By DONNA BALANCIA
Paul Young was a heartthrob in the 1980s known best for his gorgeous song “Every Time You Go Away,” and now he’s back — as a British Tex Mex star.
Young has a new live album out with his band, Los Pacaminos, and he’s serving up more spicy Tex Mex than a hot Southwest barbeque.
Los Pacaminos’ schedule is packed with dates throughout the UK as the immensely popular band keeps the UK fans enthralled with songs that really hit home, even if home is thousands of miles away in the U.S. Southwest.
The band is comprised of Paul Young on vocals/guitar/Bajo Sexto; on guitar/vocals is Drew Barfield; on Pedal Steel Guitar is Melvin Duffy, on Guitar/Mandolin/Vocals is Jamie Moses; on Bass/Vocals is Steve Greetham or David Levy; on Accordion/Keyboard is Steve Oakman; on Drums/Percussion: Mark Pinder or Jim Russell. Check out the Viva Los Pacaminos! album here.
The music hits at the heart of the longing and desire people have to come spend time in the legendary Southwest and check out the dry climate and the lore of cowboy legend. The band has brought that feeling home to the UK and has captured the imagination. A beautiful piece of fan art graces the social pages.
And the Los Pacaminos love their fans back. In fact, obviously they don’t have a problem sharing the spotlight, as they invited a little “lone star” onto their stage in a show this week.
Check out Paul Young with special guest Elsie and Los Pacaminos:
“Even though we play music that evokes a certain area of a certain part of the world which is on the border of say New Mexico, Texas, going into Mexico, a lot of the stuff we write is because we would actually all love to be there,” Young said. “If the world was a perfect place. The songs become a dream version of us being down in that area. Some people might say you’ve got to be in Nashville to write a Nashville song.”
Watch Paul Young in his pop days:
But Los Pacaminos is definitely not a “Paul Young” band, he says.
“I can’t imagine playing the Paul Young solo songs with this band,” he said. “Some Paul Young fans didn’t like it and they went off, but other Paul Young fans liked it and got in touch with their friends and over the years they found us.”
All in all, it’s all about the fun, Los Pacaminos said.
“I think we have a more laid back approach to it,” Young said. “We like to get a bit of humor out of it. When you’ve had a lot of life on the road it can get really boring. You develop a way of getting over it and humor is one of them. When we play live, we determine we’re going to have a good time. If experience has taught us anything at all it’s to always see the positive side.”
Check out an interview with band members Young, Jamie Moses and Drew Barfield.