audrey Napoleon, Stefano Noferini, Revolvr, Alvin Risk, Nicky Romero, Riva Starr, Gina Turner, Joris Voorn and Zedd.

Tickets are $40 GA, $60 VIP per day, $70 GA/$100 VIP weekend.

They are on sale at All That Music & Video, Happy House, the Headstand and groovetickets.com.

Concert update: Street Fest, Candice Reyes, Place/Space, Zechs Marquise, BAMM and more

With Balloonfest behind it, rock station KLAQ is gearing up for its next big festival, the Downtown Street Fest, which returns June 29-30.

The pre-July 4th celebration will bring in headliners Theory of a Deadman, with Filter and Saliva, on June 29, and vintage rockers Kansas and Blue Oyster Cult, with '90s band Candlebox, on June 30.

Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door; $5 for kids. They go on sale June 7 at 7-Eleven Fina locations in EP and Pic Quik stores in Las Cruces.

There will be six stages this year, five of which will showcase various local bands, including one devoted to Latin music.

In other news:

• The Tejano Legends series moves to Buchanan's Event Center, a newer place known mainly for its EDM shows.

This one will be a dance, not a concert, with performances by Jimmy Edward, Johnny Hernandez, the Bob Gallarza Orchestra and El Paso's River City Band.

It's set for 8 p.m. June 9. Tickets are $25 GA, $40 reserved, on sale at All That Music & Video and Ticketbully.

• It's a big CD-release weekend for local jazz fans.

The Candice Reyes Quintet will celebrate its new album, "Crossing Over," with performances at 7:30 p.m. June 1 and 9 p.m. June 2 at the Red & White Wine Bar, 3136 Trawood on the city's East Side.

They'll be joined by Dallas pianist Kelly Durbin on June 1 and well-traveled El Paso saxophonist Mack Goldsbury and Durbin on June 2.

The weekend ends with a June 3 CD release for the Place/Space Project, a jazz quartet started by bassist and UTEP music faculty member Erik Unsworth.

He's joined in the straighahead group by guitarist Arath Corral, recent UTEP grad Abel Mireles on sax and Nico Perkins on drums.

The group will celebrate its new, self-titled CD with a release concert at 5 p.m. June 3 at the Red & White Wine Bar.

Both bands will have CDs for sale at their gigs.

• Tickets for UTEP Dinner Theatre's "Metropolis" go on sale at 8 a.m. June 5.

Yep, it's a musical version of the Fritz Lang silent film classic. Performances will be July 6-29 at the dinner theater in the UTEP Union Building.

Tickets range from $14 to $40. You can get them at the UTEP Ticket Center, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com, 800.745.3000 or by calling UDT at 747.6060.

• If you went to the Neon Desert Music Festival on May 26, you might have caught El Paso instrumental rockers Zechs Marquise, a progressive rock quintet that includes three of guitar wizard Omar Rodriguez Lopez's younger brothers.

The band played in front of my favorite band of the day, Le Butcherettes, which featured Omar on bass.

Zechs has done a lot of touring in support of its second album, "Getting Paid," released last Sept. 27, including opening for one of Omar's other bands, At the Drive-In, on the four-show Texas club swing of its reunion tour.

The band will be back on the road June 30 for a month-long, 24-city tour with Northern Ireland's And So I Watch You From Afar. It opens in Anaheim and ends in Philadelphia, with stops on New York, Chicago, Baltimore, St. Louis and four Texas cities (Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio).

Meanwhile, Omar's other band, The Mars Volta, is about to launch its European tour, which will take place between ATDI's April return and its festival appearances in late July and August.

The TMV tour starts June 11 in Tel Aviv and ends July 19 in London.

ATDI/TMV singer Cedric Bixler Zavala contributes vocals to three tracks on the self-titled debut album by Anywhere, an Eastern-influenced, acoustic-based band he formed with former Triclops! singer-guitarist Christian Eric Beaulieu.

The album, due July 24, features Minutemen/fiREHOSE bassist Mike Watt and singer Rachel Fannan of Sleepy Suns.

• El Paso rockers The Lusitania and Hillside Gamblers will join a bunch of NM bands for the third annual Bad Ass Mountain Music Festival June 15-17 at Ski Cloudcroft.

