Mavericks Enter the Next Phase

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The way guitarist Eddie Perez sees and feels it, The Mavericks are set to enter yet another phase of their career with the release of Moon & Stars in May. “I feel like we are on the precipice of yet another journey, another road to go down,” he says.

That journey stretches back to 1989. The band’s popularity soared with the release in 1994 of its third album, What a Crying Shame, and the Mavericks scored more chart hits throughout the rest of the decade on albums like Music for All Occasions and Trampoline and won a Grammy in 1996 for their song “Here Comes the Rain.”

The Mavericks will perform Thursday, April 11 at the Pabst Theater.

But after a self-titled effort in 2003 on Sanctuary, the Mavericks’ first studio album in five years and Perez’s debut with the group, the band went quiet—and appeared to be done before reuniting in 2011 and releasing In Time in 2013. More albums followed over the next few years.

In 2020, the Miami-born band released its first all-Spanish language album, En Español, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the album debuted at number one on Billboard’s Latin Pop album chart. But just like other performers, the Mavericks were largely unable to support the album at the time because of pandemic-related closings. 

According to Perez, since performance venues have reopened, the Mavericks have tried their best to make up for all those lost dates and lost momentum, averaging nearly 200 days on the road the last couple of years. “This is a commitment. It’s not for everybody,” he says. “Usually, bands like us that are a little bit left of center, you usually have to make it all work and go out there and do the shows to make this all make sense to you.”

New album May 17

Recorded during tour breaks over the last year, Moon & Stars will be released through their own Mono Mundo label. Two singles, including the Marty Robbins-reminiscent title track, have already been released. “We started this journey I think last year this time in Sante Fe, New Mexico, and had a very fruitful outing there with the serendipitous addition of Sierra Farrell and her band joining us on Moon & Stars, Perez says. “We had many moments like that along the way of recording this album, and really the only way we could do it was in between tour dates when we had all the band together. So, we would find places.”

In addition to the session at Frogville Studios in Sante Fe, recording took place at Dockside Studios in Maurica, La., and Blackbird Studio in Nashville. “The songs on it are amazing,” says Perez. “I found myself in every single one of these songs. But to be a part of it, and the way we did this, was just a pretty special thing.”

Along the way last year, the band lost bassist Ed Friedland, who had replaced longtime member Robert Reynolds. Perez says Friedland’s departure changed the dynamic of the band’s sound because lead vocalist Raul Malo switched from guitar to bass. “I find that one of the different elements that’s in the sauce this time around is that we became a little bit of a different band, and a little more economical in the sense of how we approach our instruments and how we bring it together in context of the songs,” he says.

The stop in Milwaukee on Thursday is part of a long spring and summer tour that will take the Mavericks across the United States and Europe. “This year is certainly a year for us, at least as we have all talked about it, as it’s time to step it up another couple of notches,” Perez says.