When iZCALLi headlines Rock de Mayo at Levitt Pavilion on May 15, it will be the Denver rock band’s first time playing a concert in over a year.
“We’re getting ready to get back on track, and honestly, this is exactly where we left off last year, says Miguel Avina, singer and guitarist for the band, which also includes drummer Luiggy Ramirez and Miguel s sister, bassist Brenda Avina. Before the pandemic, the act had enjoyed enormous local success, playing nearly every major venue other than Red Rocks and Ball Arena.
This will be the eighth edition of Rock de Mayo, a showcase of genre-spanning Latin music everything from hip-hop to mariachi to jazz handpicked by Miguel. This year’s lineup includes his father’s rock band, El Cro; the Trujillo Company; Los Reyes del Huepa; musical polymath Wes Watkins; Mono Verde Collective; the hip-hop group 2MX2; and Verena and Danilo Santoy, with guest appearances by Tamara, Disco Movil Maracay, Andy Gonzalez of Roka Hueka, Bail
Near the beginning of the pandemic, the members of Denver psych-rock band Eldren were in the same position as other acts around the globe: They couldn’t tour, and they couldn’t rehearse or record together.
But they wanted to keep collaborating in some way, so singer/guitarist Nasir Malik proposed that the band challenge itself by creating an album solely of cover songs. That would eventually become
Separation Sessions, which started streaming on digital platforms in April.
Not long after Bill Withers passed away, on March 30, 2020, Malik and singer, guitarist and keyboardist Tyler Imbrogno, who formed the band about a decade ago, started working on the Withers staple “Ain’t No Sunshine” with fellow members violinist Josh Lee, bassist Mason Shelmire and drummer Forrest Raup. They each recorded separate parts, sharing them on Google Drive, while Imbrogno mixed the songs in his Daymoon Studios.