Levitt Pavilion Denver presents Calexico with special guests DeVotchKa and Molly Parden.

Tickets: General – Free or $45 Molly Spirits VIP Lounge
Doors at 5 pm, show starts at 6 pm

Calexico – Calexico’s Joey Burns and John Convertino return in 2022 with their luminous 10th studio album, El Mirador; a hopeful, kaleidoscopic beacon of rock, bluesy ruminations and Latin American sounds, to be released on April 8. Convening at longtime bandmate Sergio Mendoza’s home studio in Tucson, Arizona, the ensemble recorded throughout the summer of 2021, crafting one of their most riveting and whimsical productions to date. Convertino, who now resides in El Paso, and Burns, who relocated to Boise in 2020, channeled cherished memories of Southwestern landscapes and joyful barrio melting pots into an evocative love letter to the desert borderlands that nourished them for over 20 years. “El Mirador is dedicated to family, friends and community,” says Burns; singer, multi-instrumentalist and co-founder of Calexico. “The pandemic highlighted all the ways we need each other, and music happens to be my way of building bridges and encouraging inclusiveness and positivity. That comes along with sadness and melancholy, but music sparks change and movement.”

Oscillating between haunting desert noirs and buoyant jolts of cumbia and Cuban son, the album is permeated by longing. The title track conjures images of a lighthouse, beckoning to lost souls in the night with hypnotic bass lines and cascading percussion. That same search for meaning and safety carries over onto “Cumbia Peninsula,” a soaring dance floor epic about confronting our fear of the unknown. The song weaves themes of immigration, a world in turmoil, and the virulent manipulation of information; never offering a diagnosis but wholeheartedly advocating for unity and compassion as a treatment for our social ills. “El Mirador” features gossamer vocals from Guatemalan singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno, while Spanish rocker Jairo Zavala brings his signature bravado to “Cumbia Peninsula.” By working with friends and recurring collaborators, Calexico also highlights the unique social and linguistic intersections at the US-Mexico border and the magnificent possibilities of a borderless world. “The album is trying to convey openness,” adds Burns. “Look around you. If you’re in the North, you need a South to live in balance. We’re all breathing together.”

DeVotchKa – A cross-pollination of numerous influences, including cabaret, spaghetti Westerns, norteño, punk, and the dance music of Eastern Europe, Colorado’s DeVotchKa, formed in Denver by Nick Urata (vocals, guitar, trumpet), Tom Hagerman (violin, accordion), Jeanie Schroder (sousaphone, bass) and percussionist Shawn King, emerged as unlikely indie heroes in the mid-
2000s infusing modern indie music with a global flavor. They found widespread success in 2006 with their Grammy-nominated soundtrack to the hit indie film Little Miss Sunshine. They’ve made triumphant appearances at festivals like Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Bumbershoot, and more intimate collaborations with beloved cultural institutions like the Colorado Symphony.

Molly Parden – Born and raised in Jonesboro, GA to a family that had little exposure to music apart from a church hymnal, Molly Parden’s career in music is something of a mystery—something that happened to her more than it was ever anything she set out to achieve. When none of her siblings took a particular interest in music at a young age, Molly inherited a violin built by her great uncle—discovering her lifelong love for music through the haunting simplicity of melodies, long before she ever heard pop music, picked up a guitar, or started singing songs of her own.