Calexico had its origins in 1990 when Burns, who was studying music at the University of California, Irvine, met up with Convertino, who was playing drums with Howe Gelb in Giant Sand. Burns joined them, after first playing upright bass on a European tour.
Giant Sand moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1994. John and Joey formed the Friends of Dean Martin (later the Friends of Dean Martinez) which scored a record deal with Sub Pop. However, the pair split up with Bill Elm, the co-founder of The Friends of Dean Martinez in 1996. The band subsequently became a kind of indie rhythm section for hire, working with the likes of Victoria Williams, Barbara Manning and Richard Buckner before forming Calexico.
Calexico first recorded Spoke in 1995 for German independent label Hausmusik with a limited edition of 2,000 copies. At that point the band was still called Spoke and the album was technically self-titled. After the band signed with Quarterstick Records (a subsidiary of Touch and Go Records) and changed their name to Calexico, Spoke was reissued by that label in 1997. Burns and Convertino also collaborated with Gelb and Lisa Germano on the album Slush released under the name OP8 that same year.
Their second album The Black Light was released in 1998. This was a concept album about the desert of Arizona and northern Mexico and received excellent reviews, with the critic from the Wall Street Journal rating it as one of the best records of the year.
The band built their profile by touring as support acts for bands such as Pavement, the Dirty Three and Lambchop. Calexico has regularly played festivals such as the Bonnaroo Music Festival, the Hurricane Festival and All Tomorrow's Parties. The Road Map album was a limited recording released in 1999 for sale only at Calexico's live shows.
Calexico released its third album Hot Rail in May 2000 featuring the addition of horns and violin to their sound. The duo was busy in 2000 as they also appeared on a Giant Sand record called Chore of Enchantment as well as a tour only record Travelall.
At the end of 2000, Burns and Convertino joined with two French friends Naïm Amor and Thomas Belhôm to record "Tête A Tête" (Wabana Records, 2001) released under moniker ABBC (Amor/Belhom/Burns/Convertino). Calexico released two collections of rarities during 2001. Even My Sure Things Fall Through collected outtakes from previous albums, B-sides, remixes and material previously unreleased in the US. The album also featured Mariachi Luz de Luna who frequently played live with the duo. The Aerocalexico album was sold exclusively at their gigs in 2001.
The Scraping live album was released in 2002. Their next studio recording Feast of Wire was released in 2003 and made the charts for the first time appearing on Billboard's Heatseekers and Independent album chart. They made their first video for "Quattro (World Drifts In)" which was a single from Feast of Wire. They released a live DVD in 2004 called World Drifts In: Live at the Barbican. The song "Güero Canelo", from Feast of Wire, was featured in Michael Mann's Film, Collateral, starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, in which the band appears.
Calexico contributed the song "Burnin' Down the Spark" to Nancy Sinatra's self-titled album in late 2004. The album featured artists who cited Sinatra as a musical influence. The song was released in the UK as the second single from the album in early 2005.
In 2005, Calexico joined up with Miami-based band Iron & Wine. Howard Greynolds of Overcoat Records was responsible for bringing the two bands together having previously been responsible for Tortoise and Will Oldham recording together. The In the Reins EP was released in September 2005 and received a positive reception with an MSNBC review giving it honorable mention. It also made an appearance in the Billboard 200 album charts, becoming their first recording to make the album charts, and No. 12 on the independent charts. In October 2005, they commenced a US tour with Iron & Wine to promote the record.
Released in 2006, Garden Ruin is Calexico's fifth studio album and was produced by JD Foster. The sound strays slightly from earlier works, focusing less on the horn section, and placing more emphasis on guitar and vocal tracks, giving the whole album a more mainstream sound.
In 2007, Calexico was invited by Arcade Fire to record a cover of their "Ocean of Noise." This recording was used as the B-side for Arcade Fire's "Intervention" single, originally released on vinyl on May 21, 2007. Also in 2007, Calexico recorded a revamped version of the Bob Dylan song "Goin' to Acapulco" for the Dylan biopic "I'm Not There". The song featured Jim James of My Morning Jacket on vocals and was featured on the soundtrack of the film.
Several of Calexico's songs, usually their shorter instrumental pieces, have been used as interstitial and background music on Public Radio International's This American Life. Their songs "Ballad Of Cable Hogue" and "Service And Repair" were featured in the 2001 German comedy movie Lammbock.
Their sixth studio LP is called 'Carried to Dust', featuring Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, Douglas McCombs of Tortoise and Pieta Brown. It was released in the USA via Touch & Go Records on September 9, 2008. The album enjoyed solid reviews, with hometown paper the Arizona Daily Star praising the band's "ability to sweep you into its world, taking listeners to the American Southwest. This is one of the reasons Europeans love Calexico and others in this country are beginning to come around."
On October 16, 2008, a three-song live acoustic video performance premiered on LiveDaily Sessions, featuring Joey Burns performing the songs "Two Silver Trees," "Writer's Minor Holiday" and "Man Made Lake".
In 2009, the song Banderilla was featured in an episode of AMC's Breaking Bad.
In 2010, a new album of Calexico was released: the soundtrack of the documentary "Circo". The band also spent part of 2010 touring with Arcade Fire along the west US coast.
In May 2011, their song "Slowness" was dedicated by Gabrielle Giffords to her husband astronaut Mark Kelly as the wake up song aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on its final flight.