Music begins at 7 p.m. June 15, including a set from Albuquerque's Le Chat Lunatique, and 10:30 a.m. June 16, with nine acts, including Lusitania at 6 p.m. and the Gamblers at 8.

The ski resort opens at 4 p.m. June 15 for camping. The festival, which runs on solar power, ends at 1 p.m. June 17.

Camping's free, but the festival costs $20 per person. Kids 12 and under are free; no pets allowed.

Go to bammfestival.com for more info.

• The El Paso Blues Society will host a Blues & BBQ Festival June 30-July 1 in Timberon, NM, 30 miles south of Cloudcroft.

Music will go from noon to 9:30 p.m. on June 30, including sets by the Kat Crosby Band, Guitar Slim and headliners the High Octane Blues Band.

The July 1 bill starts at 11 a.m. with C.W. Ayon, with sets by the Hillside Gamblers at 3 and EP's Austin Jimmy Murphy and the Blues Alliance at 5 p.m.

Tickets are $10 for June 30, $5 for July 1 or $15 for both; $5 each day for military.

They are on sale at All That Music & Video and 474.2245.

• Las Cruces Americana band the Hard Road, led by Steve Smith, will release its new album, "Monticello" on July 21 at the Rio Grande Theater there, its annual benefit for KRWG.

The group also will perform under the full moon at the White Sands National Monument at 8 p.m. July 3, the Flickinger Center Tailgate Concert Series at 8 p.m. Aug. 11 in Alamogordo and LC's Music in the Park series at 7 p.m. Aug. 12 in Young Park.

The group is the subject KRWG's half-hour program, "KRWG Music Spotlight," airing at 10 p.m. June 30 on the NMSU PBS affiliate.

 

 

 

Concert update: Bus breakdown postpones Hellyeah, makeup date in works

Tonight's Hellyeah concert at the 27th annual KLAQ Balloonfest has been postponed.

The band's tour bus broke down in Amarillo, according to station manager Brad Dubow.

The show will be rescheduled, probably for late July, Dubow said.

Balloonfest concludes its three-day run today, sans its 6 p.m. headliner.

The station and Wet 'N' Wild Waterworld, where the music portion of the hot-air balloon festival is held, are "working to make it up with (a) free ticket good any day of (the) year," including the makeup show, Dubow texted.

"I'm not happy, but it's all part of rock 'n' roll," he said.

The precise date of the rescheduled show should be announced soon.

 

Another view: NDMF a celebration of music and El Paso

Elijah Watson is a University of Texas at Austin student from El Paso and an entertainment writer for the Daily Texan. I asked him to help blog, tweet and write about Saturday's second Neon Desert Music Festival. Here's his combination review/on the festival. I like that it presents another view from someone who's not 54-years-old, but in the college/high school target audience.

"Thank you for celebrating tonight with us."

Those words, spoken by Ghostland Observatory frontman Aaron Behrens resonated in the breezy, starlit sky of downtown El Paso. Having completed its second year, the Neon Desert Music Festival was nothing short of a celebration. Culture, diversity, perseverance, ingenuity, ambition — all of those things were celebrated throughout yesterday's festivities.

Upon entering the musical wonderland that is Neon Desert, El Pasoans were greeted with an eclectic mixture of sounds that led people into many different directions. On the Miller Lite stage you had new-school prog-rockers Zechs Marquise; DJ aficionado A-Trak on the W. Silver Recycling stage; Latin pop-rockers Belanova on the oi915.com  stage and indie rockers Yacht on the Mazda & Rudolph Mazda stage. Whether you knew of the bands or not, concertgoers had plenty to choose from, searching for a sound that stimulated their interest or curiosity.

Local Love

El Paso has been known to raise some great bands. At the Drive-In, The Royalty, Sparta — the border city harbors plenty of musical talent. It was great to see Neon Desert showcasing that. Sound on Sound, Emily Davis and the Altar Boys, Johnny Costello, Fixed Idea — this is El Paso's next line of emerging local talent, and Neon Desert should be commended for proudly showing that off. 

The excitement could be seen in the bands as well. Frontlady Emily Davis smiling out into the crowd as she put on an incredible, Americana-driven performance; the Zechs Marquise boys proud to represent El Paso, even tweeting about it after their mid-day performance. There is an abundance of love for our locals, and judging by their performances, they know and gratefully appreciate that.

