Local band Los Hermanos begins new chapter of performances, Conjunto-style music

Brad Heineman, The Daily Telegram
·5 min read
Local band Los Hermanos is pictured earlier in July performing for audience members in Adrian at the River Raisin Ragtime Revue on the campus of PlaneWave Instruments. The band, which has gone through a recent lineup change and name change, too, will headline the bandshell performances today at the Lenawee County Fair, with a 7 p.m. show.
Local band Los Hermanos is pictured earlier in July performing for audience members in Adrian at the River Raisin Ragtime Revue on the campus of PlaneWave Instruments. The band, which has gone through a recent lineup change and name change, too, will headline the bandshell performances today at the Lenawee County Fair, with a 7 p.m. show.

ADRIAN — After paying the price of admission to get into the Lenawee County Fair, patrons can be treated to hours of free, local entertainment right on the fair’s historic bandshell stage.

Through the years, the bandshell has become an avenue where entertainers, musicians and organizations from the area can put on a show in front of a live audience on one of Lenawee County’s biggest and best attended stages.

And on Monday nights of the fair, as has been the custom for the past several years, one local band with more than a decade of performances in the county, takes the stage at 7 p.m. and encourages audiences to “get off their seat and onto their feet.”

Los Hermanos, which went through a bit of a lineup change recently and because of that dropped the name “Villegas” from its band name — Los Hermanos Villegas — is the headlining act today at the Lenawee County Fair.

Prior to Los Hermanos taking the stage, the bandshell today features a fire and public safety presentation from 1 to 3 p.m. and Project Runway at 5 p.m. for the 4-H performing arts.

When it was known as Los Hermanos Villegas, the band consisted primarily of the Villegas brothers: George, Ruben, Santos, Steve and Vince, hence the name of Los Hermanos Villegas aka The Villegas Brothers.

Santos Villegas Sr. is the eldest member of the local band Los Hermanos, which has been performing locally for more than one decade. Villegas Sr., along with several of his brothers formed the band Los Hermanos Villegas, aka The Villegas Brothers, which because of lineup changes, dropped the name "Villegas" from the band name and now performs as Los Hermanos — The Brothers.

When the original band was formed, it had a full horn section with Vince on tenor saxophone, and Steve and his son, Jesse, both on the alto saxophone.

Over time, however, the band downsized as some of the members were unable to commit long-term to continue playing with the group.

Most recently, the departure of Ruben and Vince is what’s credited as changing the name of the band to Los Hermanos.

Sergio Villegas is a current member of the group and is the nephew of all the original Villegas band members. Santos Sr. is his father and remains with the band as the eldest member. Another Villegas also performs with the band, Santos Jr., who is Santos’ son and Sergio’s brother.

Members of the Los Hermanos are seen performing earlier in July at the River Raisin Ragtime Revue in Adrian on the campus of PlaneWave Instruments. Band members pictured are, from left, Cristobal Najar, Alejandro Cresencio and Sergio Villegas.
Members of the Los Hermanos are seen performing earlier in July at the River Raisin Ragtime Revue in Adrian on the campus of PlaneWave Instruments. Band members pictured are, from left, Cristobal Najar, Alejandro Cresencio and Sergio Villegas.

While there is still Villegas representation in the band, it was decided to change the name of the group and head in a new direction, Sergio said.

“Our new lineup has been together since Cinco de Mayo,” he said. “... Just my dad, brother and I are the remaining Villegas.”

The six members of Los Hermanos — The Brothers — consist of Santos Sr., Santos Jr., Sergio, Lawrence Pabolo (who has been with the band during Los Hermanos Villegas and now Los Hermanos), and the new coming members Alejandro Cresencio from Detroit and Cristobal Najar from Kalamazoo.

Cristobal Najar, left, and Alejandro Cresencio, right, are the newest members to join the local band Los Hermanos, formerly known as Los Hermanos Villegas. Najar, from Kalamazoo, plays the accordion in the band and provides vocals. Cresencio, from Detroit, provides lead vocals. They are pictured here performing during a concert earlier this July in Adrian at the River Raisin Ragtime Revue.

With the exception of Cresencio and Najar, band members are all local from Adrian, Sergio said.

“My dad and his brothers played for many bands but never all of them in the same band until Los Hermanos Villegas was formed,” he said. “... It was a whole family thing, but one-by-one life happened, and things came up to where everyone couldn’t fully commit.”

Cresencio and Najar, while the newest members of the group, are the front-men, providing lead vocals with Najar on the accordion. Santos Sr. plays the bajo guitar, Pabolo is on the bass guitar, Santos Jr. is the drummer and provides background vocals, and Sergio is on percussion and does singing.

Two veteran members of the local band Los Hermanos, are pictured earlier this July performing in Adrian during the River Raisin Ragtime Revue on the campus of PlaneWave Instruments. Band members here are, from left, drummer Santos Villegas Jr. and Lawrence Pabolo on the bass guitar.
Two veteran members of the local band Los Hermanos, are pictured earlier this July performing in Adrian during the River Raisin Ragtime Revue on the campus of PlaneWave Instruments. Band members here are, from left, drummer Santos Villegas Jr. and Lawrence Pabolo on the bass guitar.

“It is new for me to be on stage,” Sergio said. “For the old band, I just ran the sound equipment, and my dad, brother and Lawrence played the same instruments they do now.”

Los Hermanos performs Latin and Conjunto-style music. They’ll also try to “mix things up,” with some other songs and musical styles, Sergio said.

“We are still trying to make that same sound that made the original band so popular, but we’re also adding our own twist to things,” he said.

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Santos Jr. has become the unofficial business manager of the band, which he said requires a lot of behind-the-scenes work and plenty of phone conversations.

“I need to worry about things like getting everybody to our venue on time and making sure we know when we are going on stage and what we’ll be playing,” he said.

Los Hermanos has been at the Lenawee County Fair’s bandshell for the past six years, at least, Santos Jr. said.

“We’ve been blessed to be invited back to the fair,” he said. “You can’t beat the atmosphere between the people having fun and grooving to the music. Usually, we have a pretty good crowd (at the fair). They get into it. We like to keep the front of the stage open so people can dance if they want to. We feed off the people when we are playing. If they’re having a good time, we’re having a good time.”

Monday at the fair

Hours: 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Grandstand: 7 p.m., Figure 8 car and truck demolition. $10 general admission and $15 box seat. Pit tickets are $12 plus fair admission for those 10 or older. Pit tickets are $10 for those 9 or younger. Grandstand prices are in addition to fair admission.

Bandshell: 7 p.m., Los Hermanos.

Admission: $7 general admission; children 9 or younger are free; active military with identification are free. Parking is free and handicap parking is available in the Dean Street lot by the fair office and the grandstand entrance.  

Note: No midway rides on Monday.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Local band Los Hermanos begins new chapter of area performances