Algiers was released 11 September 2012 on ANTI Records and CITY SLANG (Europe).
In April 2014, the band began referring to a new album on Twitter in posts from Mexico City, Coyoacan, Mexico, and Athens, Greece. Edge of the Sun was announced on 27 January 2015, and released on April 14, 2015. The album features guest appearances by various artists such as Sam Beam (Iron & Wine), Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), Gaby Moreno, Carla Morrison and members of the Greek instrumental group Takim.
The current members of Calexico are:
Joey Burns – vocals, guitars, bass, cello, piano, keyboards, accordion, percussion, vibraphone
John Convertino – drums, percussion, piano, keyboards, vibraphone, marimba, accordion
Paul Niehaus – steel guitar, guitars
Jacob Valenzuela – trumpet, keyboards, vibraphone, vocals
Martin Wenk – trumpet, guitar, keyboards, accordion, glockenspiel, vibraphone, theremin (occasionally harmonica & French horn)
Volker Zander – standup bass, electric bass
Live tour 2013:
Joey Burns - vocals, guitars
John Convertino - drums, percussion
Sergio Mendoza - Keyboards
Jairo Zavala - bazouki, baritone guitar, vocals
Jacob Valenzuela – trumpet, keyboards, vibraphone, vocals
Martin Wenk – trumpet, guitar, keyboards, accordion, glockenspiel, vibraphone (occasionally harmonica & French horn)
Ryan Alfred - bass, vocals
Spokes
Calexico Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To a couple of wedded strangers
Sitting down on motorcycles
Who passed on the highway
Stepped into
The service station
Took a piss, got water
Blood is flowing
And mountains are blurring
There is something stirring
Way down inside
Barely know
My homebase home
Seems I'm rarely there
For any share of time
The neighborhood's the same
They all remember my name
Holding no reservations
The newness is wearing in
Checked my eyes to see if they had spokes
See if they are moving
See if they had spokes
See if there is somewhere else to ride
Barely know
My airbase home
Seems I'm rarely there
For any share of time
Before I ride
The song Spokes by Calexico is a reflection on a journey taken by the singer, who travels on a motorcycle, stops at a service station and interacts with strangers, before returning home to an unchanging neighborhood. The opening lines of the song describe the singer's brief encounter with two unknown strangers on motorcycles on the highway. The strangers are married, indicating the possibility of a deeper connection and unity through shared experiences, a connection which the singer can relate to through the experience of himself and his motorcycle. The stranger's motorcycles, which may be seen as a symbol of freedom, also represent the idea of journeying and exploration, a theme which is echoed throughout the song.
At the service station, the singer takes a break to refresh himself, using the restroom and buying fuel for his motorcycle to keep riding. The journey portrayed in this song is not just a physical one, but also a spiritual and emotional one. Blood is flowing, suggesting passion and intensity, while mountains are blurring, signifying the speed and the blur of the experience. Something is stirring deep inside the singer, suggesting that the journey is affecting him on a personal level, causing introspection and contemplation.
As the singer returns to his neighborhood, he realizes that despite the newness of his journey, everything around him remains the same. The neighborhood remembers his name, indicating that it is a familiar and perhaps comfortable place, but the singer's rare visits suggest a restlessness or desire for something more. He checks his eyes to see if they have spokes, perhaps symbolizing a search for movement, for a new path to ride.
Overall, Spokes is a song that examines the experience of journeying and the desire for exploration, but also one that delves into the personal, spiritual, and emotional impacts it may have.
Line by Line Meaning
Started talking
The singer began a conversation
To a couple of wedded strangers
The singer talked to a couple on motorcycles whom he's never met before.
Sitting down on motorcycles
The couple the singer met earlier was sitting on their motorcycles while talking to him.
Who passed on the highway
The couple on their motorcycles passed by the singer on the highway.
Stepped into
The singer entered
The service station
The singer went to a gas station
Took a piss, got water
The singer relieved himself and purchased some water.
Bought fuel to ride
The singer purchased gasoline for his own mode of transportation.
Blood is flowing
The singer is alive and experiencing emotions.
And mountains are blurring
The mountains in the distance are blending together and indistinct.
There is something stirring
Something within the singer is causing strong emotions to rise up.
Way down inside
This emotion is buried deep within the singer.
Barely know
The singer is not very familiar with
My homebase home
The singer's hometown, where his family is based.
Seems I'm rarely there
The singer does not spend much time in his hometown.
For any share of time
The singer has very little time to visit his hometown.
The neighborhood's the same
The singer's hometown has not changed much.
They all remember my name
The people in his hometown still recognize the singer and know who he is.
Holding no reservations
The people in his hometown have no ill will towards the singer.
The newness is wearing in
The singer is starting to get accustomed to the same old things in his hometown.
Checked my eyes to see if they had spokes
The singer looked in the mirror to check if his eyes had visible movement like spokes on a wheel.
See if they are moving
The singer wanted to check if his eyes were expressing his emotions.
See if they had spokes
The singer wanted to check if his eyes had this visual characteristic.
See if there is somewhere else to ride
The singer is looking for a change or something new in his life, a different path to take that would give him happiness.
Before I ride
Before the singer goes, it's important for him to check his eyes and emotions to see if he's ready to move forward.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: JOSEPH BURNS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind