NEW YORK—“You guys aren’t Mexican!” is a comment that the members of Mariachi Flor de Toloache often hear after a lively performance. That is not entirely true. One of the 13 members is Mexican, another is half, while the rest vary from Colombian, to Australian, to an African-American from St. Louis.
“Why is that the first thing you say?” Mireya Ramos, founder of the band, would respond. “Why not comment on how we sound?”
Mariachi, a type of folk music that originates from rural Mexico, is traditionally performed by Mexicans, particularly Mexican men. From the steel Botonadura buttons to the brilliant blows from trumpeters, a masculine mood pervades.
Yet for the up-and-coming band Mariachi Flor de Toloache, the lead vocalists are diverse women with soulful, throaty voices. In fact, every member of the band is a woman.
“There’s been some famous female singers that fronted mariachi bands, but the band is always male,” said Walter Little, president of the Society for Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology. “An all female band is pretty distinctive.”
