Tag Archives: Mariachi mi Tierra

Latin Rhythms will once again be heard in Bridge Square

Minnesotans are fortunate to have a number of bands that focus on Mexican and other south of the border musical traditions. Two of the best (in our opinion!) are veteran performers at Vintage Band Festival and we’re excited to welcome them back to Northfield in 2023.

Banda La Verdadera

This high-energy Minneapolis band is a favorite Vintage Band Festival performer. Banda La Verdadera plays a type of traditional Mexican music that features brass instruments, woodwinds, drums and singing. The band performs a variety of musical forms, including rancheras, boleros and cumbias. They are in high demand in Minnesota and we’re lucky to have them back in Northfield in 2023.

Mariachi Mi Tierra

The mariachi ensemble is the only ensemble that requires the vihuela and the bass (guitarrón mexicano). These two instruments are the rhythm section. There’s no other ensemble in the world that uses them, except mariachi. If you go to a festival or a party and they say they have mariachi and they don’t have a vihuela and a bass, it’s not really Mariachi. The rest of the instrumentation is pretty straightforward. They include trumpets, violins, and vocal singers.

Mariachi Mi Tierra is the oldest Mariachi ensemble in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan area. Rosalio Castro (trumpet), who formed the group in 2003, has played various Mexican styles of music since he was in his teens. Eduardo Castro (also trumpet) is the group’s director. Together, the Castros have brought together a group that produces the full sound of authentic mariachi in Minnesota.

Mariachi Mi Tierra will perform at 5:00 pm on July 29, 2023 and Banda La Verdadera will take the stage at 6:00 pm. View the complete schedule for VBF 2023 here: https://vintagebandfestival.org/vbf-2023/ and check back for any updates.

VBF 2019 Minnesota Bands: Mariachi Mi Tierra

Mariachi Mi Tierra is the oldest Mariachi ensemble in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan area. Rosalio Castro (trumpet), who formed the group in 2003, has played various Mexican styles of music since he was in his teens. Eduardo Castro (also trumpet) is the group’s director. Together, the Castros have brought together a group that produces the full sound of authentic mariachi in Minnesota. The group’s repertoire includes a number of regional and current favorites. In addition to events in the local Mexican community, Mariachi Mi Tierra plays at schools, colleges, businesses, casinos, and festivals. Mariachi Mi Tierra performed previously at the Vintage Band Festival in 2014, 2015 and 2018. Catch them Thursday, August 1 at 7 pm on the Bridge Square Main Stage, immediately following Jack Brass Band. You won’t be disappointed!

Mariachi Mi Tierra

Vintage Band Festival Spring Fund Drive

It’s time for our annual spring fund drive here at Vintage Band Festival. The generous and loyal financial support from businesses, foundations and individuals like you continues to make it possible for us to present such amazing musicians and ensembles and not charge admission. We are fortunate to have the Wenger Foundation and the Minnesota State Arts Board as our principal funders, but their support accounts for just 40% of our $100,000 budget for 2019. The rest will need to come from other grants, and businesses and individuals such as you.

We are incredibly excited for Vintage Band Festival 2019. The roster we have assembled consists of three international groups, seven domestic ensembles from outside Minnesota and an amazing array of Minnesota bands from around the state. This year there will be 11 bands that have never performed at Vintage Band Festival before, two of which are from Europe.

Thursday evening, August 1, the headliners will be Mariachi Mi Tierra and McNasty Brass Band. Friday night we welcome back Copper Street Brass and then we’ll have a victory dance with Bend in the River Big Band. Saturday night will feature Southside Aces and Hornucopia: A Tribute to Horn Bands in the Rock Era.

There will be a number of living history bands with us this year, some that are familiar and several that are new. We will have the 1st Brigade Band from Watertown, Wisconsin, Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band, and the Independent Silver Band from Mount Vernon, Illinois. New to Vintage Band Festival in 2019 will be the 1st Nebraska Volunteers Brass Band, Arizona’s Territorial Brass and the Imperial Cornet Band from Baltimore, Maryland.

Check the VBF website often for the complete schedule and breaking news.

