Adelitas Way

“Invincible,” the edgy, empowering rocker that kicks off the self-titled debut from Adelitas Way is also an apt description for singer Rick DeJesus’ undaunted focus and determination. Born and raised in a rough Philly neighborhood, he saw family members in jail and on drugs, and a friend shot in the head and killed by drug dealers. Rick’s future was likewise bleak -- “my friends were carrying guns, selling drugs, doing drugs, leading reckless lives. I knew I was going to pay the consequences,” Rick acknowledges. So, in 2005, grasping for any escape, on a dare Rick auditioned for a VH1 show that would take him to Los Angeles. With no idea what he was in for, in short succession Rick appeared on the VH1 show ‘Strip Search,” then ended up in Vegas, living in his car for three months, doing anything to make ends meet. “Anything” included the “American Storm” show at the Rivera. Rick calls his short stint in the revue “a rock moment. I was young, poor and crazy… and it beat robbing people.” It also allowed him the means to focus on the anthemic, potent hard modern rock that would become the calling card of Adelitas Way.

Rick’s lyrics are at once introspective, compassionate, unflinching and inspiring. On “Invincible,” a band favorite, Rick explains, “I was going for that ‘Incredible Hulk’ feeling; a song that pumps you up, a crowd-pleaser. It’s about our attitude: I’m not going to let anyone stand in the way of my dreams.” One of the band’s most-asked questions is their name. Rick, the consummate storyteller on and offstage, relates a great true tale. During a band road trip to LA, they took a detour to San Diego, and when Rick woke up from a nap in the back of the band truck, they were getting arrested in Mexico. Corrupt cops robbed the band, but Rick secreted away a little cash in his socks. Freaked out, the band went to the first bar they saw in Tijuana to have a beer and calm their nerves. It was the Adelita Bar. “There were a bunch of young, really pretty girls and I realized it was basically a brothel,” explains Rick. “I chatted with one girl, questioning why she was living this life? And I wrote a song about it. The band name emerged from the sad stories behind the ‘Way’ they lived at the Adelita—Adelitas Way. As a songwriter,” Rick continues, “I’m very emotional, I put myself in people’s shoes a lot and live vicariously. My songs are about true situations.” That’s reflected in their well rounded and timeless album. For instance, “All Fall Down” is about Rick’s headspace before he left the mean streets of Philly. “Before I moved, everything was gloomy and depressing. But as a kid, your only concern was what you were going to be for Halloween, or get for Christmas. So the song is about how you should have savored those moments. I took things for granted.”

In 2009, with the rising success of Adelitas Way, Rick takes nothing for granted, and some days, feels lucky just to be alive. As teenage guitarist Chris observes, “we made it this far by hard work and nickel-and-dimeing it, vans breaking down in the middle of the desert, the whole bit. It took a while to find this ideal lineup, where we all want the same thing. And everything finally feels right.”