Regional Goes Global, Part 2: A band finds its voice amid a storm of controversy

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Music

4.3 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 29 November 2023

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For the second episode of Alt.Latino's regional Mexican music series, hosts Anamaria Sayre and Felix Contreras interview the rising family band Yahritza y Su Esencia in its hometown of Yakima, Washington. The two discover that the U.S.-Mexico border looms large in this regional Mexican moment, especially for Yahritza y Su Esencia — not strictly because of the music's obvious Mexican roots, but also the ways in which the border can create an "us" and "them" dynamic. The band's struggles with musical and personal identity also reflect the real struggles that millions of US-born folks with Mexican heritage face. And what started as a musical journey for Ana and Felix, has now become a personal journey.

Audio for this episode of Alt.Latino was edited and mixed by Joaquin Cotler, with production support from Janice Llamoca, Shelby Hawkins, Suraya Mohamed and Natalia Fidelholtz. The editor for this episode is Jacob Ganz and our project manager is Grace Chung. Hazel Cills is the podcast editor and digital editor for Alt.Latino. Our VP of Music and Visuals is Keith Jenkins.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for this podcast and the following message come from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation,
0:05.8	where young scientists pursue bold ideas.
0:08.7	100% of your donation funds groundbreaking research. Donate
0:12.9	today at Damon Runyon.org slash donate. And like many people, her,
0:25.0	Yerica Martinez wrote her first song about heartbreak at 14.
0:30.0	And like many people her age, wrote her first song about Heartbreak at 14.
0:33.8	And like many people her age, she uploaded that song to Tik-talk.
0:38.0	But unlike most people her age, her song blew up, and it was old school.
0:45.0	Musica mehicana.
0:47.0	Jarete, your essence,
0:48.0	more of 5 millions of seguidories.
0:50.0	Three nominations, that's why Yarias had tried.
0:53.0	Millions of young Latinos streamed her music and sang along.
0:57.0	Soon, she and two of her older brothers formed a band.
1:03.0	We're on stage together, we're making a connection with the crowd.
1:08.0	And after that, Yaritza and Suessensia were recording their own version of a style called Siereno, perfect for wearing your heart on your
1:16.2	sleeve.
1:17.2	It's never going to be out of style, being heartbroken.
1:21.9	Their music really found an audience, one that grew fast, and the band was offered a record deal.
1:27.0	They performed with bands that a few years before they had looked up to as heroes.
1:34.0	Collecting a Latin Grammy nomination and playing in front of larger and larger audiences.
1:45.0	Yaritza Suisencia was connecting with fans.
	...

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