“Not Your Grandma's Rancheras”: Pepe Aguilar experiments with Mariachi on his new album

Pepe Aguilar stays true to his roots as a ranchera, but is still evolving. On Thursday night, the Música mexicana legend released his new album Que Llueva Tequilawhich he describes as a “little oasis” away from the Mexican music being made today.

“The songs reflect a clear evolution lyrically and musically in mariachi, at least in my mariachi, in my world. They are not your typical ranchers. They're not your grandma's ranchers, and they're not your kids', either,” he says. Rolling rock with a laugh. “It's somewhere in between. I experimented with the production and the results are very good for me. I like what we made.”

Aguilar worked with producers such as Fernando D. Santiago, Juan Tucán Franco and William Montez Fuentez, as well as songwriters Edgar Barrera and Pablo Preciado for the album which includes tracks such as “Hasta Que Me Duermo”, “Te Confirmo” and “Question de Tiempo.”

Aguilar says this was the “perfect time” to release his ranchera LP, which he says is very different from the style of Mexican music being released these days. “Not that I think the music being made right now is bad. It's just different,” he says. “I wasn't going to go to that world because that's not my world. I had to stay true to my beliefs, thoughts and sounds.”

“It's not just about making money and being financially relevant, it's about being happy as an artist,” he adds. “Paradoxically, when you do that, success comes in many forms. It could be a commercial success, but that's not all I'm looking for.”

Aguilar will follow the album with the continuation of the Jaripeo Hasta Los Huesos tour with his two children, musicians Ángela and Leonardo Aguilar. He will kick off the run of shows on June 29 at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, before making stops in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Jose and Sacramento.