Mariachi music emerged from the ranches and small towns of western central Mexico. As
Mexico’s population became more and more urban in the twentieth
century, so did mariachi music. Mexican radio, recordings, cinema, and
television featured mariachi music, and the music spread to all corners
of Mexico and beyond. The
electronic media and immigration from Mexico has made mariachi music an
important form of musical expression in the United States. There
are more than 20 major mariachi festivals around the U.S., and mariachi
ensembles are found today in the majority of states. With
the Washington, DC area as a base, Mariachi Los Amigos has played for a
wide variety of events, from weddings, baptisms and quinceañeras, to
shopping center promotions, to Presidential state dinners and
inaugurations. Whatever the occasion, they play the music they love the most, the “straight-ahead” mariachi sound.