Los Lobos to Bring 40th Anniversary Tour to bergenPAC, 12/4

Bergen Performance Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey will welcome Los Lobos Disconnected; 40th Anniversary Tour, presented by WFUV with special guests Amy Helm & The Handsome Strangers on Wednesday December 4th, 2013 at 8 PM. Tickets are $55, $45, $35, $25 and available at www.ticketmaster.com or www.bergenpac.org or Box Office (201) 227 1030.

Los Lobos were one of America's most distinctive and original bands of the '80s. They may have had a hit with "La Bamba" in 1987, yet that cover barely scratches the surface of their talents. Los Lobos are eclectic in the best sense of the word. While they draw equally from rock, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music, their music never sounds forced or self-conscious. Instead, all of their influences become one graceful, gritty sound. From their very first recordings, their rich musicality was apparent; on nearly every subsequent record, they have found ways to redefine and expand their sound, without ever straying from the musical traditions that form the heart and soul of the band.

In 2004, as Los Lobos celebrated 30 years in the music business, they recorded a pair of sold-out shows in San Francisco, which became the basis for a live album and DVD, Live at the Fillmore, remarkably the veteran group's first "live" set. Wolf Tracks: The Best of Los Lobos, the first successful attempt at a concise overview of the band's weighty catalog, arrived in 2006, along with the loosely conceptual new release The Town and the City, which ranks up there with the best of the band's three decades of material. Their second children's album (following the aforementioned Papa's Dream), Los Lobos Goes Disney, appeared in 2009 and found the band paying tribute to Walt Disney movie musicals. The band returned to originals for the sturdy Tin Can Trust, released in 2010. Kiko Live was released in 2012, a recording of the band revisiting their 1992 album in concert in 2006.

Amy Helm's deep musical roots were enriched by a lifetime of exposure to the finest expressions of American musical tradition. Combined with her stunning vocal and other creative gifts, those roots have grown up to reveal a spellbinding artist who moves easily through a broad range of musical styles. The daughter of music legend Levon Helm and singer/songwriter Libby Titus Fagen, Helm wields a powerful voice that can both stir and soothe, whether she is singing traditional gospel, blues standards or her own heartfelt compositions. She is a gifted musician on both mandolin and drums, and has clearly absorbed the lessons of the many other accomplished artists with whom she has shared stages, including Mavis Staples, Emmylou Harris, and Joan Osborne as well as other uniquely American performers like Dr. John and Hubert Sumlin.

A founding member of the roots band Ollabelle with whom she has recorded three CDs, Helm has also performed live with scores of notable musicians like Warren Haynes, The Wood Brothers, and Donald Fagen, and her distinctive voice can be heard on recordings by artists ranging from Mercury Rev to Marc Cohn. Her lengthy resume is highlighted by many years of singing and playing alongside her father, with whom she conceived, launched and perfected the Midnight Rambles, intimate performances held since 2004 at his home and studio in Woodstock, N.Y. The musical chemistry, affectionate humor and family pride that Amy shared on stage with her father helped shape the Midnight Ramble as it evolved into a musical event that still attracts fans and musicians from around the world. She co-produced Levon Helm's 2007 CD Dirt Farmer, which won the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album, and she is prominently featured on the Levon Helm Band's Electric Dirt and Ramble at the Ryman Grammy-winning albums.

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