The goal for our 2019 spring fund drive is $20,000. Currently, we have raised $9,650. If you have recently made a gift to Vintage Band Festival, our sincere thanks! If it’s been awhile, won’t you please consider a gift at this time? A successful spring fund drive outcome is essential to the success of our summer festival. A gift in any amount is always welcome, but gifts of $100 or more are critically important right now. Donors are featured prominently in the festival program and onsite at the Bridge Square Main Stage. In addition, we will be hosting an exclusive donor reception in July, just before the festival begins.

If you are donating by check, send your gift to:
Vintage Band Festival
204 7th St W #130
Northfield, MN 55057

If you want to make your gift with a credit card, go to www.vintagebandfestival.org and click on the big green “Donate” button.

Vintage Band Festival Announces Evening Performers for August 1-3, 2019

The lineup is set for the Thursday-Saturday evening shows on the Bridge Square main stage at Vintage Band Festival 2019. New to the VBF stage this year will be Bend in the River Big Band, a 19-piece swing band playing for the Friday night Victory Dance; and Hornucopia: A Tribute to Horns in the Rock Era. The other six bands have performed at Vintage Band Festival in previous years and are coming back due to audience accolades.

Thursday, August 1
6:00pm—Jack Brass Band
7:00pm– Mariachi Mi Tierra
8:30pm—McNasty Brass Band

Friday, August 2
6:30pm—Copper Street Brass
8:30pm—Bend in the River Big Band

Saturday, August 3
6:00pm—Metro Brass
7:00pm—Southside Aces
8:30pm—Hornucopia

THURSDAY

Jack Brass Band
The Jack Brass Band formed in 1999 in the Twin Cities metro. Based on the traditions of New Orleans brass bands, they are ambassadors of the Crescent City’s rich musical history. The 8-piece band plays “Feel-Good Music” for audiences of any age, for any occasion.
JBB has the ability and repertoire to play everything from old New Orleans jazz from Louis Armstrong’s era, to the modern street Mardi-Gras anthems with the instrumentation, feel, and energy they have mastered through countless gigs, parades, festival appearances, and trips to New Orleans to listen, learn, and play alongside the masters.

Jack Brass Band

Mariachi Mi Tierra
Mariachi Mi Tierra is the oldest Mariachi ensemble in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan area. Rosalio Castro (trumpet), who formed the group in 2003, has played various Mexican styles of music since he was in his teens. Eduardo Castro (also trumpet) is the group’s director.
Together, the Castros have brought together a group that produces the full sound of authentic mariachi in Minnesota. The group’s repertoire includes a number of regional and current favorites. In addition to events in the local Mexican community, Mariachi Mi Tierra plays at schools, colleges, businesses, casinos, and festivals. Mariachi Mi Tierra performed previously at the Vintage Band Festival in 2014, 2015 and 2018.

Mariachi Mi Tierra

McNasty Brass Band
McNasty is a collection of Minneapolis/Saint Paul-based horn players and percussionists that fuse the Minneapolis sound with the spirit of New Orleans. The outcome of this fusion is hard-hitting dance music and high-energy live shows.
Each player works tirelessly outside McNasty Brass Band as a side man, some with national and international touring acts. That’s what makes McNasty special–these youthful but experienced side men come together and showcase their compositions, solos, group vocals, and stage presence as front men. “McNasty Brass Band is a perfect example of why you shouldn’t make fun of the kid who is super into trumpet in 5th grade” (twincitiesmedia.net). “King Size Life,” their first studio album, encapsulates their live energy with exciting compositions, rowdy gang vocals, and rip-roaring solos. The only thing missing is their dance moves!

McNasty Brass Band

FRIDAY

Copper Street Brass
The members of Copper Street Brass have style, substance and a flair for innovation, which has allowed them to transcend the brass quintet box and evolve into something fresh. Copper Street Brass started in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2007 and settled down in Minneapolis in 2008. The group’s new tour program, “The Evolution of the Brass Quintet,” features music from Mozart to Dave Brubeck to Adele. Its blend of musical styles and fusion of electronic effects and brass has wowed audiences in communities across the country. Last season the quintet performed for 4,300 students in 25 school residencies throughout Minnesota.

