Natividad "Nati" Cano was born in 1933 to a family of day laborers and folk musicians in the small town of Ahuisculco, a rural outpost in the western state of Jalisco, Mexico. A self-taught musician, Nati rose to become the leader of Mariachi Los Camperos, a world-renowned group that has become an emblem of mariachi performance. He is active in the preservation of mariachi traditions and the education of young musicians. Here he discusses the elements of a good mariachi at his Los Angeles restaurant, La Fonda with performance footage from the annual Viva el Mariachi Festival in Fresno, CA.

Nati Cano’s Mariachi Los Camperos brings you their solid-gold Mexican sound acclaimed by audiences in New York’s Lincoln Center, Washington, DC’s Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and other major venues throughout the United States Southwest and Mexico. Llegaron Los Camperos (Los Camperos Have Arrived) showcases the group’s concert stage repertoire, skillfully arranged versions of classic mariachi melodies and styles of traditional music from many regions of Mexico.