Raul Malo 'Lucky One' album

Raul Malo’s Fantasy Records label debut album, Lucky One, finds him fully shedding his musical shackles. “I have been fighting my whole life against people who want to pigeonhole music. I feel like I’ve got no restrictions anymore.” Malo is known for his work as the frontman of the Grammy Award-winning, globally platinum- and gold-certified band the Mavericks. Following two albums of covers, Lucky One is Malo’s first album original material in seven years.

The CD will hit the streets on March 3rd, fronted by the lead single “Hello Again.”

Malo has earned much critical respect over the years. USA Today applauded “a voice that seems to have no limits of range or versatility.” The New York Times said, “Malo has an exceptional voice, a burnished tenor that harks back to Roy Orbison and the great Cuban singer Beny Moré.” Rolling Stone added, “Raul Malo has a voice on par with the best of ‘em: Sinatra, George Jones and Orbison.” And The Wall Street Journal opined: “Malo’s superb voice is big and melodic with a natural vibrato. Exquisite.”

Malo wrote Lucky One over a two-year period at his Nashville home and was so happy with the results that several of his home demos appear as final versions on the CD. For the balance of the album, he once again enlisted Steve Berlin, best known for his work with Los Lobos and who worked on Malo’s 2001 Today album, as co-producer. “I trust Steve musically,” Malo says. “Art comes first with him. That’s the most important quality of all. Nothing gets in the way of that.”

Lucky One follows You’re Only Lonely and After Hours, two CDs of cover songs written by Malo’s favorite tunesmiths including Kris Kristofferson, Dwight Yoakam, Willie Nelson and Roger Miller.

“How could that not influence my songwriting on Lucky One?” Malo asks. “It certainly had an effect on how I wrote for this. There’s an appreciation for song structure, melody and lyric that these guys certainly had.”

Songs on Lucky One range from the upbeat “Moonlight Kisses,” to songs like “One More Angel” and “Rosalie,” which take on mortality and the loss of life. “Hello Again” is a deceptively upbeat, swinging tale of heartbreak, and the closing track “So Beautiful” is an ultimately uplifting benediction influenced by events in and outside Malo’s home.

While fans wait the March 3 release of Lucky One, Malo will travel to several cities in December to preview the songs live, perform solo and Mavericks classics while sprinkling in some holiday cheer. Tour cities are as follows:

Raul Malo tour dates
2/20 Belfast Songwriters Festival Nashville, TN

3/06 Alladin Theatre Portland, OR
3/07 Snoqualmie Casino Snoqualmie, WA
3/08 Tractor Tavern Seattle, WA
3/10 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA
3/11 House of Blues Anaheim, CA
3/12 House of Blues West Hollywood, CA
3/13 Clark Center Theatre Arroyo Grande, CA
3/14 John Ascuaga's Nugget Hotel &Casino Sparks, NV
3/16 Belly Up Tavern Solana Beach, CA

4/03 The Landmark on Main Street Port Washington, NY
4/04 Ridgefield Playhouse Ridgefield, CT
4/05 Keswick Theatre Glenside, PA
4/09 Byham Theater Pittsburgh, PA

Raul Malo biography
Considered to be one of the finest singers in the world, Raul Malo has always crossed cultures and blurred musical boundaries, breaking new ground with his distinctive balance of vintage sound and contemporary attitude. Born in Miami of Cuban parents, Raul is best known as the founder and frontman of Grammy-winning, multi-platinum band the Mavericks. He made his mark in the country music world and then drifted into the Latin and jazz arenas via rock n roll. Rauls talent has proven over the years to be ever expanding--as a true fan of all kinds of music, he sees only a fine line between rock n roll, country and salsa rhythms.

Currently Raul is traveling in the US making a short series of very unique solo appearances. Sheer exuberance...Malo mixes lounge crooning with zestful Latin music and adds a dash of country twang, writes the Chicago Tribune. Each night, Raul delivers an eclectic mix of personal and fan favorites, beautifully performed and extremely diverse. The set includes stunning acoustic renditions of several of the best-loved songs from the Mavericks catalog--his signature hits What A Crying Shame, Dance The Night Away,Here Comes The Rain, and All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down. Staggeringly powerful live, Raul is just as likely to break into Tom Jones Its Not Unusual, as the Cuban standards Guantanamera and Siboney, then follow with Merle Haggards Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down or Rodgers and Harts Blue Moon.

Unusually charismatic and possessing a keen wit, Raul is larger than life. To hear him perform live is to be in the presence of greatness. Force of nature Raul Malo wraps his husky vocals around everything like he owns the copyright on heartbreak, says Entertainment Weekly. Rauls far-reaching talent and adventurous attitude toward his music has often led to the pursuit of new creative endeavors, and in the last couple of years he has established himself as a solo artist, as a producer and television musical director, and as a member of the super-group Los Super Seven.

Yet, first and foremost, Raul is a singer. Raul Malo has a voice on par with the best of em: Sinatra, George Jones and Orbison, says Rolling Stone. As the lead Maverick, as a key participant on the last two Los Super Seven albums and as a solo artist, Raul has been making records now for a good 15 years. Not just any records, but really good records -- the kind discriminating fans, critics and especially fellow musicians rally behind and cherish regardless of fickle fashion and commercial success. Its a body of work full of surprising stylistic quick turns and unexpected detours -- from country to Tex-Mex rock n roll to joyously kitschy 60s cocktail pop to strait-up, traditional Cuban and South American music -- but always executed with a degree of craft and ultra-confidence suggesting an artist who, far from fumbling around in the creative dark, always seems to know exactly what hes doing and where he wants to go.

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Raul Malo - Lucky One