Traviezoz de la Zierra emerged as an alternative corrido quartet specializing in dark narcocorridos when accordionist Efren Noriz and bajo sexto player Adolfo Cordero departed Los Traviezoz de Choix to start fresh in the Sonoran desert town of Nogales. They recruited guitarist Adrian Garcia and vocalist-composer Victor Vicente Pérez Coyantes, known as El Kompa Chente, both previously with Brillantes de Sinaloa. The ensemble chose its name to echo the first band shared by half its lineup while appending “Zierra” to signal the sierreño tradition of Sonora and set the group apart from other corrido ensembles.
Although skilled on their instruments and strong vocally, the four musicians spent their initial seasons performing covers and traditional material at parties, weddings, and modest clubs, which left them dissatisfied with limited progress. Seeking a different outcome, they began crafting original songs and testing them live. After releasing a pair of independent projects, they secured a contract with Sony’s Del Records, which put out Así Es Mi Cartel in 2013. Extensive touring and regional radio airplay, including in Southern California, followed at once. Later that same year the quartet released its second album, Plan B, deliberately balancing its harder narcocorridos with romantic material to broaden its reach.
The subsequent period brought nonstop dates across Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and Southern California. Returning to the studio in late 2014, the band completed the fifteen-track A Ver Que Opinan, an album that integrated both facets of Traviezoz de la Zierra’s sound and quickly attracted broad airplay.
