Family Music and Family Bands in New Mexico Music

Abstract

I continue analysis of family meanings through the lives and music of three family bands: Los Blue Ventures, Los Garrapatas and Los Reyes de Albuquerque. I argue that New Mexico music operates as a sign of intergenerational family-based socializing, anchored in the Nuevomexicano cultural home of New Mexico. New Mexico music comes to signify both a family-land-place ethos and personal family relationships through ongoing performances at family-centered dances. In order to encourage multigenerational participation, New Mexico music is characterized by simplicity, recognizability, and tends toward conservation of repertoire. These qualities create an approachable and familiar musical context in which all family members can participate. Critics of the aesthetic of simplicity in New Mexico music generally do not respect participatory musical styles as distinct musical practices compared to presentational styles. Such critics therefore, do not understand and respect that New Mexico music's fundamental purpose is to drive multi-age participation and rearticulate the family-land-place ethos.