The Heat Is On

You know a performance is impressive when you're so immersed in itt you do not realize your whole body is boiling. Such was the case with many performances that occurred during the middle of the day. Garage rock trio Le Butcherettes had listeners from beginning, to end. Frontlady Teri Gender Bender was incredible. The musical beast she harbors serves as the antithesis to her shy and petite demeanor. As soon as a chord is struck, Bender becomes possessed, providing shrill screams that would leave even the most fearless, frightened for their safety.

Mexican Institute of Sound had a similar effect. A trio with electro-fuzz synth and bass, this group caused an unforeseen ruckus at the oi915.com stage. Circle pits, chants, dancing--Mexican Institute of Sound had it all. Fans were so busy head-banging to a rendition of Toni Basil's "Mickey," that the sun wasn't a distraction.

Of course, having ice cold water is a plus to beating the El Paso heat. Neon Desert had plenty of free water to offer its attendees, courtesy of El Paso Water Service. Placed throughout the festival site, these water outlets were filled until the very end, re-energizing fans as they walked from stage to stage.

A Memorable Summer Night

The acts that ended out Neon Desert were truly worth the wait. Ghostland Observatory's dance-funk and neon light extravaganza; A-Trak and Moby's body-moving DJ sets and Belanova's upbeat pop-rock set, had fans giving it their all.

Sparta must be given the title of 2012 Neon Desert kings. Regardless of a weakening voice frontman Jim Ward went through an hour long set, adamant about putting on a great show, that was absolutely enthralling. "I will destroy my voice for you. Right now," said Ward during the band's performance. Ward stuck through with his declaration, asking for help on one of the band's last songs. It was incredible; the band dropping out, and a collective of devoted fans singing the lyrics in unison. That moment embodied what Neon Desert is all about. Having the ambition and drive to create something amazing, and receiving support from those who want to see that something flourish.

Neon Desert

It's a privilege to have something like Neon Desert in our town. Its growth and success only foreshadows what it's capable of for future years. The true beauty of this festival is its inclusion of everyone. Children, teenagers, elders — Neon Desert realizes that music is a language that any and all can understand. No matter the age, we all enjoy music, and to have a festival that gives us one day of nonstop live music, is an amazing thing.

"This is such a special experience for El Paso," said Zechs Marquise bassist Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez. Neon Desert truly is special for us El Pasoans. It is a testament to our creativity and passion. Until next time Neon Desert. 

Concert review: Le Butcherettes standout in NDMF that could use more variety

Saturday's second Neon Desert Music Festival was all about the beat — and the afternoon heat.

Its 38 acts, spread out over nearly 15 hours on five stages in Downtown El Paso, certainly fit neatly into the young festival's proudly international mix of indie rock, Latin rock and electronic. Performers included a headlining DJ set by Moby on one end of the festival site, a homecoming gig for newly reunited El Paso rockers Sparta on the other, plus sets by an international cast of butt-shakers for this cross-border dance party, including Austin electro-funkateers Ghostland Observatory, Brazil's the Twelves, Canada's A-Trak, Mexico's Belanova, Spain's Pinker Tones and Venezuela's La Vida Boheme.

It looked pretty diverse on paper, but was less so in reality. At least, that was the case with the 13 acts I took in over the approximately 10 hours I spent there Saturday.

The musical differences were more distinct at the first festival in 2011, which drew nearly 11,000 people to hear the stratospheric progressive rock of the hometown Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group, folk-rooted Mexican rockers Kinky and British dance-rockers Dirty Vegas, among numerous others.

With some exceptions, most of the acts I heard Saturday worked in serious service of the groove. Three of the event's five stages were devoted largely to electronic dance music of various kinds, with related sounds on the other two. The Silent Disco Stage was the most unique, with seemingly mute DJs playing beats heard only on wireless headphones supplied to those in the caged area inside San Jacinto Plaza.

Electronic dance music is huge right now, especially with the high school and college-aged crowds for which NDMF is built, so it's understandable that producers Splendid Sun Productions would lean more heavily in that direction. I don't know if it sold more of the $55 tickets. They were hoping for 15,000 people. The crowds seemed larger than last year, but probably not that much larger. I'm guessing they got between 12,000 and 13,000.

While many of the acts played hour-long sets in the evening, when a nice breeze took the edge of the afternoon near 100-degree heat, about 30 minutes would have sufficed. There was a sameness to a lot of the music, not necessarily a lot of depth or skilled song craft. Of course, depth isn't exactly something you'd expect from groups more intent on having, and creating, a good time, which is EDM's bottom line.

