The Last Bandoleros

Blending Tex-Mex flavors with rock & roll through buoyant energy and deliberate restraint, the Last Bandoleros comprise a trio of Jerry Fuentes on guitar and vocals, Diego Navaira on bass and vocals, and Derek James on guitar and vocals. Fuentes and Navaira grew up in San Antonio, Texas, where Navaira’s father, the celebrated Conjunto musician Emilio Navaira, Sr., shaped their early environment. Their listening diet centered on classic Texas figures such as Doug Sahm and Flaco Jimenez alongside classic rock, while James arrived from New York City with a preference for roots rock and Brit-pop built on jangly guitars. The pair had spent time employed at a San Antonio recording studio when a producer urged Jerry to enlist Navaira and his brother, drummer Emilio Navaira, as his rhythm section. The resulting chemistry proved strong, yet Jerry soon moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he encountered Derek James. The two began composing songs, and Diego Navaira later relocated to join them. Once the three musicians refined a signature sound and approach, they commenced regular performances in 2014, with Emilio serving as live drummer. Under the name the Last Bandoleros, they quickly built standing as a leading act in both Brooklyn and San Antonio. Manager Martin Kierszenbaum discovered them in 2015, admired their music and presentation, and placed them on his Cherrytree Management roster; the band then began steady touring, headlining New York’s Webster Hall and supporting ambitious country-pop combo the Mavericks. That same year they issued the digital singles “I Don’t Want to Know” and “Where Do You Go,” which effectively displayed their combination of honky tonk stance and Tex-Mex warmth. Warner Bros. Nashville offered the Last Bandoleros a recording contract in 2016, prompting an April 2016 reissue of “Where Do You Go.”