Tocamos Cielito Lindo, Y'all

One thing that I didn’t realize until I got here is that, while there are a ton of mariachis and singers hanging around in El Zocalo (the city center) they don’t really play much. Or I guess I should say, they don’t give it away for free. They wait for someone to hire them. (How they can sit there, with their instruments in their hands for that long and not play is beyond me.)

I was always so disappointed when I’d go downtown. There was musicians everywhere but no music! How strange.

Now, you know me and you know that I like to play. But I hardly ever play for money. But, I went down to el zocalo on Friday afternoon to try my hand at some busking. I’d never “busked” before, even in Chicago, but I decided that I need to give it a try. So I did it. I sat right down in the center of the whole scene, put my Tigers hat out, and started to play. I got a pretty good crowd for Oh Susanna and made my first 7 pesos (the most money I’d made in 7 weeks). I was on my way!

Then, of coarse, a gringo hired a group of mariachis to play about 100 ft from me! I had been in Cuernavaca for seven weeks and not once did I hear a mariachi group actually play. And I they day I try to break out . . . “Guadalajara, Guadalajara . . . “

The banjo is loud, but it’s not that loud. So me my friend Ryan, who had come to lend his moral support, packed up and we moved to a different part of el zocalo. I was feeling fairly defeated.

We were standing by a fountain, just chatting when a trumpet playing mariachi, Mario, came up to me and asked me about the banjo. We started talking and a couple others came over. Then a few more.

Before long I had a pretty good crowd around me; all mariachis.

Now, like I said, the mariachis don’t play until they’re hired. And here I am showing up, banjo in hand, ready to play for nothing. So I played a little bit. I think I played Fish on a Hook and Angeline the Baker.

Ryan noticed the mariachies give each other a hard time if they play without being hired, so the whole situation was a little weird. I could tell they were dying to play, but they were trying not to.

Finally, Santiago, who plays the vihuela, started to sing; just a little bit, kind of under his breath. But we sang and played Cielito Lindo and by the end a bunch of others had joined. It was hilarious because they where all singing so quietly and kind of looking around like they didn’t want to be noticed.

Eventually a few of them warmed up. Manuel, who I was told plays everything and is considered the best musician in the group, didn’t seem to mind and played for real. We played Oh Susanna (of coarse), Will the Circle Be Unbroken, and This Land is Your Land. They helped me sing Volver, Volver (which I’m working pretty hard on) and they showed me a couple other songs.

My favorite moment was when one of the singers busted into Guantanamera. Everyone sang and they really sang it, too! Oh man. I just kept thinking about Pete Seeger and wishing I could have recorded it and sent it to him. I think he would be so proud.

P.S.
My friend Ryan (who took the photos that I'm in) has a blog posting about this event, too. Ryan became a very good friend during this trip. Check out his blog. It's hilarious and very interesting.