Perez brings a hint of nostalgia to House of Blues

Spencer Patterson

Wednesday, April 23, 2003 | 8:32 a.m.

"We were loading in, and I was in the back of the trailer waiting to unload my gear, but there were guys here to do it for us," Perez marveled in a phone interview from the venue. "I was so confused by it.

"I've been hauling my own stuff and tuning my own guitars for so long, this whole thing is very strange. It's such a shock for me."

For Perez, the moment signaled an arrival, the culmination of years spent playing in bands in Southern Nevada and Los Angeles, searching for a record contract.

May 13 will be another significant date for Perez. That's when his debut release on Atlantic subsidiary label Lava Records, "Poor Man's Son," hits shelves. First single "Something Crazy" is already in heavy rotation on VH1, along with local modern rock radio station KMBX 94.1-FM.

Thursday night his tour with headliner O.A.R. stops off at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. Doors are scheduled to open at 7 p.m.

"It's our first tour as pros, I guess," Perez said. "But we'll play the same way at the House of Blues as we would at Money Plays or any other venue. And the same people that have been loyal to me and my music in Vegas will probably be the same ones who come out again."

Backing Perez will be the Highway Saints, his backing band comprised of four Las Vegan residents.

Bassist Peter Cicchetta, drummer Bailey Hicks and lead guitarist Brian Bissell are veterans of the local scene, while pianist Bobby Lynch recently relocated from the East Coast.

Perez and the Highway Saints will return to the House of Blues May 15, when they open for Jason Mraz.

The son of Cuban immigrants, including a father who spent 26 years as a waiter at Caesars Palace, Perez grew up along what what were then the western outskirts of developed Las Vegas.

Those roots are evident on his disc's 16th cut, titled "Angel Park." The chorus: "Angel Park, things will never be the same again/Angel Park, I miss that childhood innocence/Angel Park, where all your worries came and went/Angel Park, the older you get, the more you forget the way things were."

Perez said the park, now a golf course along Rampart Boulevard, provided the backdrop for many of his lasting childhood memories.

"Growing up as a kid we had to find ways to entertain ourselves and we would hang out in the desert and build forts or do whatever," Perez said. "And all of a sudden they built this oasis, this park. And everything revolved around that park.

"When I wanted to write a song about my youth and growing up in Vegas, it's just something that popped in my mind."

Perez attended several area high schools, graduating from Bonanza in 1994. He became a mainstay on the local music scene, playing in an array of local bands including Latin/reggae outfit Professor Pun, funk combo the Watson Brothers and straight-ahead rock band Junk Hole.

"I've just bounced around," he said. "I've been kicking around that scene since I was 15 years old."

Perez eventually moved to Los Angeles in an attempt to get noticed by record executives. His willingness to experiment with diverse musical genres even led to a stint with Orange County hardcore band Malfunction.

"I put an ad up and the first band that answered my ad was this hardcore band," he said. "It could have been a polka band for all I cared, I just wanted to play."

Ultimately, however, Perez decided if he was to make it in the music business, he would need to travel farther from home, away from the comforts of the Southwest. So he packed up his car and headed east.

"I wanted to kind of get a Woody Guthrie thing and learn from the road and write about things that I'd been through," Perez said. "If I was going to write about my life, I had to live it a little bit.'

Though he originally intended to drive all the way to New York City, Perez's journey instead took him first to New Orleans and then to Miami.

In Miami, he met up with Cuban conga maestro Lazaro Valdez, a man who would have a profound influence on Perez's music.

"I wanted to get closer to my roots, to learn the traditional method of how to play Cuban percussion, so I answered this ad for a guy giving conga lessons for $10 or $15 bucks an hour, which is ridiculous. Some acne-faced kid will charge you $50 to $100 for a guitar lesson," Perez said.

"So I showed up, and the guy was living and teaching out of his karate dojo. And as time went by, he stopped charging me and, in a sense, became my mentor."

Perez began writing new material and performing acoustic shows. Eventually he caught the attention of Lava Records President Jason Flom, finally inking the record deal that had eluded him for so many years.

Though it's difficult to put the 18 tracks on "Poor Man's Son" into one musical category, Perez's work fits generally under the "singer/songwriter" umbrella. The songs possess a timeless, down-home feel, with the more upbeat numbers not unlike the Wallflowers' mid-90s material.

"I just like honest music, and that's what I try to create," Perez said.

"A lot of people spend a lot of time chasing their tail around trying to figure out what the next fad is, what people will accept," Perez said. "I wanted to push the envelope and find my own window to crawl through.

"So I learned to just be true to myself and be honest within my music and the rest will come."