From the central plains of San Angelo, brothers Henry, Jojo and Ringo Garza grew up around music. Their father, Enrique, played conjunto with his own brothers in a group known as the Falcones.
Garza Sr. performed with his sons during their youth, but he took a step back to let them shine on their own. In a YouTube video, Ringo talked about how the group, known as Los Lonely Boys, came upon their name.
“Our name, Los Lonely Boys, came from a song that our father wrote when we were young boys,” Ringo said. “In the song it says ‘I’m just a lonely, lonely boy’…”
The elder Garza took his sons’ musical careers seriously. When they were teenagers, the family moved to Nashville for better exposure. By 1996, Los Lonely Boys were performing, but Nashville didn’t give them the recognition they craved.
By the late 1990s the family returned to Texas and Los Lonely Boys began performing in Austin clubs. Willie Nelson soon heard their demos and became a fan.
Willie invited Los Lonely Boys to perform at the 2003 Farm Aid festival in Columbus, Ohio – their big break. Willie also gave them access to his own Hill Country recording studio and even made a guest appearance on their first self-titled album, which they released without a record label.
But in 2004, Los Lonely Boys signed with Epic records and re-released the album. Epic records gave the album the marketing it needed for commercial success. Their single “Heaven” was a number one hit, and the album was on Billboard’s Top 200 chart for 18 months. In 2005, they earned their first Grammy for the single.
