Creating Light in Dark Places - Rafael Chávez y Moreno

By Katie Craft

Goshen, IN

Rafael Chávez y Moreno and I met in his studio, where creativity lives, collaboration happens, and music for several projects is born. As I drove down the long drive, the trees parted to reveal a farm-like setting with cows, chickens, and pigs. I thought of Led Zepplin and The Beatles, who would hide away in countryside homes, seeking inspiration and solitude with their band-mates, a place to let go of everything except creativity and music.

The barn is where the band Lalo Cura holds rehearsals and where band-mates are involved in additional projects. The home is owned by friend and band-mate Ben, who plays in The Messengers with Rafael. The barn is finished with a studio and several rooms—all music-related. We walk into a room with guitars, keyboards, mics, mixers, and a large framed-out enclosed space with Plexiglas where the drums live.

Rafael and I settle down in the room set up for recording and mixing. We talk about life, transitions, music, inspiration, and how life can slow you down right when you need it.

Lalo Cura is Rafael Chávez y Moreno on guitar and vocals; Sam Que on saxophone; Brendyn Cane on drums; Khalin Diggings on bass and Terrell Ross on Keys.

Rafael’s maternal grandfather was a swing man in a traditional Mariachi band, meaning he played multiple instruments. Rafael became interested in playing music when he was around 13. He found out his father was also a musician. “I didn’t know my dad had been a musician because when I was growing up, he was working a regular job and wearing a suit…to my surprise, he did, like, years of professional playing, mostly cover band hotel circuit stuff… before I was born!” He shared his conversation with his dad when he found out his dad was a musician. “I was like, ‘Where are the instruments?’ He was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know.’ I was like, ‘What do you mean you don’t know?’ How could you not keep track of your organ?!”

Rafael’s father’s primary instrument was the keys, but he did keep a guitar in the house, which was how Rafael got his

start. “He kept a guitar under the bed that we didn’t know about. Sometimes, he pulled it out, like once or twice a year, and cleaned it and played it. I was like What?! You play guitar?…I wanna learn, too!”

Rafael is left-handed, and this guitar was for right-handed players. He planned to swap the strings around on the guitar so he could play it with his dominant hand, but he and his father never got to that. His first lesson came and went. To this day, Rafael is a left-handed man playing right-handed guitar. Rafael, half joking, said, “It worked out great because now I don’t have to worry about the nonsense of left-handed guitars. Grateful about that.”

Lalo Cura

Rafael and his family moved to the US when he was 15. His dad needed to find a new job, and his uncle had already lived in the area.

His family moved from Puebla, Mexico, where there were always people, traffic, hustle, and bustle, to low-key, quiet, small-town Goshen, Indiana. “That shit sucked. It was hard.”

Rafael didn’t speak English; he was just starting high school, and “it

was horrible.” Little did he know that the Goshen High School Jazz band would catalyze friendships that would last many years. Many of those folks attended Goshen College with Rafael. They formed the band the Kansas Bible Company. The band would tour the US.

Rafael has several musical projects. Last year, he started a jazz trio to play at the Elkhart Jazz Festival with esteemed local musicians Buddy Pearson (bass) and Arthur Schroder (drums). The trio is invited to perform again in 2024.

In addition to his main projects with Lalo Cura and The Messengers, Rafael is also a freelance musician. He plays with several bands specifically for the Elkhart Jazz Festival. His freelance work also includes accompanying Jake Miller and the Midwest Heat playing “really fun and challenging...old guitar type country” – old country music that features clean guitar.

loud, distorted guitar in The Messengers.

When asked about the music that electrifies his soul, Rafael shared that it varies depending on his feelings. He will dive deep into an artist, learn everything about them, and listen to their entire collection.

At this moment, Rafael is into jazz. “I cannot stop listening to or wanting to play jazz right now…I love the improvisational part of it…but it’s a musician’s music…I just love playing it.”

Then Rafael confidently said, “In my heart, I am just a rocker. I love playing rock music.” He said, “In The Messengers, it’s really freeing, and I only play guitar to concentrate on my instrument. In Lalo, I am the lead vocalist and must concentrate on playing guitar. But that’s also nice because I am creative with the instrument in a different way.”

Rafael’s main project is Lalo Cura, which began around 10 years ago, after the Kansas Bible Company. Lalo Cura is a Latin-Soul Fusion band pulling inspiration from Carlos Santana’s smooth and powerful guitar solos, featuring “acrobatic horn lines” and “culturally progressive lyrics” sung primarily in Spanish. The band has undergone transitions over the years, with members coming and going, as bands often do. Rafael and Sammy are the founding members. “…[Sam Que] didn’t know anything about rock. We started playing music together and doing something different. We didn’t think it was that big of a deal to do a Spanish band…but it worked.”

Lalo Cura currently has two studio albums and one live album out. Lalo Cura is working on a new album, anticipating its release in the fall. Rafael and I laughed heartily at the new album, currently untitled. It was supposed to come out last fall, but life has a way of slowing things down and creating unexpected transitions. He shared that it will debut this fall. When I asked him if he wanted me to quote him on this, he said, “Yeah, so that way I finish it!”

I asked Rafael to share with me how he experiences music. I think this will resonate with anyone who feels a deep emotional connection with the music they love. Rafael shared that playing music for him is like a “cleansing ritual… It’s so rewarding…does magic for me. Music is a light that pulls you out of the dark places.