After being informed in 1995 that they were no longer part of
the Friends of Dean Martinez,
Joey Burns and
John Convertino (who held day jobs as the rhythm section of
Giant Sand) decided to put their newfound songwriting talents to use elsewhere. They took the songs they'd already written, added Convertino's wife
Tasha Bundy on
percussion and recorded the cassette
Superstition Highway at home; they dubbed off copies on a cheap boombox in the car on their way to gigs.
After a couple of years, they were signed to
Quarterstick Records and released
Spoke (with more polished versions of early songs) and
The Black Light (the start of the more clearly defined "Calexico sound") in quick succession. Tasha dropped out of the band full-time but continued to put in guest appearances, along with daughter Mia. Calexico as a touring entity grew more versatile with the addition of "the Kassel Krew" -
Volker Zander (
upright bass) and
Martin Wenk (trumpet, guitar,
melodica,
vibraphone) - in 1998 during the Black Light tour. For
Hot Rail, the band toured with a full
mariachi band in tow; in 2000, they permanently added mariachi trumpeter
Jacob Valenzuela. Their most recent addition to the band is
Lambchop's
Paul Niehaus, who works magic on the
pedal steel.
Full-length albums:
Spoke (1998)
The Black Light (1998)
Hot Rail (2000)
Feast of Wire (2003)
Tour-only catchalls:
Road Map (1999)
Travelall (2000)
Aerocalexico (2001)
Scraping (2002)
Singles and EPs:
Lacquer/Drape 7" (1996)
Spark 7" (1996)
Stray (1999)
The Ride (Pt. 2) (1999)
Descamino (2000)
The Ballad of Cable Hogue (2000)
Service and Repair (2000)
Crystal Frontier (2001)
Even My Sure Things Fall Through (2001)
See also
http://casadecalexico.com