The Silos

Walter Salas-Humara, born in Florida to parents exiled from Cuba, founded the Silos, one of the earliest bands to shape the alternative country movement. While studying at the University of Florida in Gainesville during the early 1980s, he began composing songs and performed with a nascent incarnation of the Vulgar Boatmen. By 1985 he had moved to New York City intent on making a record, and there he teamed with fellow ex-Floridian Bob Rupe, who handled bass and guitar. Together they cut the low-budget debut About Her Steps with assistance from several friends; the album appeared on the small local imprint Record Collect, drew widespread critical praise, and prompted Salas-Humara and Rupe to recruit a road band.

The seasoned lineup entered the studio in 1987 to record Cuba, which brought a tougher, more assured edge to the jangle-and-fuzz sound of the first album. Another critical success followed, leading to a major-label contract with RCA that yielded the band’s self-titled third album in 1990. Though more meticulously arranged and delicately textured than its predecessors, The Silos proved difficult to market and underperformed commercially, despite outselling both Cuba and About Her Steps. RCA ended the relationship, Rupe departed, and Salas-Humara carried on alone; the Texas independent Watermelon Records issued Hasta la Victoria! in 1992.

Following the 1994 release Susan Across the Ocean, the group went dormant for several years. When Heater emerged in 1998, a stable new lineup—Salas-Humara joined by bassist and pedal steel player Drew Glackin and percussionist Konrad Meissner—had coalesced, and a run of strong albums ensued, among them 2001’s Laser Beam Next Door and 2004’s When the Telephone Rings.