Where to start with this post? I guess the easiest way to do it is just come straight out with it: Pancho Ballard and the Banditos are no more.

Well, kind of anyway. After six years of leading the finest Mexican band in the North West, I’ve decided to put it on indefinite hold. It’s been a wonderful experience and I’ve made some great friends. Every single member of the band, past and present, has had a big impact on my life and without wishing to embarrass anybody, Luke and Dick have in particular become two of my closest friends, and always will be.

We’ve played some great gigs, from our early days at Number Fifteen and The Dog and Partridge, to the Bitter Suite in Preston, the great Questock festival, Whippoorwill in Sheffield, Darwen Live Festival and the amazing gigs at Hole In’Th’ Wall in Hebden Bridge. And those gigs have introduced us to some wonderful people. Tokyo Rosenthal, Charlie Chamberlain and Craig Priestley in particular have had a big impact on the band and I hope some day I’ll get the chance to work with them again. And then there are the fans. We’ve never had a massive following in the thousands, or even the hundreds, but every single one of the fans have been great and you understand how important they are to a band when you have to write something like this. Without you the Banditos would have remained a silly recording project that I did at home. With you we became a fully fledged band who got to play in some great places to some great people. So, er, you know, gracias.

So, what happens now then? Well, at the moment nothing really. We may go into the studio to record the last set of songs we had written but that’s not really been decided. It may happen, it may not. One thing we certainly won’t be doing is gigging. For now, and probably for the indefinite future, the Banditos no longer exists as a gigging unit. And unless you can offer us a small tour of the US with all expenses paid, it’s very doubtful that we’ll be persuaded to do any more gigs.

As for myself, I may, just may, record some solo Pancho Ballard stuff. I have an album’s worth of songs that were never played by the band and I think most of them are worth recording. Whether I do though, is hard to say. Other projects occupy my time these days, mainly photography and illustration, so finding the time to also record a full album is difficult. But I won’t rule it out. I’m also retiring from my position as bass player in Northern Souls, the covers band I play in with Jay, Ben and Mark. We have a couple more gigs to do and then I’m officially no longer in any bands. And to be honest, that feels quite liberating.

So, like I said, thanks for being fans of the Banditos. I hope you had as much fun as I did.

Tags: announcement, charlie chamberlain, tokyo rosenthal, whippoorwill

It’s new single time amigos!

The Banditos second single is now out and can be downloaded from CD Baby. Titled Mexican Friend, many of you may already know this song (indeed, some of you may already own it!) but this is the first time it’s had an official digital release. Dealing with racism and the stigma of mixed marriages, it’s our attempt to show people that whilst we may occasionally employ the odd Mexican stereotype, we are united in our wish to end racism worldwide.

Don’t worry though, it’s not as serious as it sounds! Check it out at CD Baby and if you like it, write a review, we’d really appreciate that.

Tags: cd baby, music, news, single

In a transcontinental link-up, Pancho Ballard and the Banditos have teamed up with Americana artist, Tokyo Rosenthal, to provide brass for two of the tracks on his new album, Who Was That Man?

With parts written and arranged by Pancho, Jay and Ben both play trumpet on the title track and a song called The Librarian. The rest of the album is a great piece of Americana and comes heartily recommended. It can be purchased online at CD Baby and I’m presuming it’ll be on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify etc. before very long, if not already!

Tags: cd baby, tokyo rosenthal, who was that man

I know it’s early but in this age of music on demand timing doesn’t seem to matter anymore.

So here, after about 2 years of playing it live, is the recorded version of Mexican Boy in the Snow. You can buy it from iTunes, or from CD Baby by clicking on the picture.

Tags: Christmas, single

The guys at Whippoorwill posted a great review of our Sheffield gig on their Facebook page. Here’s the review in full;

Whippoorwill’s successful blues and country night came to the Green Room on the 17th, showcasing two very different groups of musicians.

Tongue placed firmly in cheek, mariachi band Pancho Ballard and The Banditos kicked off the evening with a song about a Mexican wrestler. Complete with sombreros, “Ay Carumbas!” and cardboard cacti, you (almost) felt transported to the streets of Guadelajara.
“We’ve travelled a great distance to be here tonight…We’ve come from Bolton”. The most authentic mariachi band to come out of the North West of England you’re ever likely to see.
Pancho Ballard set the tone for the evening, ensuring everyone was in high spirits for the main attraction; The Water Tower Bucket Boys. The guys from Portland, Oregon, had folks on their feet dancing to their toe-tappin’ bluegrass Americana, turning the Green Room into a small scale barn dance! It was a real coup for Whippoorwill to catch the Bucket Boys on the European leg of their tour, however, these events have seen a fair few big names take to the stage, having brought C.W. Stoneking to The Stockroom in May, and they’re looking to attract the best blues and roots artists to the city very soon.
To hear about upcoming whippoorwill events, go to their myspace page: www.myspace.com/whippoorwillsheffield

The article was published on Exposed magazine. I’ll post some photos of this gig as soon as they’ve been developed.

