Latina Blues Machine
By Cristina Correa, Latina Voices
Outside of the Golly Box Co. on this otherwise quiet and factory-laden block of the Chicago neighborhood known as Back of the Yards, a guitar can be heard comfortably reaching high notes like a morning cardinal. It is the release party for The Luna Blues Machine’s first full-length album, where entry includes a copy of the CD, a plastic cup for bottomless sangria and as many homemade flautas as you can eat. The mood is familial and celebratory.
“They’re so good!” a zealous fan turns and remarks mid-sway to no one in particular.
The Luna Blues Machine, or LBM, has been making sound waves since 2001 when sisters Maritza and Belinda Cervantes decided to join guitar, mandolin and soulful harmonies to form an indefinable musical powerhouse. They make up half of the band that the artsy, twenty- and thirty-something crowd has come out to support. The other half of LBM, made up of bassist John “Hippie” Germinaro and a rotating drummer, tends to stay in the background.
Later, in the comfort of Maritza’s modest Pilsen apartment, the ladies say, “our Latino artist friends are very supportive, and we’re lucky that we’re surrounded by a lot of them.” They discuss the different kinds of communities they belong to, from local theatre as members of the all-Latina company Teatro Luna to the mostly white and hippyish North Side musicians who have embraced LBM’s jam band appeal.
Belinda, 30, notes that she had “encountered someone who didn’t like that we would play in the North Side.” Chicago’s neighborhoods are notoriously divided by racial lines, which sometimes causes a friction much deeper than a baseball game between the Cubs and the White Sox.
The Cervantes sisters are true blue South Siders, who grew up in Back of the Yards where their father owns a business, but Martiza, 31, adds, “The North Side scene is who embraced us first. For me, it isn’t a cultural thing. It’s just who heard us.”
IT’S POSSIBLE, I’VE SEEN IT
When asked about what musical genres their music is most like, the answer was complex: a little bit of the 50′s rock & roll and mariachi their parents listened to mixed with the jam band and hip-hop they fell in love with later. It is something they refer to as “roots music” which is, loosely translated, an amalgamation of many genres that speak to their hearts. “I think about somebody like Beck,” says Maritza. “Every single song on his album is like what genre is this? And he’s doing it. So there’s room for us.”
But Beck is not the only one able to make his living on an impressively outside-the-box discography. There is a long list of musicians who double as actors on the stage and big screen and are able to make rent and feel creatively fulfilled at the end of the day. People like Gary Sinise, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Jennifer Lopez have all doubled as actors and musicians. It is likely that support was the key to those actor-musicians’ stardom. LBM insists that the support of their audience is their ticket to the top.
“Both of my [music and theatre] communities are supporting me to do both things and not making me feel bad for it,” says Maritza.
WE WANT TO GROW
These women have acted and co- and assistant directed five Teatro Luna productions since 2005, while nurturing their love for playing music and their desire to keep paying the bills. “After high school drama club and practicing En Vogue harmonies together, who would want to pick just one?” Belinda confirms. “We’ve never had to choose.”
But even with a group of consistent supporters, Maritza and Belinda—like any independent artists—have their share of struggles. Belinda says that “it’s hard being involved in two really awesome things—[LBM and Teatro Luna]—and juggling them.” Maritza adds. “People ask me all the time to pick one, but I see people doing both all the time.”
It is clear that these ladies love what they do, and would not trade it for anything. But, as Maritza notes, it is a difficult decision. “I’m at the point in my life where I want these things to take care of me,” she says.
This is a struggle that many working artists are familiar with: how to make ends meet and maintain your creative edge. Maritza insists on the urgency of their craft. “I believe that what I write out of necessity can help me make money and reach other people,” she says.
With the impenetrable bond of sisterhood and creative necessity backing them up, along with their deeply supportive and constantly growing fan base, it is likely that Maritza and Belinda will go far. The sisters agree: “The Luna Blues Machine is our vision in the end. We say what do we want to do? And we do it.”
You can see more of them on the LBM Web site and on their MySpace page or on Facebook.
This article was first published in Latina Voices.
{photo courtesy Latina Voices]
