Calexico is a little town sitting (believe it or not) directly on the California-Mexico border. Back in the good old days, before the border was lined with machine gun, toting guards and man eating dogs, the tiny towns of Calexico and Mexical actually overlapped one another and you could stroll down the main street and have a burrito and cerveza with your neighbours without having to show your passport and get strip-searched.

John Covertino and Joey Burns, rhythm section of Giant Sand, and members of OP8 and the lounge-y Friends of Dean Martinez have formed yet another band whose name perfectly exemplifies the type of music it makes. Calexico takes you on a musical journey through the southwestern U.S. and south of the border. This is music you won’t hear in San Diego, but you will if you travel a few miles south, to Tijuana and beyond. Calexico decided to combine the southwestern feel of the Sonoran desert with their old world, spaghetti western arrangements.

The result turned out to be some kind of mariachi tinged sound track that Ennio Morricone would have scored on peyote in the early 60's to a young Cormac McCarthy screenplay.

opisy: Calexico is a band from Tucson, Arizona that shares a sun-bleached border with many performers and musical styles. Comprised of two core members, Joey Burns and John Convertino, Calexico became its own entity in 1996 with the release of the Spoke LP. Although that record marked the band's first official output, Joey and John had already been playing together as collaborating members of Arizona mainstays Giant Sand. A wide variety of tours, performances (including the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals) and recording sessions as Calexico and with other artists (Neko Case, Victoria Williams, Richard Buckner), as well as their continuing relationship with Giant Sand, allowed the band the opportunity to develop as artists. Over time, Calexico has featured a revolving cast of musicians and instruments, and the band's sonic growth can be traced through its varied releases.