Ave Trujillo – Coming September 2026

Bio

For more than two decades, Freddy Trujillo has quietly built one of the most distinctive careers in American roots music. Whether anchoring the rhythm section as bassist for Richmond Fontaine and The Delines or stepping into the spotlight as a solo artist, the Simi Valley, California-born and Portland, Oregon-based musician has consistently blended Americana, folk, rock, Mexican musical traditions, and deeply personal storytelling into a body of work that refuses to fit neatly into any one genre. His songs have explored Chicano identity, family, memory, injustice, and belonging with equal parts honesty and compassion, earning him a reputation as one of the Pacific Northwest's most thoughtful songwriters. Now, with his fifth solo album - and his first for El Cortez Records - Ave Trujillo, arriving September 25, 2026, Trujillo delivers his most imaginative and ambitious work to date.

The title itself carries multiple meanings. "Ave" means "bird" in both Spanish and Latin, while also serving as a playful nod to Ave Maria. It immediately hints at the album's central idea without revealing just how expansive that idea becomes over its songs. While each track bears the name of a different bird, Ave Trujillo isn't simply a record about birds. Instead, birds become characters, symbols, metaphors, and witnesses, connecting everyday human experiences to the rhythms of the natural world.

"I have always been into birds since I was a kid," Trujillo explains. "They've appeared on other records My first record was called Hawks & Highways. It was sort of a challenge to see if I could make a whole bird-themed record."

Music

Ave Trujillo

Freddy Trujillo

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Rich with memorable characters, thoughtful collaborations, Mexican musical traditions, and quietly profound observations about the natural world, Ave Trujillo stands as Freddy Trujillo's most imaginative and fully Read more

Rich with memorable characters, thoughtful collaborations, Mexican musical traditions, and quietly profound observations about the natural world, Ave Trujillo stands as Freddy Trujillo's most imaginative and fully realized work to date. Like the songs of the birds that inspired it, the album rewards those willing to slow down, listen closely, and discover that the stories surrounding us every day are often the ones most worth hearing.

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Amexica

Trujillo

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Amexica is a sonic journey to "Aztlan", a new yardstick for psychedelic Chicano-rock and The New Brown Soul.

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Sketch of a Man

Freddy Trujillo

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Freddy Trujillo unleashes his most personal album to date, “Sketch of a Man.” Poetic memoir, melody and grooves shimmy and shine on this 10-track album, recorded in one, hot week with long time collaborator and celebrated Read more

Freddy Trujillo unleashes his most personal album to date, “Sketch of a Man.” Poetic memoir, melody and grooves shimmy and shine on this 10-track album, recorded in one, hot week with long time collaborator and celebrated producer Luther Russell in L.A., a stone’s throw from Trujillo’s old stomping grounds. Trujillo brings Western American soul with Mexican swing to Sketch, creating an eclectic musical stew with lyrical themes exploring his Chicano roots, tracing his journey from his childhood home in Simi Valley to Hollywood California

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I Never Threw A Shadow At It

Freddy Trujillo

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The fourth solo album by bassist and songwriter Freddy Trujillo explores his Chicano heritage, family roots in California, and personal encounters with prejudice.

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Hawks & Highways

Freddy Trujillo

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Native American folk meets rock in espanol; eclectic, melodic, well-written music embraced by ethnic flavors. Freddy Trujillo was born in 1969 in Simi Valley, California. Throughout his life, Freddy Trujillo became more Read more

Native American folk meets rock in espanol; eclectic, melodic, well-written music embraced by ethnic flavors.

Freddy Trujillo was born in 1969 in Simi Valley, California. Throughout his life, Freddy Trujillo became more and more intrigued by Native-American culture, an interest, which blossomed after meeting and befriending many intertribal families in the Pacific Northwest. Getting involved with powwows and native causes led Freddy to meeting the Trimble-Robideau family. He eventually married Monika Robideau, second cousin of freedom-fighter Leonard Peltier. Trujillo's dream of creating a conceptual rock and roll/pop record about the modern American Indian and Chicano experience has finally been realized with the birth of Hawks and Highways. Not since the classic days of Jesse Ed Davis, Redbone and Robbie Robertson of the Band has music come along that is at once rootsy and melodic as it is uniquely Native-American themed.

Freddy Trujillo began his musical career in 1988 playing bass with Pat Smear from the legendary L.A. punk band the Germs, later of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters. He was then with Geffen recording artists I Love You for a brief spell before joining forces with his sister, Amy Trujillo, who as Am'e Lorain had a top ten hit called "Whole Wide World." Along with drummer Victor Indrizzo (Beck, Macy Gray, Willie Nelson) they formed Family Affair, a multi-ethnic funk group that made a critically acclaimed album for BMG in 1990.

In 1993, after Family Affair disbanded, Freddy moved from Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon to pursue an education at Portland State University. His focus was classical bass and Chicano/Latino studies. This led to playing in the school symphony and getting heavily involved in M.E.Ch.A., a student movement dedicated to the awareness of Mexican-American culture. Still, Freddy had always wanted to play his own music, which took over as his main goal after years of the college grind.

