"This takes me back to music that's real, made by real musicians for real people."
~ Carlos Del Campo
The Group's History
Conjunto Los Pochos' core members, Otoño Luján (button-accordion) and Elliott Baribeault (bajo sexto) met in 1996 at the California Institute of the Arts. The two Southern California natives played traditional conjunto music as a duet at backyard barbeques and for anyone who wanted to enjoy Conjunto music. In the summer of 1997, the four-piece ensemble "Conjunto Los Pochos" was born.
The band's name initially came about to address the perceived peculiarity of a bunch of [primarily] acculturated Mexicans (Pochos), barely speaking Spanish and playing "Norteño" music (border music from Northern Mexico). Ironically though, this music - having stemmed from the merging of European and Texas-Mexican cultures in the late 1800's - continues to reflect the process of Pochismo (or acculturation) through its lyrics and music.
Conjunto Los Pochos has lived this music at dance halls, weddings, concerts and a variety of venues from the Eastside to the Westside, throughout Southern California and across the country. They have developed their unique sound that combines elements of both Texas and Mexico conjunto styles with original music as well as classic favorites. They have been joined by Ernesto Molina (1999) and veteran musician, Lorenzo Martinez (2001), who have toured and recorded two CDs with the band: “Margie’s” (2004) and "Dame Más Amor" (2009). Los Pochos has performed regularly at the Annual Grassroots Music Festivals and at the Annual Tejano Conjunto Festival in San Antonio, Texas. The band has performed alongside legendary musicians such as Poncho Sánchez, Los Dos Gilbertos, Flaco Jimenez and Little Joe y La Familia.
Los Pochos has arrived at the year 2010 successfully presenting a genuine L.A. expression of traditional Conjunto music to a steadily growing audience that cuts across race, nationality and social status.
About Conjunto Music
It may be confusing to the uninitiated that the Spanish word Conjunto translates as "group," because not every band with the word "conjunto" in their name actually performs in the specific musical style also known as conjunto. Genuine conjunto is a small-group dance music, driven by accordion and bajo sexto, and is actually native to Texas and northern Mexico. Outside of Texas, conjunto music is generally referred to as "la musica norteña," or simply norteño, with the only real differences being location and the preference of conjunto for the ranchera song form over the corrido; conjunto is also very similar to Tejano music, except that its sensibility is more rural and traditional than modern or urban. In addition to being primarily dance-oriented, conjunto has also had a historical role as the music of the working classes, its celebratory exuberance and often tough, rowdy lyrical themes setting it apart. The standard conjunto ensemble features an accordion (usually a simple diatonic model), bajo sexto (a baritone-range twelve-string guitar), bass, and drums, along with one or two expressive vocalists. This format solidified around the 1950s, but its roots date back to the late 1800s, when the Mexican population in the area was introduced to the accordion and to various European folk dances - polkas, waltzes, redovas, mazurkas, schottisches - by German and Czech immigrants living in southern Texas. - Copyright © MUSICMATCH