Tags: Facebook, sheffield, whippoorwill

Hola amigos!

We’ve been designing t-shirts and have come up with two designs, each potentially in two different colours. We’re looking to sell them at gigs but need a bit of info before we place an order.

Firstly, have a look and tell us your favourite design and colour. Then tell us what size you would be buying. Please note that this is by no means an order, it just gives us an idea of what might be popular. We’ve not decided on a price yet but it will definitely be under ten English pounds.

Here are the designs;

Yellow logo

Blue logo

Yellow Fandito

Blue Fandito

To tell us which you like, sizes etc, just comment on this post. Gracias!

Tags: merchandise, t-shirts

Things have been a little quiet on the Banditos front in the past month or so but we have a couple of gigs coming up in August that are worth mentioning.

First up we’re at Whippoorwill’s night in Sheffield supporting the Water Tower Bucket Boys, all the way from Portland, Oregon in the old U S of A! They start their tour of England and Ireland on August 9th and on the 10th they’re appearing on Mark Lamaar’s Radio 2 show.

We support them in Sheffield on Tuesday August 17th. The venue is the Green Room on Devonshire Street. Click HERE to see a map to the venue. Doors open at 7.30 and we’re on sometime between 8.30-8.45. Tickets are £4 and can be purchased here – http://www.wegottickets.com/event/87597

The following Saturday (August 21st) we’re appearing with Tramtown Junction at Preston’s Bitter Suite venue. As far as I know, admission is free. Tramtown Junction will be on first with the Banditos closing the evening. Doors are probably around 8-ish with the first band probably on around 9pm. Doritos may be making an appearance for those of you who are fans of genuine Mexican cuisine…

Tags: gigs, preston, sheffield

We recently played the Hole Note acoustic club which is held upstairs at Hole In’t Wall, Hebden Bridge. It was a great, fun gig with a fantastic audience, some great acts and just an all round brilliant atmosphere.

The whole (hole!) night was reviewed by Andrew Sugden of the Yorkshire Gig Guide. Here’s our bit;

Then it was time for Pancho Ballad (sic) and the Banditos, a great band featuring drums, spanish guitar, two trumpets a trombone and lots of fun!! They play a sort of Mexican Scar from Bolton with a BIG BIG SOUND. Fun songs, Mex-Bolton Perkins soup Song with funky rhythms, story telling donkeys, cut throats and war, haircuts and hats. They have a fun boozed harmonic appeal cut from superb tight musicianship; and the hole Note Audience loved them, dancing spontaneoulsly, cheering, shouting and clapping to the collision of Mexican Bolton rhythms.

I love this review, he was obviously taking a lot of very quick notes. It comes across like a William Burroughs gig review (if he ever did them). You can read the whole article at the Yorkshire Gig Guide.

Even better, he also filmed our first two numbers and here it is for your pleasure!

Lucha Libre, the opening track from Five Songs For Oscar, has been featured on the CD Baby Music Discovery podcast - http://musicdiscovery.cdbabypodcast.com/

This podcast showcases the best of the music that can be purchased at CD Baby and we’re honoured to have been included. Go listen, maybe even subscribe through iTunes.

And don’t forget, if you like that song, there are four more that are just as good on the E.P.! Click here to buy it…

A few months ago I put the word out that the Banditos were looking for an animated video for The Cut-Throat of Old Mexico. By complete chance, an animation studio called Pew 36 were looking to make a video in the Spaghetti Western genre – perfect timing!

After a few emails between Adam Comiskey (the producer and director) and I, we agreed to put the project into motion. Done as a trailer for the as yet unmade movie, ‘Pancho’, the video shows zombie gunslinger Maverick McGore battle against a town overrun by cactus monsters and an evil sheriff.

We’d like to thank Adam and his studio for the great work they did on the video and are keeping our fingers crossed that the movie gets made, as we’re going to try to persuade him that we need to do the whole soundtrack! Enjoy the video below.