Musica Nortena

Musica nortena, a musical genre with its roots in the folk ballad traditions of northern Mexico and the Texas-Mexican border region, has become a hugely popular musical style in the U.S., particularly among Mexican immigrants. Featuring evocative songs about undocumented border-crossers, drug traffickers, and the plight of immigrant workers, musica nortena has become the music of a "e;nation between nations."e; Musica Nortena is the first definitive history of this transnational music that has found enormous commercial success in norteamerica. Cathy Ragland, an ethnomusicologist and former music critic, serves up the fascinating fifty-year story of musica nortena, enlivened by interviews with important musicians and her own first-hand observations of live musical performances. Beyond calling our attention to musical influences, ragland shows readers the social and economic forces at work behind the music. By comparing musica nortena with other popular musical forms, including conjunto tejano, she helps us understand and appreciate the musical ties that bind the Mexican diaspora.