In 1998, Freddy started to drift into the local Portland music scene, which led to forming the short-lived group Federale with Luther Russell (Freewheelers), Jimi Bott (Fabulous Thunderbirds) and Marc Ford (Black Crowes). Federale managed to sign with Geffen, but disbanded prior to delivering a record. Nonetheless, this change in fortune provided the genesis for Freddy Trujillo's solo debut Hawks and Highways, after he was persuaded by old friend Luther Russell to give his own music a whirl. Luther, who has produced countless independent roots-rock and rock en español albums in the Northwest, helmed the recording of Hawks and Highways along with engineer Mike Coykendall of SanFrancisco's own Old Joe Clarks.

Hawks and Highways emerges as the first true Native-American-themed rock and roll record of the millennium, with echoes of Freddy's Chicano background and musical influences as diverse as Stevie Wonder, Los Lobos and the Beatles. Songs like "Red Bones" (which has already been covered twice) and "Hawks and Highways" address Trujillo's feelings about his heritage, while "Sides" and "Owl Dance" reflect his Mexican influences. Hawks and Highways is not without it's rambunctious humor, where Luther Russell's "Art of Hangin' Loose (In An Uptight World)" and the Latin Brothers'"Buscándote" get fevered readings. The sound of the album is homespun and colorful, Inglés y Spanish, Red and Brown, Pop and Soul and something different for a new generation of music listeners and rock and roll fans.

¡Disfruta!

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Videos

Store

Ave Trujillo - CD
  • Ave Trujillo - CD

Ave Trujillo - CD

Rich with memorable characters, thoughtful collaborations, Mexican musical traditions, and quietly profound observations about the natural world, Ave Trujillo stands as Freddy Trujillo's most imaginative and fully realized Read more

Rich with memorable characters, thoughtful collaborations, Mexican musical traditions, and quietly profound observations about the natural world, Ave Trujillo stands as Freddy Trujillo's most imaginative and fully realized work to date. Like the songs of the birds that inspired it, the album rewards those willing to slow down, listen closely, and discover that the stories surrounding us every day are often the ones most worth hearing.

In cart Not available Out of stock
$12.00
I Never Threw A Shadow At It - CD
  • I Never Threw A Shadow At It - CD

I Never Threw A Shadow At It - CD

The fourth solo album by bassist and songwriter Freddy Trujillo explores his Chicano heritage, family roots in California, and personal encounters with prejudice.

In cart Not available Out of stock
$12.00
Never Threw A Shadow At It - T-shirt
  • Never Threw A Shadow At It - T-shirt

Never Threw A Shadow At It - T-shirt

Size

In cart Not available Out of stock
$25.00
Ave Trujillo T-shirt
  • Ave Trujillo T-shirt
  • Ave Trujillo T-shirt

Ave Trujillo T-shirt

Size

In cart Not available Out of stock
$25.00
Hawks & Highways - Vinyl
  • Hawks & Highways - Vinyl
  • Hawks & Highways - Vinyl

Hawks & Highways - Vinyl

Limited Edition Black 160 gram 12" vinyl. Cover is a matte finish. The album is debut solo release, which deals with the intertwining of Native American and Chicano experiences in Rock n' Roll form. Tribute to bands like Redbone and El Chicano with a little Beatle pop influence.

In cart Not available Out of stock
$25.00
Amexica - Vinyl
  • Amexica - Vinyl
  • Amexica - Vinyl

Amexica - Vinyl

Release Year- 2014 Limited Edition Black 160 gram 12" vinyl. Cover is a matte finish. Second album, is more Chicano-themed with songs tributing Tejano artists like Freddy Fender.

In cart Not available Out of stock
$25.00
Hawks & Highways - CD
  • Hawks & Highways - CD
  • Hawks & Highways - CD

Hawks & Highways - CD

Release year 2002 First Edition Compact Disc in Jewel box with full-color disc and four-panel sleeve.

In cart Not available Out of stock
$12.00
Amexica - CD
  • Amexica - CD

Amexica - CD

Release year - 2002 First edition full-color disc and full-color sleeve. 888295029889

In cart Not available Out of stock
$12.00
Sketch of a Man - CD
  • Sketch of a Man - CD
  • Sketch of a Man - CD

Sketch of a Man - CD

Release Year- 2022 First Edition Compact Disc Black and White disc and Digipak. Poetic memoir, melody and grooves shimmy and shine on this 10-track album, recorded in one, hot week with longtime collaborator and celebrated Read more

Release Year- 2022 First Edition Compact Disc Black and White disc and Digipak. Poetic memoir, melody and grooves shimmy and shine on this 10-track album, recorded in one, hot week with longtime collaborator and celebrated producer Luther Russell in L.A. The album is an eclectic musical stew with lyrical themes exploring his Chicano roots and tracing his journey from his childhood home in Simi Valley to Hollywood California.

In cart Not available Out of stock
$12.00
Sketches of a Man T-Shirt
  • Sketches of a Man T-Shirt

Sketches of a Man T-Shirt

Sketch of a Man album cover print White 100% t-shirt with a black print.

Size

In cart Not available Out of stock
$25.00
Sketches of a Man Prayer Candle
  • Sketches of a Man Prayer Candle

Sketches of a Man Prayer Candle

Sketch of a Man album cover candles

In cart Not available Out of stock
$10.00

Press

“Freddy Trujillo of Delines & Richmond Fontaine Premieres 'Little Birds' Video” - Cara Gibney

— No Depression

“Freddy Trujillo on The Delines, Richmond Fontaine, and the Music of his Mixed Heritage” - Cara Gibney

— No Depression

“Episode #14 featuring Freddy Trujillo”

— That Much Further West Podcast

Gigs

Previous events

Links