Still, there were some notable exceptions. Mexico's Teri "Gender Bender" Suarez, theatrical frontwoman of the tuneful power punk trio Le Butcherettes, gave the standout performance of the day. It's not hard to see why audiences at this year's Coachella and last year's Lollapalooza festivals took a shine to her.

Backed by the steady drumming of Lia Braswell and strong, rhythmic bass work of the aforementioned Rodriguez Lopez (looking and sounding better than he did when At the Drive-In) played here in April), Suarez spewed out personal cries for justice, respect, equality and dignity, be it from a lover or macho society.

Suarez, who performs in dresses symbolic of gender repression, looked like a young, female version of AC/DC's Angus Young crossed with prototypical punker Iggy Pop. She stomped, prowled and lurked around the too-small Miller Lite stage during a hot, sweaty, hour-long set in 97-degree heat.

Spitting cathartic venom during "I'm Getting Sick of You," she turned her back on the rowdy crowd in front of the stage and plunged fearlessly into their awaiting hands.

There is real content and talent behind what easily could be the fashionable rage of an angry young woman. "The Leibniz Language" is a surprisingly complex post-punk song, episodic in nature and one that really showcased Suarez's powerful vocals as she turned the line "put me back together" from a howl to a plead in a matter of syllables.

For pure fun, it was hard to beat Mexican Institute of Sound, whose 7 p.m. set on the oi915.com stage drew one of the largest and most enthusiastic crowds to that point of the festival. Frontman Camilo Lara and his taut rhythm section had the knowledgeable crowd in the palm of their hands as he brought a near-manic energy to a style of dance music that encompasses everything from cumbia to '80s pop.

Oregon's Yacht, who claim a spiritual link to Marfa (whose Boyd Elder designed one of their album covers) picked up that '80s spirit with a spirited set of updated new wave with strong echoes of early Talking Heads. Singer Claire L. Evans, a visual artist and science writer as well, had a kind of geeky girl energy to go with her easy-on-the-ears vocals.

She also had the line of the night. Noting the banks and other buildings lining the festival site's periphery, she commented on being "in the center of commerce and industry, subverted into zone (devoted to) autonomous fun."

Of course, fun was really the guiding principle of the day. It's what electronic-oriented acts like Austin duo Ghostland Observatory, who perform in silhouette while '70s arena rock-style lasers light up the area, are all about. But after about a half hour, it started to sound repetitious.

Also disappointing: The conventional rock of Argentina's Babasonicos sounded dated (an hourlong delay due to the late arrival of their gear, probably didn't help). Venezuela's La Vida Boheme had its own sense of fun (singer Henry D'Arthenay joked they are also known as Menudo), but their weak vocals dragged down their otherwise catchy blend of pop and rock.

Of course, about 30 minutes of their high-energy synthesizer-infused thump was about enough before it started to sound the same.

"Fun" was not, however, the word to describe what it must have been like for Sparta frontman Jim Ward, whose midnight performance on the Miller Lite Stage was marred by a cold-ravaged voice, which was obvious from opening song "Guns of Memorial Park."

It clearly affected the singer-guitarist, who tends to sing full-throttle on Sparta's post-emo catalog. He tossed his guitar behind him in frustration on two occasions, got the crowd to help him finish the chorus of "Tensioning," apologized profusely for being "not healthy in the throat," vowed to "destroy my voice" for the crowd and later promised to return to NDMF "if not next year than the year after that" to make up for it.

Ward and the band, which reunited last November, gamely struggled to find their collective footing. They'd only played five shows prior to Saturday, including three last week in California and Arizona, but didn't appear to have the confidence to give the singer a break by stretching out the songs. Sheer determination, and some hot tea, got them through it. By the time they lit into new song "Chemical Feel," Sparta had regained some confidence.

NDMF is unique, a truly international festival that caters to young people and celebrates the area's bicultural identity. Organizers did a good job of making an unusual, zigzag-shaped site area work and they learned from the first one last year, adding more vendors and amenities, including free water stations.

There's still room for improvement going into the third one. It would be nice if ticketholders could come and go from the site throughout such a long, hot day. Lollapalooza-style misters would be a nice touch. So would more variety on the musical menu.

