Mariachi Internacional Varas Nayarit arrive at the location of their gig. | Photo: Matt Stromberg
For decades, Boyle Height's Mariachi Plaza has been the center of L.A.'s mariachi community, where, every weekend, throngs of musicians gather to socialize, swap stories, and most importantly, find work. Dressed in their crisp, black cowboy-style charro suits, the mariachis wait for customers to drive up, and they'll negotiate a price and the number of hours they'll play, before heading off to perform for a birthday, baptism, wedding, or quincea era. Once the gig is over, they may return to the plaza to repeat the process.
I had heard various anecdotes about the itinerant life of the street mariachi, which differs from that of stage mariachis, who generally perform regularly at restaurants or musical venues. Since chamba ( gig ) groups were often paid in cash, musicians were sometimes targeted, having to remain vigilant as they walked swiftly to their cars after they finished playing. One mariachi told me of a customer who he suspected of being a narco, picking him up in a luxury SUV, giving each member of his band a charro suit with a specific color to wear. You never know where you're going or whom you're going to be playing for, or even with, as bands are sometimes assembled on the spot. Drawn to these compelling tales, I convinced a mariachi group, Mariachi Internacional Varas Nayarit, to let me tag along for their Saturday shows.
Although many mariachis will assemble at the plaza to get gigs, it is just as common for a bandleader - often referred to as a caim n - to arrange bookings in advance.
View from the kiosk at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights. | Photo: throgers/Flickr/Creative Commons
--
--
Caim n is a derogatory way of saying they take advantage of the money, says Luis Molina, a mariachi and filmmaker who used to lead his own group. But they take responsibility for the contract, the gasoline, the advertisements. Sometimes I made less than my musicians. Sometimes they will have a full band already, other times, they will need to pick up a few musicians at the plaza. Even if they don't need additional mariachis, bands often meet at the plaza so they can carpool and save money on gas and parking. This also prevents gigs from being stolen, as the caim n doesn't always share an address in advance, though one mariachi I spoke with said anyone who attempted to take a gig for oneself would quickly get blacklisted.
I had arranged to meet Cuco Pe a - also known as Varas, the Mexican city where he hails from - and his band at the plaza at 4 p.m. This included his son Luis on trumpet, another trumpeter named Alberto, and David Kilpatrick, a tall, white-haired ethnomusicologist who began playing mariachi music in 1964, on the bass-like guitarr n. Unfortunately, the violin player was a no-show. It was already late in the day and the few mariachis milling about the plaza already had gigs. That was going to be a problem since the customer would be expecting five musicians. Kilpatrick left a frantic message for his partner Andrea Martinez to see if she could fill in on guitar. We waited for a few minutes for any latecomers and then headed out for their first scheduled party in Baldwin Park, 20 miles to the east.
Mariachi Internacional Varas Nayarit arrive at the location of their gig. | Photo: Matt Stromberg
Once we arrived on the bucolic, tree-lined street, the group poured out of the van, tuned their instruments and adjusted their deep scarlet mo os, the classic mariachi bow-tie, each embroidered with the band's name, except for Pe a's which bore his own. The party's host welcomed us, and led us to the backyard, where family and friends were celebrating his elderly mother's birthday. Wasting no time, the group began playing Las Ma anitas, the popular Mexican birthday song, as they strode in. Dozens of guests seated at folding tables applauded their arrival. The band set up across from the seated matriarch as a line formed for those in attendance to pay their respects. Guests showered her with hugs and birthday wishes. This was a far cry from the stories of narcos that I had been told.
Not one attendee batted an eyelash at the stranger standing in the corner scribbling notes and taking pictures. Quite the contrary, I was welcomed with open arms, generously offered food and beer and made to feel very much at home. After a few songs, Martinez showed up, grabbed her guitar, and jumped right in. Mariachis must be familiar with hundreds of songs, so even if they've never rehearsed together, they are able to play in sync with just the mention of a song title or the strum of a few chords. She provided a worthy foil to Pe a's masculine showmanship and rich baritone, singling out audience members and passionately singing to them.
Mariachi Internacional Varas Nayarit perform at a birthday party. | Photo: Matt Stromberg
Although mariachis have traditionally been men, women are increasingly present in the community, both in co-ed groups and all-female ensembles. Its very rare that weve had clients not wanting women. In 20 years plus [of playing], Ive only had two times that a customer didnt want a girl, said Beatriz Martinez, a former student of Kilpatrick's who often performs with her husband Eduardo. Now people request women, at least one to sing.
As the evening wore on, a group of men took turns singing their favorite songs as the band backed them up. Then, after two hours, the host thanked Pe a and paid him; the group packed up and hopped back in the van.
Mariachi Internacional Varas Nayarit perform at a birthday party. | Photo: Matt Stromberg
The origins of mariachi music can be traced back to the Spanish colonial era in the state of Jalisco. Although different cities have laid claim to its birthplace, Guadal
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
Mariachi Internacional Varas Nayarit arrive at the location of their gig. | Photo: Matt Stromberg 
