Lenox — This is the summer of roots acts at Tanglewood. First we had Bonnie Raitt and Lucinda Williams (June 18). Next up are the Miami-based Mavericks and power-pop pioneer Nick Lowe at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 26.
If the term “country rock” makes you think of the Byrds or the Eagles, then you shouldn’t use it to describe the Mavericks. The band won a Grammy for Best Country Performance, and they certainly know how to rock ‘n’ roll. But when you consider everything else they do, it’s clear they need a category of their own that would encompass—at a minimum—roots rock, pop, vintage country, alternative country, Tex-Mex, salsa, ska, norteño, and mariachi. And maybe a little bit of cajun.
This all may sound like the makings of a weird mash-up, but the band’s sound is always wonderfully unified. No matter the day of the week, they always sound like themselves.
Over about three decades, the Mavericks have produced many radio hits including “Born to Be Blue,” “What a Crying Shame,” “All That Heaven Will Allow,” “Dance the Night Away,” “Here Comes the Rain,” “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down,” and many others.
It’s hard to imagine the Mavericks ever giving up their experimentation with musical stylings from around the world. But as their deepest roots are grounded in the stimulating immigrant environment of Miami’s Little Havana, the Latin ingredient in their music is fundamental. In fact, in 2020 the band made an all Spanish-language recording, “En Español,” which itself is another far-ranging experiment that ventures in myriad stylistic directions, including Afro-Cuban. The band’s founder, Raul Malo, grew up listening not only to Latin music but also to Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, opera, and other classical music.
Nick Lowe is quite a lot more than a roots act. You may remember one of the hit records he made with his band Rockpile, such as “Cruel to Be Kind” or “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass.” But his songs have also been covered by such luminaries as Elvis Costello (“What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding“) and Rockpile bandmate Dave Edmunds, who had a hit with Lowe’s “I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock ’n’ Roll“.
One critic noted that Lowe’s most recent solo albums “mine the wealth of American roots music, drawing on vintage country, soul and R&B to create an elegant mix of his own.”
But maybe you remember Lowe mainly as a producer of punk and new wave releases for acts like Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, the Pretenders, the Damned, or one of the other artists on the Stiff Records label, where Lowe was an in-house producer. (He even produced one track for the Mavericks for the “Apollo 13” soundtrack in 1995.)
In an interview with the New York Daily News, the ever classy Lowe stated that his greatest fear is the prospect of “sticking with what you did when you were famous.”
“I didn’t want to become one of those thinning-haired, jowly old geezers who still does the same shtick they did when they were young, slim and beautiful… That’s revolting and rather tragic.”
Get tickets here to see the Mavericks with Nick Lowe, at Tanglewood, Sunday, June 26 at 2:30 p.m.
