Venezuelan Duo SanLuis Makes Hopeful Music for Its Troubled Homeland

Venezuela lately has been in crisis, and music is a place of communion for those looking to ease their worries. So the SanLuis concert Saturday night at the Fillmore could be the next best thing to a therapy session.

Two brothers from Maracaibo, Venezuela — Santiago (San) and Luigi (Luis) Castillo — have been singing balada in their native Spanish for the past six years. Before that, they cut their pop-music chops in the six-piece Voz Veis, where over the course of 13 years they released seven albums and won a Latin Grammy for their efforts. With SanLuis, the brothers found freedom in no longer having to share the microphone with four other voices. But in light of the recent horrors in Venezuela, SanLuis decided to call in former bandmates for the song "Mis Ilusiones."

"Our generation is responsible for building a better country in one of the most difficult times in our history," Luigi Castillo said in a statement on their website, explaining the motivation behind "Mis Ilusiones." "This song seeks to let Venezuelans keep in mind the greatness of this land and its people, not to forget that despite the infinite repertoire of problems that afflict us, there are things that will never stop making us proud to belong to this wonderful land.

"We know that a song is not able to change the course of things, but we believe that it can be a powerful painkiller to alleviate the pains of many hearts, to make us look forward to recover what we once had and improve it. No matter where in the world we are, just have our illusions in Venezuela."

This Saturday, the brothers will sing that song and many others, with dreams and melodies of better days for their homeland.

SanLuis
8 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at the Fillmore Miami Beach, 1700 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; fillmoremb.com; 305-673-7300. Tickets cost $49 to $99 via livenation.com.