Copper Street Brass

Bend in the River Big Band
Street dances have been a part of Vintage Band Festival for many years. Providing the soundtrack for the 2019 Victory Dance is the Bend in the River Big Band from the Mankato area. The band formed in 1987 from alumni of Gustavus Adolphus College under the direction of Dr. Mark Lammers. This 19-piece ensemble is currently led by Bob Hallquist, who also plays trumpet and percussion. The band’s vocalist is Linnea Marrin. Everyone should bring their dancin’ shoes and be ready to swing!

Bend in the River Big Band

SATURDAY

Metro Brass
Metro Brass is a group of 11 amateur musicians from the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area that has only played together for five years. They all play in other ensembles, but come together for the “Metro Brass Sound.” Metro Brass is led by Keith Thompson (trumpet).

Metro Brass

Southside Aces
Southside Aces perform traditional New Orleans jazz. The band began as the brainchild of clarinetist Tony Balluff and sousaphone player Erik Jacobson. The Aces have self-produced and released five albums: All Aboard!! , Bucktown Bounce, A Big Fine Thing, their Christmas album, Santaphone, and their latest, Second Thursday. Their music garnered the declaration, “A true authentic New Orleans dance-hall style band” from the New Orleans Traditional Jazz Quarterly.
In New Orleans, the jazz tradition thrives off a wide array of tunes and styles. With such a wealth of good music from which to draw, the group is dedicated to highlighting the songs and not the players. They possess a diverse repertoire, with a roll call that includes the names of Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington and Bix Beiderbecke. Many songs from lesser-known constellations in the jazz firmament such as AJ Piron and Tiny Parham found their way in there, plus Crescent City classics like “Bourbon Street Parade,” “Just A Closer Walk With Thee” and “St. James Infirmary.”
The Southside Aces have performed at the Vieux Carré and Dakota jazz clubs, Peavey Plaza, Mears Park, Twin Cities Jazz Fest, Hopkins Jazz Festival, and the Doc Evans Jazz Festival. Found at weddings, birthdays, banquets and memorials, the Aces utilize the traditional cannon for its sweetness, its spice, its joy, its sorrow; whatever the mood should call for.

Southside Aces

Hornucopia
In 1969, the music of Blood Sweat and Tears and Chicago Transit Authority (among many others) could be heard on every street corner in America. In acknowledging the tremendous contributions of these bands and their music, Vintage Band Festival presents Hornucopia, an 11-member band from the Twin Cities metro performing horn tune tributes of the rock era (1960s to the present). Their music ranges from rock to ska, swing to pop, soul to funk, and Latin to blues. Hornucopia is led by front man and vocalist Kevin Thomas.

Join the Fall Fund Drive for Vintage Band Festival!

Mariachi Mi Tierra (Vintage Band Festival 2018; photo credit John Severson)

 

On October 19, Vintage Band Festival launched a fall fund appeal in an effort to close the gap between existing funds and the amount needed to finance the next 4-day Vintage Band Festival in 2019.

In her letter to VBF friends and donors, the chair of the Fundraising Committee, VBF Secretary Jan Stevens, said:

“We will be ending 2018 in a positive financial position, but we know what our future budgetary realities will be. It takes approximately $15,000 to stage a one-day event and it takes close to $100,000 to produce a four-day event. There are costs for stage rentals, sound equipment, lighting, advertising and many other expenses, but we don’t charge admission to our audience. Even with the generous corporate and foundation grants that we receive, we still need support from individuals like you to achieve our financial goals. We currently are about halfway toward our 2019 goal of $100,000. Please help us close the gap!

You may send a check in the enclosed envelope or if you prefer, you may use a credit card by visiting our website at www.vintagebandfestival.org and clicking on the green “Donate” button. Your contribution is 100% tax deductible.”

We are in the process of band selection for Vintage Band Festival 2019, but we’re being cautious because we don’t know exactly what we can afford yet. With your financial contribution, we’ll be that much closer to meeting our goal. Thank you!

