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Brothers end year with Peace, Love & Labras

The Labra Brothers will have new music — and a new Labra — when it performs Saturday at Westside Bowl.

The band released a new single, “Fire,” on Dec. 3, and Adrian, Cristian and David Labra now are joined in the band by their younger brother, Antonio. The band also features Spirit of the Bear’s Danny Svenson on keyboards and Matt Hayes on drums.

According to Adrian, “We’ve thrown him right into writing, recording and gigging. This addition has been a long time coming, and we couldn’t be happier to bring him on board with us.”

For Saturday’s concert, the Labras secured sponsorships from several area businesses — Ohio Sports & Spine Institute, Branch Street Coffee Roasters, All-Spec Heating & Cooling, The Neighborhood LLC, Westside Bowl, Birdfish Brewing Co., The Orange Avocado, Go Retro, Canfield Fence Company, Parks Garden Center and Hayes Percussion Studio — to offset the production costs of the show and to be able to pay the other bands, so 100 percent of the ticket revenue will go to St. Vincent de Paul Society.

“They do quite a bit of outreach and raising money for those in need in the community,” Labra said. “We thought it was a perfect fit.”

Also on the bill for the event billed as Peace, Love & Labras will be Apostle Jones from Cleveland, Eastwood from Columbus and Matt Jackson, who is the bass player for The Vindys and released a solo album this summer.

“Apostle Jones, we’ve heard a lot of great things about and they have a lot of content online,” Adrian said. “Every time I come across something online, I think, ‘We have to work with that band.’ They align more or less with our genre. I think all of the bands on the bill are a great fit together.”

Labra Brothers stretch the boundaries of the Latin-influenced rock and soul it’s associated with on “Fire,” which has a more Americana sound than the tracks featured on its 2019 album “Colder Weather.” Adrian described it as a love song he wrote for his wife, Kelly, and their desire to be the best parents they can for their infant daughter, Loisa.

“The Labra Brothers have so many musical influences,” he said. “For me personally, and I’m not the only one in the band, folk and Americana, that more stripped-down music, definitely resonates with me. It’s a huge part of my routine, the library that I listen to. I can say that about several different genres. We have a wide range of influences, It’s definitely bleeding into these new songs. I wouldn’t say we’re turning into a folk, Americana band, we’re just trying to get it all out there, what’s in our heart as musicians and get it out there and connect with people.

“It demonstrates some of our versatility as musicians. I definitely want to avoid being a one-trick pony … At some point in the future, when we have more material out in our library, the song won’t seem like such a strange deviation from what we’ve done before.”

“Fire” is the lead single from a five-song EP the band plans to release in spring 2022, and the band used much of the forced downtime due to COVID-19 to work on new material.

“Those five are the most complete at the moment,” Adrian said. “We’re just excited to get new content out. Our listeners are anxious to hear new thing from us, and we’re happy to give it to them.”

If you go…

WHO: Peace, Love & Labras — Labra Brothers, Apostle Jones, Eastwood and Matt Jackson

WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday with doors open at 6 p.m.

WHERE: Westside Bowl, 2617 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: $12 in advance and $15 at the door with tickets available through Eventbrite. All proceeds will benefit St. Vincent de Paul Society.

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