Hana Fujisaki

Juanjo López: Above, Beyond, Within

by Troy Dostert
August 24, 2025

In our troubling national moment of intensified nativism and ethnic fearmongering, it can be edifying to encounter the stories of people whose lives are directly affected by the current climate. One of them is Juanjo López, a guitarist now well-established in the Chicago scene but who came years ago to the United States with his family from Mexico. His story, reflected in his second release, Above, Beyond, Within, is about much more than geographic relocation, however. There is a strong ...