Los Lobos to Bring FIESTA MEXICO-AMERICANA, Featuring Folklorico Mexicano, to Harris Center, 1/20

Harris Center for the Arts is privileged to offer the premiere performance of Los Lobos' latest project as it begins its debut national tour. Fiesta Mexico-Americana is celebrated through song, dance, music and film highlighting the many notable achievements and contributions of Mexican-Americans throughout US History in this brand-new multi-media production. It features the multiple Grammy-Award Winners of LOS LOBOS, and dancers from Ballet Folklorico Mexicano.

FIESTA MEXICO-AMERICANA, A Celebration of Mexican-American Heritage, featuring LOS LOBOS With Special Guests Ballet Folklorico Mexicano premieres on Wednesday, January 20, 2016 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are priced at $35-$55; Premium $59. Tickets are available online at www.harriscenter.net or from the Harris Center Ticket Office at 916-608-6888 from noon to 6 pm Monday through Saturday, and two hours before show time. Parking is included in the price of the ticket. Harris Center is located on the west side of Folsom Lake College campus in Folsom, CA, facing East Bidwell Street.

More than three decades have passed since Los Lobos released their debut album, Just Another Band from East L.A. Since then this multiple Grammy-award winning band from east Los Angeles California have repeatedly disproven that title -- Los Lobos isn't "just another" anything, but rather a band that has consistently evolved artistically while never losing sight of their humble roots.

Los Lobos were already East L.A. neighborhood legends, Sunset Strip regulars and a Grammy Award winning band (Best Mexican-American/Tejano Music Performance) by the time they recorded their major label debut How Will The Wolf Survive? in 1984. Although the album's name and title song were inspired by a National Geographic article about real life wolves in the wild, the band -- David Hidalgo, Louie Pérez, Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano. Enrique "Bugs" Gonzalez, and Steve Berlin -- saw parallels with their struggle to gain mainstream rock success while maintaining their Mexican roots.

Pérez, the band's drummer, once called their powerhouse mix of rock, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues and traditional Spanish and Mexican music "the soundtrack of the barrio." Three decades, two more Grammys, a worldwide smash single ("La Bamba"), and thousands of rollicking performances across the globe later, Los Lobos is surviving quite well -- and still jamming with the same raw intensity as they had when they began in that garage in 1973. Around the time of their 40th anniversary Rolling Stone magazine summed up the distinctive, diverse and spontaneous Los Lobos aesthetic perfectly: "This is what happens when five guys create a magical sound, then stick together for 30 years to see how far it can take them."

Gates of Gold, their latest CD, was released on September 25 of this year.

Ballet Folklorico Mexicano, founded in 1967 by Carlos Moreno Samaniego and currently under the direction of his son Carlos Garcia Moreno, has achieved recognition in both the United States and Mexico. The Company's mission is to empower the community and to educate the general public by providing a greater understanding and appreciation for Mexican culture and folklore through music, dance and traditional art forms.

In her review of the company, Jennifer Fisher, the celebrated dance critic for the Los Angeles Times, noted that the Ballet "has much appeal. They are tightly rehearsed and (their) choreography is inventive." Drawing on the artistic variety of Mexico's different regions, the company has a repertoire comprised of more than 120 pieces. Over the span of nearly 50 years, Ballet Folklorico Mexicano has performed in major venues, professional sports events, popular TV shows, and cultural festivals throughout the United States and internationally.

Now in its Fifth Anniversary Season, the Harris Center for the Arts at Folsom Lake College brings the community together to share in cultural experiences featuring the work of artists from throughout the region and around the world. Built and operated by the Los Rios Community College District, the $50 million, state-of-the-art regional performing arts center boasts three intimate venues with outstanding acoustics, an art gallery, a recording studio, elegant teaching spaces, plenty of safe parking and all the other amenities of a world-class performing arts venue. Each year the Center hosts over 400 events attracting more than 150,000 annually.

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