MARFA Marfa Live Arts is back with a brand new program based on the border region’s history and folklore, ¡Ándale a Marfa!: Revolution and Songs From Across the Border.
The event, which is free and open to the public, kicks off at 7 p.m. Saturday, November 16, at USO Marfa Visitor’s Center, 302 S Highland Ave., Marfa. Tamales will be provided by Socorro and beer provided by Cactus Liquor.
The program includes a monologue of “La Noche Fría” [The Cold Night] by M. Maldonado with actress Lydia Gallegos; “¿Por Donde Vino Villa A Atacar Ojinaga?” [Where did Villa come from to attack Ojinaga?] with Ojinaga historian Victor Sotelo Mata; Marfa Folklórico; and culminates with a special performance by award-winning, El Paso-based singer Arturo Guerrero and his mariachi band.
Talking about her upcoming monologue performance, Gallegos said in a news release, “I feel very excited and nervous at the same time. Acting in front of an audience and in a country different from mine fills me with emotion and pride! I consider it a challenge.”
As for the text itself, Gallegos stated, “For the author of the monologue, his priority has always been to make people not only aware of but also to recognize what the people inside Ojinaga were going through during those nights of uncertainty, waiting for Pancho Villa to take over the region. The story of the process of the takeover is known, but not what was happening within the community. I invite the audience to attend and experience through the performing arts a little bit of our history, our Ojinaga culture.”
When asked about his upcoming presentation in Marfa and the importance of the subject, Sotelo Mata said, “I love giving conferences — in Parral, Chihuahua; in Durango. I even gave a conference in Alpine called The Coexistence of the Border Line in Rio Puerco (Rio Grande). The topic fascinates me. This research took me 15 years and it involves towns such as Van Horn, Valentine, Porvenir USA, Porvenir Mexico, Candelaria, Texas, Hacienda de San Juan, Ojinaga, and Presidio. I will bring unpublished photographs from the archive of the researchers.”
Guerrero, who was born in Los Angeles, California and moved to El Paso at three years old, found his love of mariachi music in the border city at five years old, the release said.
“That’s when I started doing my first talent shows in elementary school. Basically from there, I would go see mariachi bands playing at quinceañeras and weddings and I’d ask my parents if I could go talk to them and see if they would let me sing with them,” he said. “So, I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember.”
Over the years, Guerrero kept his singing practice, performing wherever he could; whether at talent shows or public events with open microphones, finally hitting his stride when he turned 18. It was at this time that the young singer started participating in the major Spanish-language musical talent programs (think Spanish-language American Idol): La Academia in Mexico City, Objetivo Fama in Puerto Rico (where he made it to the top 10), and La Voz in Mexico City (in which me made it to the semifinals on Lusi Fonsi’s team). Guerrero’s talent and ambition helped him catch the attention of father-son music producer duo Jesús “Chucho” and Fabian Rincón of CHR Records. Chucho is a Grammy Award winning producer who worked with Mexican music legends Vicente Fernández and Joan Sebastian.
Guerrero has since released two EPs (with a third one currently in production) with Rincón under the name Hijo de Ilegal — which translates to “son of the illegal” and alludes to the fact Guerrero’s father came into the United States as an undocumented immigrant.
“That is where I am right now. I’m on my third EP as an independent artist, and here in El Paso I work with mariachis, I also perform as a solo singer, doing private events and public events,” he said, adding that he has been promoting and booking his own shows, even paying out of pocket for venues in El Paso. “We’ve done five shows like that, and thankfully, they have all been sold out. So I’m really, really excited about that.” His hard work over the years, he said, has paid off as he’s been inundated with requests to perform around Texas and New Mexico.
Though this won’t be Guerrero’s first time coming through Marfa, it will be his first public performance in town, though he has done some private events.
“When Marfa Live Arts contacted me for this performance, I thought it was just going to be another quinceañera or wedding,” he said. “But when she told me in detail what it was for, I just thought it was pretty cool, so I’m really excited. The mariachis are excited too.”
For more information on Marfa Live Arts programs, please visit marfalivearts.org