Louie Pérez's guest appearances

Louie Pérez

Q with Tom Power

eTown

LifeMinute Podcast: Entertainment

LifeMinute Podcast

Art Works Podcast

The American Writers Museum

AWM Author Talks

Jacqueline Woodson

Kao Kalia Yang

Juan Felipe Herrera

Tayari Jones

Jake Gyllenhaal

Tracy K. Smith

Danielle Evans

Lynn Nottage

Josh Ritter

Michael Berry

Sebastian Junger

Jacob Lawrence

Rhiannon Giddens

Ron Capps

Jericho Brown

OwlTail

The 2022 National Heritage Fellows have been recently named and we’re celebrating that and kicking off our “Artful Lives” series by revisiting my interview with songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Louie Pérez whose music with Los Lobos has deep roots in his neighborhood of East LA. The interview is a wonderful snapshot of Los Lobos’ fifty year journey as well as the beauty and strength of culture grown in community, a core principle of the concept of Artful Lives and of the National Heritage Award*.*  Louie Pérez is a great story-teller and in this podcast he discusses the creation of Los Lobos, the band’s love for and admiration of traditional Mexican music, their half- century commitment to bring that music and culture to the world, the extraordinary journey of “La Bamba,” the influence of East Los Angeles on the music, and the brotherhood the band shares. The 2022 National Heritage Fellows are: Michael Cleveland, Bluegrass Fiddler from Charlestown, Indiana Eva Enciñias, Flamenco Artist, Albuquerque, New Mexico Excelsior Band, Brass Band Musicians, Mobile, Alabama Stanley Jacobs, Quelbe Flutist and Bandleader, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands The Legendary Ingramettes, Gospel Musicians, Richmond, Virginia TahNibaa Naataanii, Navajo/Diné Textile Artist and Weaver from Shiprock, New Mexico Francis “Palani” Sinenci, Hawaiian Hale Builder, Hana, Hawaiʻi Tsering Wangmo Satho, Tibetan Opera Singer and Dancer, Richmond, California C. Brian Williams, Step Artist and Producer, Washington, District of Columbia Shaka Zulu, Black Masking Craftsman, Stilt Dancer, and Musician, New Orleans, Louisiana

<a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The 2022 National Heritage Fellows</a> have been recently named and we’re celebrating that and kicking off our “Artful Lives” series by revisiting my interview with songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Louie Pérez whose music with Los Lobos has deep roots in his neighborhood of East LA. The interview is a wonderful snapshot of <a href="https://www.loslobos.org/site/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Los Lobos’</a> fifty year journey as well as the beauty and strength of culture grown in community, a core principle of the concept of Artful Lives and of the National Heritage Award*.*  Louie Pérez is a great story-teller and in this podcast he discusses the creation of Los Lobos, the band’s love for and admiration of traditional Mexican music, their half- century commitment to bring that music and culture to the world, the extraordinary journey of “La Bamba,” the influence of East Los Angeles on the music, and the brotherhood the band shares. The 2022 National Heritage Fellows are: <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/michael-cleveland" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Michael Cleveland</a>, Bluegrass Fiddler from Charlestown, Indiana <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/eva-encinias" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eva Enciñias</a>, Flamenco Artist, Albuquerque, New Mexico <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/excelsior-band" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Excelsior Band</a>, Brass Band Musicians, Mobile, Alabama <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/stanley-jacobs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stanley Jacobs</a>, Quelbe Flutist and Bandleader, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/legendary-ingramettes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Legendary Ingramettes</a>, Gospel Musicians, Richmond, Virginia <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/tahnibaa-naataani" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TahNibaa Naataanii</a>, Navajo/Diné Textile Artist and Weaver from Shiprock, New Mexico <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/francis-palani-sinenci" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Francis “Palani” Sinenci</a>, Hawaiian Hale Builder, Hana, Hawaiʻi <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/tsering-wangmo-satho" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tsering Wangmo</a><a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/tsering-wangmo-satho" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/tsering-wangmo-satho" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Satho</a>, Tibetan Opera Singer and Dancer, Richmond, California <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/c-brian-williams" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">C. Brian Williams</a>, Step Artist and Producer, Washington, District of Columbia <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/shaka-zulu" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shaka Zulu</a>, Black Masking Craftsman, Stilt Dancer, and Musician, New Orleans, Louisiana

Artful Lives: Louie Pérez and Los Lobos telling the stories of East LA 

We continue celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month this week with singer-songwriter Louie Pérez, lead singer of Los Lobos, who chats with radio broadcaster Catalina Maria Johnson about his work and writing. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. Listen to all podcast episodes here. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS “Everything I’ve written has always come from the experiences I had growing up. You know, I couldn’t write about Brentwood. Or Beverly Hills. All I can write about is East LA and the experiences I had growing up there.” “There’s something about how your direct experience and your personal emotions can actually translate into other people’s lives. And that’s what I took on as a job as a songwriter.” “If I knew I was gonna live this long I would’ve bought more socks.” “There isn’t anything really specific about anything, it’s all subjective in a way. The things that make us happy are usually kind of relative to what’s going on in our lives.” “I wrote in a universal way so that if I’m talking about the wrong side of the tracks, it could be in East Los Angeles, it could be in Kansas City, it could be anywhere so that people can relate to certain things. That’s what I set out to do and I hope I accomplished it.”

We continue celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month this week with singer-songwriter Louie Pérez, lead singer of Los Lobos, who chats with radio broadcaster Catalina Maria Johnson about his work and writing. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. <a href="https://americanwritersmuseum.org/blog/awm-podcast/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Listen to all podcast episodes here</a>. <h4>EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS</h4> “Everything I’ve written has always come from the experiences I had growing up. You know, I couldn’t write about Brentwood. Or Beverly Hills. All I can write about is East LA and the experiences I had growing up there.” “There’s something about how your direct experience and your personal emotions can actually translate into other people’s lives. And that’s what I took on as a job as a songwriter.” “If I knew I was gonna live this long I would’ve bought more socks.” “There isn’t anything really specific about anything, it’s all subjective in a way. The things that make us happy are usually kind of relative to what’s going on in our lives.” “I wrote in a universal way so that if I’m talking about the wrong side of the tracks, it could be in East Los Angeles, it could be in Kansas City, it could be anywhere so that people can relate to certain things. That’s what I set out to do and I hope I accomplished it.”

Episode 17:  Louie Pérez