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A SETTING SUN casts a golden glow over Albuquerque’s Old Town Plaza as hometown trio Felix y Los Gatos takes the historic gazebo stage. Frontman Felix “Gato” Peralta thanks the sizable audience seated on camp chairs and blankets for coming to Old Town’s first concert of the summer. Then he launches into the group’s crowd-pleasing ranchera bop, “Nuevo México.”
“Take me back to Nuevo México,” sings Peralta, as couples leap up, twirling and circumnavigating the stage in steps of one and two. “Up to Chama to Chi-may-ó, I can see my family, down in Chi-li-li, take me back to Nuevo México.” The Latin rhythm shuffles and snaps, driven by Arnaldo Acosta’s crisp percussion and Justin Bransford’s rolling bass. Peralta’s reedy button accordion and nimble guitar lace the groove together, crafting a sound that feels like a love letter to the land and the people who shaped it…