Cruzando Borders

The Grammy-winning Los Texmaniacs play music that celebrates the people and places of the Texas-Mexico borderlands: corridos, boleros and less familiar genres such as chotís (related to the schottische), redova and variations on the polka. At first hearing, this accordion-led music, with founder and bandleader Max Baca providing percussive basslines on 12-string bajo sexto (guitar), can sound overly sentimental and even monotonous. But the diablo is in the detail – the familiar rocking rhythm is an easy delight; the songs tell of troubled lives, economic hardship and a constant struggle to improve one's lot.

The more you listen, the more nuances surface. The Texmaniacs love to tap the links between old-world traditions and the melting-pot music of the US. Country star Rick Treviño guests on the English-language ‘I am a Mexican’, highlighting the decades-old connections between country and conjunto tejano – ironic given the Trumpist view of the border and redneck perceptions of what is and isn't Americana. By way of response, Lyle Lovett offers an impassioned cover of Woody Guthrie's ‘Deportee’ and with ‘Across the Borderline’ (made famous by Willie Nelson) the journey is complete. A wonderfully spirited album, full of hope and peace in times of hatred and prejudice.