Americans who still think of Latin music as mariachi bands and gyrating Ricky Martins and Shakiras might want to lend a closer ear to the genre. This country's Hispanic population isn't just growing, it's growing more diverse. More and more unique musical styles are being gobbled up, and that should come as good news to alternative gringos hoping to spruce up their castellano. This year's Latin-music highlights come from all over the Spanish-speaking map. We'll start in the farthest geographic
It's Mardi Gras this weekend, so be careful, kids. Don't drink and drive.Friday, February 20*Traindodge/Jovian Chorus/Gold Tooth, Firebird*The Parlor Mob, Duck Room*Nato Caliph, Gargoyle*A Bit Shifty, The Wedge*Alvin Jett and Phat Noiz, Beale on Broadway*Big Smith, The Gramophone*Cowboy Mouth, VooDoo Lounge*Adam Lee/The Union Blue/Amanda Kofron/New Madrid, Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center*Jim Brickman, The Sheldon*Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Powell Symphony Hall*Pat Martino Trio, Jazz at the Bistr
Hooch & Daddy-O in their glory days.Oscar Madrid and Jim Ousley, the writers of fake-documentary-real-funny-film Hooch & Daddy-O, are not content to rest on their laurels. Because those laurels aren't for sitting on -- they're for building on. Madrid and Ousley now have plans for a comedy/horror film about a high school janitor who has a Chuck Norris obsession (and aren't we all guilty of that?) and an alien zombie infestation to deal with. Oh, and it's graduation eve, and the
(Local synthrockers the Pragmatic are currently in Portugal playing the Optimus Alive 09 fest, which is one of the country's biggest events. The band is keeping a diary for us about its travels. Here's the first installment!)
Its been a long trip but we made it. None of us could sleep very well on the plane, but it's nice to be able to stretch out a bit now. They don't account for tall people in Spain, so I was pretty tight for space on the flight over (I'm 6'4''). Its 10 A.M. Central Time, w
