More Country in Cabo: Musicians Band Together for a Good Cause
It’s a great time to be a country music fan in Los Cabos. Last month, Bar Esquina at the Bahia Hotel & Beach Club hosted a weekend of concerts featuring some of Nashville’s top singer-songwriters, including Patrick Davis and James Otto. This month, more musicians are banding together for a series of country music benefit concerts to fund a cure for diabetes .
Miguel Hill and the Cabo Cowboys, as well as other local musicians, will play a series of Waylon Birthday Bashes—named for outlaw country legend Waylon Jennings (pictured above)—to benefit the T Gen Foundation to help cure diabetes.
This is the second consecutive year Los Cabos will host “Waylon Birthday Bashes.” The name honors outlaw country icon Waylon Jennings, best known for his collaborations with Willie Nelson, and as a member of the country supergroup The Highwaymen (with Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash). Following Jennings’ death from diabetes complications in 2002, a tradition started to honor the legendary musician’s memory and to help fight a disease that currently afflicts more than 347 million people worldwide.
Each year around the time of Jennings’ birthday—June 15—Waylon Birthday Bashes are held throughout the southwestern part of of the United States to benefit the Waylon Fund, part of the T Gen Foundation whose goal is to end the debilitating disease of diabetes.
Last year the event went international with three shows in Los Cabos courtesy of Miguel Hill, who volunteered time to help a good cause. Foodies may remember Hill from his restaurant, MigueLocos Grill and Cantina. Tequila aficionados know him from his highly regarded brand El Arco, whose bottles feature a representation of the area’s distinctive natural landmark.
The Cabo Cowboys and friends will also perform at the Fiesta de la Música in San José del Cabo, an event that celebrates musical diversity.
Country music fans, however, know Hill as the leader of the Cabo Cowboys, who along with other top local talent—including ace guitarist Brian Flynn, keyboardist Maury Acuña, Jeff Hibshman and others—will again honor Jennings and raise money for the T Gen foundation with a series of June concerts in Los Cabos. Two shows are scheduled at Cabo San Lucas local’s favorite Tanga Tanga on June 17: the first from 4 p.m. till 7 p.m., the second from 8 p.m. till 11 p.m. Other performances are scheduled at the Fiesta de la Música in San José del Cabo on June 20, and at an invitation-only private benefit on June 21.
“Personally, I am proud to produce these events,” said Cabo Cowboy’s manager Frannie Kapsalis. “This cause is very dear to my heart—mostly because I was the first living donor to survive a diabetic kidney transplant (40 years ago), giving my sister an additional 20 years of life. ”
Miguel and the Cabo Cowboys and friends will be headlining at Tanga Tanga but are one of many acts appearing at the Fiesta de la Música, an annual event that celebrate musical diversity. The festival was founded in Paris in 1982, and has now spread to over 120 countries around the globe. This year’s fiesta will take place downtown in San José del Cabo 5 p.m.–2 a.m. on June 20. There is no admission fee.
To contribute or find out more about the Waylon Fund, visit www.tgenfoundation.com. For program and scheduling information for the Fiesta de la Música, go to www.fiestadelamusicaloscabos.com.mx.