Heart of Hispanic culture celebrated through music

It’s the final Saturday night at the Sonoma County Fair, and a band called La Adictiva that has come from central Mexico has just taken the stage.

More than a thousand people, most originally from Mexico or of Mexican lineage, dance and cheer as about 15 musicians back the group’s lead singer in a rousing song that for the audience evokes the sound of home.

A big brass section, in matching burgundy jackets and black pants, performs choreographed dance moves and energizes the effusive crowd.

This is one of a number of annual events featuring bands from Mexico that offer familiar sounds to local residents who have relocated from south of the border.

“It’s great for our community to bring these bands through - it’s a win-win,” said Eric Dullaart, program director at Exitos 98.7, a Latino music station based in Santa Rosa.

“It’s a taste of home without having to cross the border,” Dullaart said. “It makes you feel like you’re back in Mexico. Something from home is being brought to you.”

Maggie LeClerc, promoter of Xiochil Entertainment, has been a key player in bringing the procession of talented Mexican bands to Sonoma County.

For bands that draw lots of people, LeClerc books venues such as the county fairgrounds or Wells Fargo Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa and the Graton Resort and Casino in Rohnert Park.

“It’s a very good feeling to bring this music to the community because people can’t go to Mexico to see these bands,” she said.

Yet LeClerc’s shows go beyond music: Comedian and actor Adrian Uribe, known for the characters he creates onstage, is coming to the Wells Fargo Center on Sept. 19. It will be Uribe’s first performance there, LeClerc said.

Also coming to WFC on Oct. 23 is pop singer Gloria Trevi, a sensation in Mexico who has developed a large following in the United States.

LeClerc, who was born in Tijuana and came to Sonoma County in 1982, says it feels good to make people happy by bringing cultural events to them.

She books the annual Hispanic Day event at Petaluma’s Sonoma-Marin Fair. Among those who performed in June were the Mexican band Los Mismos, a Colombian cumbia group called Jenny y Su Sonora and the local band Grupo Estreno Musical.

The style of the music, she said, is regional Mexicana, which includes banda, nortena and grupos.

Dullaart says he looks for bands that are playing elsewhere in California or Nevada and asks them to come to Santa Rosa. La Adictiva, for example, had a show in Reno on Aug. 8, so Dullaart asked the band if they’d like to appear on Aug. 7 at the fair in Santa Rosa.

But not every band fits the bill: “You need to know your market,” he said. “What works in L.A. or Texas might not work in Santa Rosa.”

People from northern Mexico tend to like different music than people from central Mexico, he said. Once a band is booked, Dullaart promotes the shows on Exitos to boost awareness of - and excitement about - the concerts.

The Sonoma County Fair show headlined by La Adictiva cost $40, but if tickets were purchased in advance they included entry into the fair, so that made it more affordable, he said.

He also produces free shows several times a year at Casa del Mar, a club on Stony Point Road in Santa Rosa where Exitos listeners are invited to enjoy Mexican music, he said.

Most of the bands are from central Mexico - Michoacán, Jalisco and Oaxaca. The style is typically banda, which tends to be more rhythmic with large ensembles, Dullaart said. “It’s faster paced, for people who like to dance.”

Ambrosio Vigil of Vi-Va Productions brings Mexican music to the county as well, sometimes as part of other events. At 2 p.m. Sept. 6 in the Chris Beck Arena at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Vi-Va is producing a jaripeo, a rodeo and dance with three or four hours of live music, headlined by Pancho Barraza and his band.

Also at the Fairgrounds: At 8 p.m. Oct. 10 is a baile (Mexican dance) produced by LeClerc. These bands really enjoy playing to the enthusiastic audiences here, she said, noting that many return annually.

Vigil, who came from Mexico City to the U.S. as a boy, noted that though the number of events is growing, it’s still special to see bands that come all the way from Mexico to perform in Sonoma County.

For those who haven’t been home in many years, he said, “it’s a reminder of their time in Mexico.”