Historic Fort Snelling Fifes and Drums (Vintage Band Festival 2017)

VBF 2018 Band Profile: Mariachi Mi Tierra

Mariachi Mi Tierra is the oldest Mariachi ensemble in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan area. Rosalio Castro (trumpet),who formed the group in 2003, has been playing various Mexican styles of music since he was in his teens. Eduardo Castro (also trumpet) is the group’s director.

Finally it is possible to bring together a group that could produce the full sound of authentic mariachi. The members of Mariachi Mi Tierra have brought a great number of regional and current favorites into the group’s repertoire. In addition to events in the local Mexican community, “Mariachi Mi Tierra” also plays at schools, colleges, businesses, casinos, and festivals. Mariachi Mi Tierra has played previously at Vintage Band Festival in 2014 and 2015.

Mariachi Mi Tierra will perform at 10:00am on July 28 at Vintage Band Festival 2018.

Celebrating Music over the Centuries and across the Nations

Visit our press page for information on a special Media Day and more.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NORTHFIELD, MN, July 2013 – Time will stand still as the Vintage Band Festival takes the stage Aug. 1-4 with a multitude of period-inspired performances celebrating the music and instruments of past eras. More than 100 concerts will take place this summer in Northfield and surrounding satellite concert sites for an unforgettable experience recalling music in history.

The Vintage Band Festival – a historic account of its own – brings with it a vast repertoire, dating as far back as the Baroque era and offers cultural performances in a full range of genres. Hear marches, ballads, jazz, polkas and alphorn songs…or as the Brass Messengers from Minneapolis/St. Paul who play Caribbean and Balkan music say, “anything that fits in the twisted brass tubing from originals to covers from around the globe, as long as it’s making joyful noise.”

Festival-goers will be able to step back in time and experience a musical documentary, of sorts, all in one weekend. “The whole town becomes a theater set,” said Festival’s Artistic Director Dr. Paul Niemisto, describing the bands’ different genres and ethnicities to be represented at open-air venues of parks, pubs, restaurants and other public spaces. “It’s not only the music, period instruments and authentic costumes viewers will be experiencing – we’re playing the space.” For example, attendees to the free festival can witness Civil War reenactment bands, dressed in period clothing, using restored instruments at a Battle of the Bands across the Cannon River followed by a massed concert.

The Vintage Band Festival serves as a portal into different eras with additional auxiliary events offered, such as ballroom dancing, a vintage “base ball” game, vaudeville entertainment and more.

This larger-than-life musical event spans the centuries, from primitive pieces to classic arrangements to old-time favorites to present-day smash hits, and it bridges across the country and overseas with more than 30 bands participating.

The Kentucky Baroque Trumpets will be performing signal calls dating back to 1240 from Krakow, Poland. This band offers a series of cavalry fanfares, solos, and duets, primarily from the 1600 and 1700s and has just recently recorded, for the first time ever, and with some of the finest trumpeters in the world, a facsimile from Composer Cesare Bendinelli that was transcribed into modern notation, according to Kentucky Baroque’s Artistic Director Don Johnson.

Dr. Niemisto also notes several European performances planned for Aug 1-4 that are indigenous to their place of origin such as: the Swedish band Medevi Brunnsorkester, a brass sextet with music dating back to 1870; the Oktetten Ehnstedts Eftr., a Swedish wind band, that hails from Stockholm; the Original Drachenfelser Musikanten, a quartet from Germany; and Eine Kleine DorfMusik Kapelle that harkens back its age-old scores from small villages in Austria. “Each one is conscientiously trying to preserve and present a style of music that is indigenous to a very specific part of their country. Even within these countries, there are still differences and one might find it culturally interesting to hear contrasting interpretations, within one language group.”

Dr. Niemisto added, “It’s also culturally compelling to hear the bands from the United States that are creating music that is not indigenously American, such as The Brass Messengers, Klezmerica, and Mariachi mi Tierra.”

