Well looky here… Monroeville claims to have discovered an ethnomusicological missing link.
I’ll admit to a bit of skepticism here. Monroeville says that the outfit in this video is a mariachi band called Platarapido which they encountered along the US southern border, but the various members bear a striking resemblance to their counterparts in Monroeville proper.
In any event, here is their hybrid, bordergrass arrangement of Hard Game de Amor.
Cha, cha, cha indeed.
Could this be the start of a new trend? Will Mexican immigrants soon be taking over the playing of Wagon Wheel, Rocky Top, and other jobs that American bluegrass bands won’t do?
I asked Monroeville mandolinist Matt Munsey whether they might consider bringing Platarapido on tour with them, a la Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers with Hot Rize during the 1980s. He said they have been thinking about it.
“Maybe, if we can raise enough money for their visas…”
We’ll have some more Monroeville news later this week, about a new look for the band, their recently-concluded and very successful Bluegrass In The Schools tour for the IBMM, and being scheduled to sing the National Anthem at an SEC basketball game this weekend.
