Rodrigo y Gabriela have canceled their October tour dates including a performance at the Pabst Theatre scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 6.
According to a statement released today by the duo's publicist:
"After a year of relentless touring, the wear and tear finally caught up with Gabriela. Her incredibly physical style of play involves banging out complex rhythms on the neck and body of her guitar night after night, putting great stress upon her right hand and arm as well as joints like the wrist and elbow.
"It is under doctors' recommendation that she rest her joints and muscles to avoid further harm and permanent damage. While the duo is incredibly frustrated to have to pull out of dates in cities they were very much looking forward to visiting for the first time, the move was an unavoidable reality that had to be made in order to ensure that Gabriela fully recovers and is able to play at full capacity for many years to come."
The duo hopes to reschedule the canceled gigs at a later date. Contact The Pabst for information about refunds and a potential make-up date.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.