 

NDMF update: First thoughts on second NDMF

Some first impressions from the second Neon Desert Music Festival as Venezuela's Los Vida Boheme plays: Le Butcherettes are a hard act to follow. Angsty post-punk pop rock with a cathartic pronto-punk rawness. And Omar Rodriguez Lopez looked and sounded more into it on bass with them than he did on guitar with ATDI. You can tell it is an election year. Congressional candidate Beto O'Rourke was pressing the flesh and posing for pics at a tent at Missouri and Oregon. Looks like he forgot the sunblock. No politicking allowed on NDMF grounds, but a bunch of kids in Reyes Works shirts are circulating inside. Crowd at 630 pm looks bigger than at this time than last year. I guesstimate about 6000 at this point. Also younger, but college/post-college numbers growing. Try the burgers from Crave. Attendant called 'em world's sexiest burgers. Don't know about that, but mine was really good. $8. Washed it down with cold 24 oz. Corona. $8. The heat wasn't bad earlier. Plenty of people sought shade. Now sun is setting, breeze is cooling and all stages going. Think crowd is gonna swell as it gets dark. This is like a big club patio anyway. La Vida Boheme greets crowd: "for those of you just arriving, we are La Vida Boheme, but we also go by Menudo."

No horsing around at Sonic Ranch for Mexican rockers Hello Seahorse!

Hello Seahorse! singer Denisse Gutierrez didn’t know what to call one of the new songs the Mexican rockers played during a surprise show May 19 at Black Market.

“I was introducing the song and I said, ‘Hey guys, I don’t know what the song is called. It’s just called ‘Sonic Ranch,’” she recalled. “I’m sure I’ll find a name ... maybe ‘Tornillo.’” 

She’s joking, but the smart young frontwoman known as Lo Blondo for her blonde hair is serious about the new album the quartet just finished recording at the busy Sonic Ranch studios in the little town 40 miles east of Downtown.

Titled “Arunima,” an Indian word referring to dawn’s glow, its 12 songs represent a shift to a fuller, less lighthearted sound for the Mexico City band, which has released four albums since forming in 2005.

You can certainly hear that on the seductive first single, “Para Mi,” the only song the group didn’t cut at Sonic Ranch, where they finished mixing the new album last week.

Gutierrez said the band — which includes former Juarenses Jose “Joe” Borunda on guitar and Fernando “Oro de Neta” Borgos on keyboards — wrote all of the songs in January and February, then spent time whipping them into shape with producer Milo Froideval, something they hadn’t really done before.

“That way we take the song to a whole new level and find new ways and new colors for it. We had never done that,” the golden-voiced Gutierrez said by phone from the studio.

Gutierrez had spent most of 2011 performing with other acts, including a high-profile “MTV Unplugged” appearance with Zoe, returning to the fold intent on ditching her opera training to find her “real voice.”

“I’ve been working with an American teacher in Mexico, Thomas Friedman. He’s helped me a lot with finding my sound and also getting to know, at least losing the idea that I’m going to hurt something if I’m gonna do this. My voice sounds different, but it sounds like me. I think it sounds more free, more raw, more natural.”

That’s also what the band, including drummer Gabriel “Bonnz!” G. de Leon, went for on “Arunima,” due out this summer. It also should serve the personal nature of her lyrics, written after a breakup and a year spent soul-searching, cultivating new friends and experiences and trying to get  back on track.

“It does talk about many experiences and how something that hurts you can stay there a long time, and (about) the practice of getting better and how it can even take many, many months,” she said.“You find light in the darkness,” she added.

They came to Sonic Ranch this spring to capture that sound and spirit. Gutierrez first heard about the studio last year when she received a Facebook message from Manuel Calderon, one of the studio’s engineers, inviting them to check it out while passing through town for a performance.

A former boyfriend raved about it, so the band agreed to swing by last September. “The idea was to stay three days, but we ended up staying five, at least a week,” she said. “We were overwhelmed. It was beautiful what we were seeing here. They have the space, the peace and the silence.”

That’s one of the things owner Tony Rancich wanted to create on the family pecan farm in Tornillo, a studio where a long procession of acts, including the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (twice), Conor Oberst, Mudvayne, Hanson, MercyMe, Enrique Bunbury, Animal Collective, Taking Back Sunday and Beach House have worked in recent years.

