La Vida Yaya

I believe everyone has a story to tell. Some people are shy and reserved while others wear their past on their sleeves. My friend, George De Los Santos, aka Spider, aka Spiderflesh , not only wears his life on his tattoo sleeve, he shares his story with those that may benefit from learning about his past. He grew up in various cities south of LA from Bell Gardens to Compton and finally Huntington Park. " I’ve always known we were poor. That has been something I accepted and was humbled by. My mother has always been a worker. Not so much in a 'job' but more so in side-jobs that pay," said George as I asked about his childhood. " My 'real' dad was not around much and when he was it just lead to disappointment so I’ve not sought him out anymore. I have learned to appreciate my mother over the years as I became a parent but there were many years that I resented some of her actions as I was growing up. I later realized that she’s human and did t...

View of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge on my last trip. Photo by YayaDeLeon There's something calm and intimate about San Francisco and its surrounding areas. One of my first visits was a road trip with my girlfriends to see Quetzal perform at the Fillmore. I can't remember details but I do remember the quietness of the city and the way locals carved out serene spaces within its tiny boundaries. A little garden here, a farmer's market stand there. People moving about their business in internal contemplation. Even the Golden Gate Bridge sits quietly in the foggy haze. Perhaps that is why I am surprised to have been introduced to who has easily become my new favorite Latino hip hop/rock band, straight out of the Bay area, Bang Data. I have to credit my friend Maria for pushing me to get to know their music. I saw them play at La Cita in downtown LA but didn't pay much attention to the style or lyrics. I remember having a great time but being the music snob that I am...

It must be a great time to be gay because all around me, there are good gay things going on in the mainstream. I've never had first-hand knowledge of the gay community in general and never spent much time thinking about gays or their social/political issues. Yet lately I've been surrounded by a plethora of what is now positive stories of the LGBT community. I guess it all started last year with the installation of the Brokeback Mountain shirts in the Autry gallery. I quickly learned just how iconic those shirts are to the LGBT community. They're the "red ruby slippers of our time" said the owner of the shirts. We had a nice group of gay cowboys attend the installation opening. I didn't know what to expect when I heard they were attending. When I first saw them, they were lined up wearing their matching blue rodeo cowboy shirts and proceeded to march in to the event. It was a statement. They made such an impression. It was pretty cool. Following that came the ...

The City of Los Angeles officially declares April 23rd, 2010 as “Ozomatli Day” to celebrate and recognize the fifteenth year of the LA-based and Grammy-award winning band, Ozomatli. This celebration will include a special presentation of “Ozomatli Day” by Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa and Los Angeles City Council members at the Los Angeles City Hall. I have followed Ozo for years, since I moved to LA in the early 90s. My college roommate was Rocio Marron who played with Quetzal. Our group of friends at USC's Latino Floor (residential housing) would follow Rocio around to all her gigs, see Quetzal play with Ozo and other LA bands like Aztlan Underground, Quinto Sol, Lysa Flores and other groups no-longer in existence like Mazzy Star. All very talented group of musicians and friends.Although I will always be a die-hard Quetzal fan, I can't help but feel an immense amount of pride for the Ozo boys. I've gotten to know them a little more in recent years being an official Ozohe...

The guys will be in D.C. performing at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's 2009 Awards Gala where Barack and Michelle Obama will be attending. The event marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month with over 2,000 guests in attendance. Check out the LA Weekly blog post about it with a cool video of the guys in Burma.

There are no LA dates but it's good to promote our local boys on tour. Ozomatli has teamed up with Musictoday® to offer pre-sale tickets for all the shows on the upcoming "Off the Grid" Fall Tour. Musictoday® is also offering our fans the lowest service fees around! Not only will the hardcore fans, aka you, be able to purchase tickets with low service fees before anyone else - we have also added some dope prizes for people who purchase their tickets early. See details here.