Los Hermanos Banda

Details about the regional Mexican music quartet Los Hermanos Banda, also known by the alternate names Los Hermanos Banda de Salamanca and Los Hermanos Banda Salamanca, remain unfortunately sparse. Their roots are believed to trace to Salamanca, an industrial city of roughly 150,000 people located in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, although the surrounding municipality of the same name encompasses a considerably larger population of about 250,000. Budget-line compilations issued throughout the 21st century have repeatedly spotlighted the group, with many of those releases coming via Sony BMG. Their story extends well into the past, yet discographical records prove as thin as the biographical accounts. Traditional sounds anchor their output, including a generous selection of corridos y rancheras reflected in the 2002 Sony Discos compilation that bears exactly that title.

~ Jason Birchmeier