Franky Perez: Poor Man's Son in L.A.
He was born in Las Vegas of Cuban parents who were exiled from their country in the 1960's. Restless and talented, Franky Perez threw the family guitar in his truck and headed for New York but ran out of money in New Orleans where a fortune teller told him he was on the right path to what he wanted...to make music for a living.
The talented musician, singer, songwriter learned rock from his dad's record collection and Latin beats from a Miami Conga master. Franky was invited to L.A. by manager Pete Angelus who worked with The Black Crowes and Van Halen. After a productive road trip to California, Franky put together his band The Highway Saints and started bringing the songs for his album "Poor Man's Son" to life. His music is wide-ranged; everything from hard-driving blue-collar rock on tunes like "Cecilia" and "Class Act" to Cuban beat sounds (Franky plays guitar, keyboards and of course, occasionally,those Congas). The first single from the album is "Something Crazy" a rock ballad about an abused woman escaping her relationship.
Perez's music for this album, mostly written on the road, has heart, soul and incredible musicianship. When I saw Franky and his Highway Saints on stage at The Gig, a small club on funky Melrose Avenue in L.A., he was on fire! The singer was warm and welcoming to his audience and announced that The Gig was where he was discovered.
Perez is a live wire, dancing, doing the splits, moving from acoustic to electric guitar to drums all seamlessly and his voice is strong and clear. The Highway Saints are no slouches either. Brian Bissel on guitar, Peter Cicchetti, bass, Bobby Lynch, keyboards and Bailey Hicks, drums, are all virtuoso players. This is one of the tightest most talented bands I've heard in a while.
If the popular music industry is ditching the augmented techno sound and going back to basics; talented musicians and songwriters who don't need electronic studio aid to rock our world, then Franky Perez is on a leading edge of the movement. For Perez, it's bluesy soul tunes, rock with a driving beat, great guitar work, and stories, good stories that mean something, all written from the heart of the artist; a poor man's son who loves his country ("America, You Are a Part of Me") and the crafts of storytelling and performance. It's all there in the album "Poor Man's Son" but, if he comes to your area, catching Franky and his Highway Saints live, is a musical treat you don't want to miss. Check out Franky's Website for info...a really hot video and tour dates.
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