Los Lobos and Austin City Limits both celebrate 40th birthdays this year! Los Lobos performs on Austin City Limits on November 8, 2014. Thao & the Get Down Stay Down perform on Austin City Limits on November 8, 2014. Watch Austin City Limits on PBS.

Performances: Dec 12 & 13 @8pm

“We’re a Mexican American band, and no word describes America like immigrant. Most of us are children of immigrants, so it’s perhaps natural that the songs we create celebrate America in this way.” So says Louie Perez, the “poet laureate” and primary wordsmith of Los Lobos, when describing the songs on the band’s new album, Gates of Gold.

The stories on Gates of Gold are snapshots of experiences that Perez and his band mates have had, based on where they are emotionally and how they respond to evolving life circumstances.