BIOGRAPHY
Calexico formed in Tucson, Arizona, in 1996 when Joey Burns and John Convertino, who first played together in Giant Sand, launched a new project named after the border city of Calexico, California. Their debut, Spoke, originally recorded in 1995 for the German label Hausmusik, was reissued in 1997 after the duo signed with Quarterstick Records. The band's sound fuses the dust of the American Southwest with spaghetti western scores, cool jazz, and Latin influences, expanding with horns and violin on 2000's Hot Rail. Their 1998 concept album The Black Light, about the Arizona-Mexico desert, drew acclaim from the Wall Street Journal, while 2003's Feast of Wire became a critical and commercial breakthrough, earning an 8.9 from Pitchfork and praise from the Guardian. Calexico has since collaborated with Willie Nelson, Neko Case, and Iron & Wine, and their 2018 album The Thread That Keeps Us earned five stars from the Independent and praise from NPR.