Progressing along the musical timeline, the Copper Street Brass Quintet out of the Twin Cities has a tour program called the “Evolution of the Brass Quintet” that is aimed at education and offered to communities across the nation.

A headliner at the Vintage Band Festival that reinvents old to new is an extraordinary musical family – the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. The eight brothers from the south side of Chicago have played all over the world. A recent press release from the band says, “Every step taken by these ambassadors of brass, has been to fuse the better parts of every musical genre, into a legacy to share the future of music.”

Another noteworthy band is Kenny Carr and the Tigers, a trombone shout band from North Carolina. Kenneth Carr shared these words: “The Vintage Band Festival and the city of Northfield is a great venue and place for us to display our love for the brass sound. We are elated to be part of such a historic event.”

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For a complete band roster, go to http://vintagebandfestival.org/bands/. Music samplers and a full event schedule can be found at vintagebandfestival.org. Press information can be found at http://vintagebandfestival.org/press/.

Find VBF on Facebook at “Vintage Band Festival” and Twitter at @vintagebandfest.

Festival inquiries and photo requests, contact Amy Acheson at 651-470-0028 or amy@achesoncreative.com.

PRESS RELEASE: TAKE IN THE CULTURAL SCENE – VINTAGE BAND FESTIVAL 2013!

(Northfield, MN May 2013) – Cultural influences from all over the world contributed to the rich history of American brass bands. Attendees of this summer’s Vintage Band Festival will hear this richness expressed through the performances of a number of ethnic bands, including several from Minnesota.

Here’s a look at some of those bands participating in the Aug. 1-4 festival:

The Brass Messengers started as a street band playing the music of the Caribbean and Balkans. http://www.brassmessengers.com/ This Minneapolis-based band is well known for its lively performances and its involvement in the Heart of the Beast May Day Parade. “Our music of choice is anything that fits in the twisted brass tubing, from originals to covers from around the globe, as long as it makes a joyful noise.”

The entertainment band tradition of klezmer, secular Jewish music that originated in Eastern Europe, will be represented at the Vintage Band Festival by the Klezmerica band of the Twin Cities. Also known as the Frozen Chosen, Klezmerica has played all over the United States, in Canada, and Israel.  (http://frozenchozen.com/)

Traditional Mexican music styles of mariachi and banda also have influenced the American brass band sound. Minneapolis-based Mariachi mi Tierra (http://www.mitierramnonline.com/) has performed widely around the country, and at events closer to home, like Minnesota Twins baseball games. Mariachi music has incredible diversity, from rapid tempo “sones” (quick songs), to “romånticas” to dance forms such as the “cumbia”, “bolero”, “polka”, and “vals” (waltz). They include the typical instruments: trumpets, fiddles, and guitars.

Among the other Minnesota bands reflecting ethnic traditions are the Original New Ulm German Band and the Bavarian Musikmeisters (http://www.musikmeisters.com/), both well known in their own communities and around the region. For the Bavarian Musikmeisters, the music is about “sharing the beauty, enjoyment, and history of traditional Germanic band music and culture with people of all ages.”

The Minnesota-based Finnish band Ameriikan Poijat (Boys of America) recently returned from a concert and festival tour of Finland, performing at the Lieksa International Brass Week and on the main esplanade in Helsinki and many other locations. The seven brass players are from all corners of Minnesota.  (www.ameriikanpoijat.org)

Visit our website for more information and a four-day schedule with over 100 performances at http://vintagebandfestival.org/festival/schedule/. Stay tuned for more news from the Vintage Band Festival as exciting national and international bands (soon to be announced) will bring their heritage music to this year’s festival, as well! Our news blog can be found at http://vintagebandfestival.org/news/.

The Vintage Band Festival is a four-day celebration featuring bands from across the US and abroad. Over 100 concerts fill the streets of historic Northfield and satellite concerts sites throughout southern Minnesota on August 1-4. The Festival offers a variety of genres, ethnic influences, and period-style performances. Visit http://vintagebandfestival.org/ for more information.

Find us on Facebook at “Vintage Band Festival” and Twitter at @vintagebandfest.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts & cultural heritage fund.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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