David Hidalgo is a founding member of Los Lobos – formed  in 1973 with Louie Perez, Cesar Rosas, Frank Gonzalez, and Conrad Lozano – while they were high school students in East Los Angeles. He is a vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who plays accordion, violin, 6-string banjo, cello, requinto jarocho, percussion, drums and guitar.

Hidalgo has appeared on every Los Lobos record since their inception, has a side project with Louie Perez called The Latin playboys, and has worked on stage or in studio with David Alvin, Buckwheat Zydeco, T-Bone Burnett, Peter Case, Marc Cohn, Ry Cooder, Elvis Costello, Crowded House, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, John Lee Hooker, Rickie Lee Jones, Leo Kottke, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton,Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, Taj Mahal, Suzanne Vega, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and others.

David Hidalgo was born on October 6, 1954 in Gila, Arizona. We’ll highlight different parts of his career throughout the day on Thursday.