Native Son Returns to Goleta with the Fruits of his Labor

There is a Latin phrase — omne trium perfectum — meaning “everything that comes in threes is perfect.” In the span of a few months last year, singer-songwriter Omar Velasco left his critically acclaimed band Amo Amo, welcomed his new son and lost his father. That whirlwind, coming on the heels of the pandemic and nearly two years without live performances, was, if not perfect, the ideal crucible for crafting Velasco’s most soulful and witty work to date. It’s clear he’s taken the time to mine it. 

“[Leaving the band] had its own heartbreak. The birth of a child is obviously something very heart-opening and miraculous, but on the other end of that, in the times when we’ve lost someone near and dear to us, this portal opens up, and the word that comes to mind is grace. I find it to be extremely lucid feeling. A lot of the music came from that place.” The emotional locale also led Velasco back to his birthplace — near Ellwood Beach in Goleta.

It was a welcome return. After 13 years in Southern California, Velasco wanted his young children near their grandmother. “It feels right in a very ancient way, that’s lost in the way we live,” he said. He also wanted to find balance in his own life. “This is a very special combination of smells and light, the chaparral and the ocean. Compared to L.A., the pace is quite a bit slower, it’s a bit more natural to my slow-ish pace,” he laughed. 

“Slow” hardly describes Velasco’s musical output over the past few years. At the same time, it doesn’t take long to see he belongs by the beach.

Velasco speaks in a calm, thoughtful tone that feels only coincidental with putting his son Damien down for nap time before a phone interview. The theme of connection — to nature, family, the human spirit — returns again and again while discussing his life, his music, and the inspiration behind his latest album, Like the Fruit Falls from the Tree. Released September 28 on Inner Cult Records, the album is Velasco’s first full-length solo recording since 2015’s Golden Child.

In that time, however, Velasco has kept busy, releasing a slew of songs and collaborating with the likes of daytime disco progenitor Poolside and cult rock band My Morning Jacket. Not to mention opening for Father John Misty’s latest tour — “that couldn’t have been a better situation,” Velasco reflected — and recording over two full-length albums with Amo Amo, whose final group performance kicked off Santa Barbara’s inaugural Fields of Funk in 2021. Velasco left shortly thereafter, and more life changes followed. 

When one door closes, though, another opens, and his house had so many of both it may as well have been filled with servants bringing him creative fodder. “It was a really easy time for me musically. A lot of emotions crystallized and turned into music. That hasn’t always been the case — usually I’ve had to work a lot harder. It was the intensity of the emotions I was feeling then.”

That intensity is felt on all ten tracks of the new LP, but it’s most pronounced on “Forgiveness Song,” “Un Sueño Arrullado,” and “Paperweight.” The latter is a slow-building acoustic ballad that crescendos into the final chorus with triumphant horns and a marching snare drum, festooning Velasco’s words with epaulets and parading them through town with waving flags. Nestled into the back half of the record, “Paperweight” is also a well-timed burst of energy for those listening to the album in one setting, which it deserves. But in a tacit acknowledgment that attention spans, like human kindness, aren’t what they used to be, Velasco sums up his mission statement just 40 seconds into the opening title track — “Like the wind blows through the branches/Like the fruit falls from the tree/The best things in this world are given willingly.” The unassuming exchange of creative acts and gifts — bearing fruit to feed another without expectation of anything in return — is a theme Velasco returns to again and again. It wasn’t pontification or philosophy that brought him there, but hours spent underneath Los Angeles fruit trees.

For Velasco, an interest in horticulture and the strains of the pandemic raised questions that needed answering. Before coming home, he took a job with a fruit tree care company. Little did Velasco know it would set the scene for his next LP. “[This work] painted this picture of a fundamental truth about how the universe works — that if you have something to bring to the table, to bring to the market, that is valuable, and you exchange it — that this exchange relationship is the foundation of life in many ways. It was amazing to be around these things that were exceptionally giving and providing.” The peaches were his favorite.

Despite the “Paperweight” call to jettison his phone into Cachuma — “It’s a love-hate thing … so many of the things we can do are because of our phones” — Velasco is far from a luddite, fed more by pandemic-weary, farm-bred imagery kissed by Latin folk and spirituality than a rose-tinted, red-capped longing for the good old days. “For how many beautiful things we’ve created in our modern life, we’ve kind of lost connection for important things like intergenerational relationships and connection to the Earth.” Velasco keeps family close throughout the album. “Corazon de Niño” is an ode to his spry, long-distance running uncle, “Un Sueño Arrullado” tells of boyhood dreams encouraged by his mother — the accompanying music video features his sister, a former flamenco dancer — and “Well Dressed” lauds the dignity of elders with a piece of his late father’s advice.

Like the Fruit Falls from the Tree is bathed in a sonically warm, ocher tone resembling the cover’s golden hills and begging for a vinyl release, which will coincide with Velasco’s concert at the Alcazar Theatre in Carpinteria on November 19 at 6:30 p.m. 

What comes next for this native son back on home turf? Santa Barbara is rubbing off — he’s in no rush to make big claims. “I do imagine a residency. I’m really excited to be back in this town, to be making my small contribution to the music community here and doing whatever I can to support that.”

You can stream the album on Spotify, purchase it on Bandcamp, and secure tickets to the November 19 show at OmarVelasco.com.