On Friday night, versatile cover band Nu-Horizon makes their Monterey debut at Sly McFly’s on Cannery Row.

Timbale player extraordinaire Andy Sierra, one of the original Chicano All-Stars, formed the eight-piece band in spring after leaving the All-Stars.

“Bands come and go; I was trying to push the [Chicano All-Stars] in a different direction that they didn’t want to go in so it was time for me to leave the band,” Sierra says.

In addition to Sierra, Nu-Horizon features many familiar faces from the local music scene, including Robert Pulido (congas) and Ruben Pulido Jr. (bass), who also played with the Chicano All-Stars. Ruben Pulido Sr. (lead guitar) plays with The Nightlighters and Steve Vasquez (lead vocals) played with the Volcano Brothers and Zebop, a Santana tribute band.

With a song list that exceeds 35 songs and continues to grow, Nu-Horizon’s live shows can go for three or four hours. They play everything from Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” to Santana’s “What Does it Take?” to Kool & the Gang’s “Ladies Night.”

“We play anything that will get people out on the dance floor,” Sierra says. “Everyone in the band has their own tastes in music, but we have a philosophy about playing covers: When we take a song, we use the hooks but we put our flavor into it.”

Sierra, who was born in Salinas and spent his teen years in San Jose with his four older brothers, found an affinity for music at a young age.

“When I was young, Santana was huge, so I really wanted to play the congas,” Sierra says. “But my brother said, ‘you’ll play the timbales, cause I just got a set.’” Unwilling to disappoint his brother, Sierra taught himself how to play the timbales at the age of 13.

Music was a means of escape from the harsh realities surrounding Sierra and his brothers.

“As a teen in San Jose, you were either in a gang or you did something else,” Sierra says. “My brothers made sure I did something else, and that something was music.”

Sierra’s children love music as much as their father. His oldest son was the original drummer and vocalist for the Salinas reggae band Wasted Noise.

The melding of the old and young generations of music is a predominant force of Nu-Horizon. Guitarist Ruben Pulido Sr.’s son and daughter, who are both members, have had music deeply embedded into their lives from the time they were toddlers, singing in church choir.

Though 18-year-old Ruben Jr. (bass) and 21-year-old Cristela Pulido (vocals, keyboard, flute, sax, and accordion) are both fulltime music majors at San Jose State, they frequently make trips back to Monterey County to rehearse, record and play with the band.

“My dad, brother and me have always wanted to play together in a band,” Cristela says after Nu-Horizon’s Sunday rehearsal. “We used to dream about playing at Sly McFly’s some day so when Andy told us we were booked to play Sly’s we were very happy.”

Cristela digs new bands like Jason Miraz and Maroon 5 but it’s the old stuff that runs deeply within her soul.

On Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools,” Cristela belts out, “They tell me to leave you alone, my father says come on home” with the veracity of a seasoned R&B singer.

“This is one of the highlights of my life and I feel very fortunate to be doing what I love,” she says.

Nu-Horizon is recording their debut album at RB Productions in Monterey, due out some time in November.

NU-HORIZON plays 8:30pm Friday, Oct. 16, at Sly McFly’s, 700 A Cannery Row, Monterey. Free. 649-8050.