The Tex Mex Experience

“We're just movin' and groovin'! Things have been bustin'

lately, ya know? We've got a full plate of tacos, man!”



Does that sound familiar? If it does, you're probably a

Doug-head. If it doesn't, prepare to party in pure Texas style.

Shawn Sahm is here with the Tex Mex Experience and life will

never be the same. Sahm has gathered four musicians whose

experience and backgrounds complement his own for a fiesta

not soon forgotten.



From the moment he sat on the knee of his father Doug Sahm

on the cover of Rolling Stone in 1968, there was never a question

as to what Shawn's path in life would be: it's always been on the

road. And after his father passed away in 1999, Shawn wasn't about

to slow down. Having spent the better part of the last six years

overseeing the estate and various projects, he returned to his first

musical love: the amalgam of rock & roll and across-the-border

rhythms that define the Tex-Mex sound.



“The idea was to take the influences, the sound, the real stuff, what's

in your heart and in your soul,” Shawn enthuses. “That music is a

part of me. What makes the band unique is that we are doing music

for the love of it. It's not the ‘in' thing or the popular thing, it's

something I'll be doing one way or another for the rest of my life.

Even when I was young playing in rock bands, I was always

playing with Dad and writing songs.”



Shawn Sahm also learned how to put together the right musicians

for the right sound and when it came time to lay down the bottom

of the band.



No surprise that Neal Walker would pick up the bass slot in the Tex Mex

Experience. Walker played with Shawn in his teenage metal band

Prezence and impressed all enough to join Doug on a variety of

albums and tours. “Dad loved his harmony. Neal has this killer high harmony

Dad said was like a young Atwood Allen.” High praise indeed!



Accordionist and vocalist Mike Guerra played in the Texamaniacs.

Guerra, an import from Los Angeles

also recently recorded with Los Lonely Boys, Phil Vassar and brings his bajo and keyboards to the Tex Mex Experience. “He's got the makings of the next Flaco,” Shawn praises his bandmate. “He's our MVP.”



And speaking of Flaco, Nunie Rubio regularly sings with the noted accordionist.

Rubio's distinctive vocals are one of the Tex Mex

Experience's hallmarks. “I really like to use the voices in a more

traditional way, with three- and four-part harmonies,” explains Shawn.

“It was interesting to find someone in my age group that understood this kind

of music. Ya got to understand the music and Nunie understands.”



The mix music of the Tex Mex Experience is fresh and refreshing.

“I wear my influences on my sleeve and make no bones about it,”

Shawn acknowledges the Texas Tornados as influence, “but that

doesn't do justice to the musicians in this band.”



“For the music, we used Tex-Mex rock & roll, country, a little Cajun vibe. Polkas.

I called it the Tex-Mex Experience was because the food and the lifestyle is very

eclectic. It's not one thing, it's a little of this and a little

of that. Hippies and rednecks and Mexican food, all mixed together!

Having a good time on the dancefloor in a musical groove.”



So what's in the near future for the Tex Mex Experience?



“We've been showcasing, and out on tour with Los Lonely Boys,”

Shawn Sahm recounts the band's initial forays. “I want to make a memorable

Tex-Mex record, one as good for a few beers and as to

dance to. And make it under the moonlight!”



Bueno plan!



- Margaret Moser



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