Lonely in name only

The band is called Los Lonely Boys, but don’t believe it. Boys, sure, but lonely? They are a band of brothers, above everything else, who provide the kickers to each other’s jokes and argue and have each other’s backs. If it weren’t so, this Texas guitar trio might not have endured the indignities of road life for so long and come out on the other side with something to show for it.

“It’s the power of three, dude,” says JoJo Garza, 23, who is grabbing some precious downtime in a downtown hotel cafe with his brothers Henry, 25, who plays guitar, and Ringo, 22 (guess what he plays?), before they are to appear on Jimmy Kimmel’s show.

“There are no gaps here,” Henry adds. “We don’t let nobody come between us.”

And whatever you do, don’t step on the shoes. The Garzas are all wearing spats so shiny the sun is glinting off of them.

The San Angelo, Texas, natives thought that perhaps their self-titled debut album, which came out last August, might prove the culmination of a decade’s worth of dues paying. But even after the record was released, the band had to give it the hard sell, touring 31 states in eight months, before it gained any sales traction. No biggie, though -- playing live, for Los Lonely Boys, is not a means to an end but the end itself.

And it has reaped dividends: The album, a super-charged blast of Texas roots rock with heavy debts to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Los Lobos, has sold more than 100,000 copies thus far, with the single “Heaven” currently gaining radio airplay.

Los Lonely Boys have become a music sensation in their home state. They won five 2003 Austin Music Awards, including band of the year and album of the year, and played a free concert in front of 23,000 fans at the South by Southwest music conference in Austin in March.

“Oh man, we could just dwell on that moment forever,” JoJo says. “Little kids and 80-year-old men were there, everyone singing along. So much joy!”

“Music is a way of life for us, not just a way to make money,” Henry says. “It’s how we pay the rent. None of this ‘I want chicks, I want to be a superstar’ stuff.”

“But it comes with the territory,” says JoJo. “You can’t deny it!”

Actually, they can deny it -- all three brothers have their own families. It’s all about the family business with these guys. They first started playing instruments as toddlers, young aspirants who apprenticed under their father’s wing.

Henry Garza Sr., a guitar player who toured the South in the ‘50s and ‘60s with his brothers in a band that combined rock with traditional conjunto music, was their role model. Henry Sr. hired the boys as his touring band in 1991, and the threesome turned into a rock ‘n’ roll version of Army brats, playing gigs all over the country.

“We played every single day,” says Henry. “It was an adventure for us. We played the rinkiest little bars, man.”

“Strip clubs too,” says JoJo.

Henry Sr. decided to give it a go as a country singer, relocating his sons in Nashville so they could perform at gigs with him and perhaps help him land a record deal. The band kept shuffling between Texas and Nashville until 1996, when Los Lonely Boys played an open-mike night at Steel Penny Pub, a popular nightclub in their hometown owned by their future road manager, Russ Steele.

“Russ looked at us like, ‘Who are these guys?’ ” Ringo says. “Then we started playing, and his eyes lit up!”

“Yeah,” Henry adds, “like “ka-ching ka-ching!”

From there, the band’s saga unfolded like some twisted version of “A Star Is Born.” Henry Sr. failed to get a deal, while the sons that he had nurtured began to attract attention on their own. Producer Rob Fraboni, who has worked with the Band and Eric Clapton, heard a tape of the band live and sent it to manager Kenny Wommack, who in turn got Willie Nelson’s camp to hear the tape.

Nelson’s imprimatur has been crucial to the band’s recent success. Their album was recorded at Nelson’s Austin studio Pedernales, and Nelson has featured them in his last two Farm Aid shows.

“The minute I saw them, I knew they were something special,” Wommack says. “It was just a matter of introducing them to the right people. Willie was able to put them in front of some large crowds, and it built their confidence, helped them to define who they are.” Los Lonely Boys signed a contract with Or Records and thus began the long slog that eventually led to a distribution deal with Sony for the record.

The split with Henry Sr. has been hard on the family, but love will keep them together.

“It’s just something we have to live with and deal with,” says Henry. “Our music started changing ,and we started writing more, and our dad had been the frontman. All of a sudden that’s taken away ... we were scared. But it was like Nike, you know? Just do it.”

Despite some residual regret, their father is “very proud of us, very excited,” Henry says. “We’re just waiting for the day when those who came before us can gain control of their own music.”

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Los Lonely Boys

Where: Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood

When: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.

Price: Sold out

Info: (310) 276-6168 or www.troubadour.com

Marc Weingarten can be reached at weekend@latimes.com.