But it was a little intimidating at first.

“The space is beautiful, even though you feel sometimes isolated. We live in Mexico City, which is like a monster there,” she said. “Maybe the first few days you feel isolated and overwhelmed because there’s so much space and you are so tiny, but it’s been a great, great, amazing experience.”

So much so that she almost teared up talking about it on her last day there.

The band members flew back to Mexico last Wednesday. They have a string of shows in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Leon and other cities in the runup to the release of “Arunima,” which Gutierrez hopes will see the light of day in June.

It’s been a year of rebirth for the young band and its singer. Gutierrez, who was born in California and speaks English, Spanish and French, sounds like someone who is growing into the role of being one of the fresh voices of a Mexican rock scene that is experience a growth spurt.

“I’m really young. I’m only 23,” said the bespectacled singer. “I started really young with this band. Hello Seahorse! is my first band. I’m really appreciative of how life gave me the opportunity to do (this) and having it go more and more. There’s more opportunity now. Being here at Sonic Ranch and recording and meeting new people, it’s really cool.”

Now if she can just come up with a name for that song.

 

Concert update: Creed to SEC, Ozo NYE, second G. Lo show, and more

Just got confirmation from the folks at the Socorro Entertainment Center that Creed, one of the biggest rock bands of the early 2000s, will play a free show there on Aug. 8.

The band, which disbanded for a few years in the mid-2000s, is best known for the songs "With Arms Wide Open" and "My Sacrifice." It has sold more than 25 million albums of its four albums.

It's currently writing material for a new album, and singer Scott Stapp has said in interviews he's writing an autobiography.

The group — guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, drummer Scott Phillips and Stapp — is performings its first two albums, "My Own Prison" and "Human Clay," in their entireties in some cities on its 2012 tour.

The Tiguas, who run the SEC, also confirmed that they've booked local faves Ozomatli for a New Year's Eve show at the SEC's sister venue, Speaking Rock Entertainment Center.

They're also working on a New Year's Eve show for the SEC, but nothing's set yet.

In other concert news:

• It's looking like that second George Lopez show will be on July 7 at the Chavez Theatre.

You may recall that G. Lo is already performing there on June 15. A second show was added for June 16, but venue management asked to reschedule in so it wouldn't conflict with the Chavez-Lee fight that night at the Sun Bowl.

If the date's solid, the show probably will go on sale next week.

• Austin's The Young will release new album, "Dub Egg," on June 12, and will support it with a tour that brings them to the TrainYard in Las Cruces on July 20.

Their "Livin' Free" video just debuted on the Rolling Stone website.

 

 

 

Concert update: Relient K, Kreator, Supernite, Faster Pussycat and more

Dove Award-winning rockers Relient K, who've been working on a new album, will bring a summer tour to town Aug. 3 at Tricky Falls.

Hellogoodbye and Academy Is ... singer William Beckett will open the show.

Tickets are $21 in advance, $25 at the door, on sale June 1 at All That Music & Video, Bowie Feathers, Maria's Closet, holdmyticket.com and trickyfalls.com.

The club also has booked German thrashers Kreator, whose new album "Phantom Antichrist" comes out June 5.

They'll headline TF at 7 p.m. Sept. 29.

Finnish metalheads Swallow the Sun will open.

Tickets are $17 in advance, $22 day of show, on sale June 2 at the same locations as the Relient K show.

In other news:

• Late Night Social Club has booked a few more shows in its Supernite DJ series at the Lowbrow. 

Australia's Miami Horror, who are in the process of moving to the U.S., will  play there at 10 p.m. June 16 ($12), followed by Britain's Punks Jump Up, with Gigamesh, at 9 p.m. July 6 ($12) and NYC duo Metro ARea at 10 p.m. July 21 ($10).

Tickets are on sale at Ticketbully.

• An old-school '80s hard pop tour featuring Faster Pussycat, Bullet Boys, Pretty Boy Floyd and Lillian Axe comes to the House of Rock East at 8 p.m. July 9.

Tickets are $15.

The club also has booked the all-female Iron Maiden tribute band, Iron Maidens (with El Paso's Alive in Chains) for 8 p.m. July 12 ($10) and psychobilly's Nekromantix, with the Casualties, Down by Law, Lower Class Brats and others, at 6 p.m. Aug. 2 ($20).

You can get those tickets at Ticketbully.