In Mexico, Mother’s Day is celebrated on May 10 no matter the day of the week. In San Antonio, the U.S. tradition of celebrating matriarchs on the second Sunday in May holds, but for mariachis it’s the biggest weekend of the year — aside from Fiesta — and can extend from Thursday evening to Monday morning.
Each day, professional mariachi groups roll up to houses and apartments on sidewalks and porches to serenade mothers with revered songs such as “Oh Madre Querida,” “Si Nos Dejan” and “Cariño.”
Tears are a common result, as mothers are overtaken by the full range of emotions of raising children, and as song lyrics recognize the virtues and hopes of motherhood.
The love of her children
Pete Moreno Sr. of Mariachi Los Parientes arranged two Friday morning serenatas, also called mañanitas, for two longtime family friends, Ramona Martinez and Lupe Loza.
Martinez greeted Moreno at the door of her Ingram Hills home with a trio, his quintet reduced by two because the trumpet player and a second violinist had to work their day jobs. Moreno’s son Pete Jr. held his violin at the ready as Yvette Mireles tuned her guitarra de golpe.
The group launched into “Oh Madre Querida” as Martinez sat in her favorite chair, a large family photograph of her six children on the wall overlooking the scene.
Behind Moreno Sr., Mireles and Moreno Jr. was a large framed print by artist Joe R. Villarreal titled Las Mañanitas De Mi Madre that mirrored the scene unfolding in the living room, a group of formally dressed mariachis serenading a matriarch holding a tissue to catch her tears.
As Mireles sang “Si Nos Dejan,” Martinez wiped away tears, feeling the love of her children emanating through the songs filling her modest apartment home with joy.
Martinez grew up in Losoya, firmly rooted in the Mother’s Day serenatas tradition thanks to her mother, Marta. When Martinez, as a self-described “country girl,” moved to San Antonio, she brought the serenatas custom with her, she said.
A mariachi morning
After hugs, Los Parientes packed up their instruments to head to their next stop in the Gardendale neighborhood.
Awaiting them on her porch was Lupe Loza, a longtime mariachi musician who had since retired at the age of “42 twice.”
Loza had known mariachi pioneer Belle Ortiz and was a member of the lauded troupe Mariachi Vargas, and she said she once sang with famed vocalist Linda Ronstadt on the Municipal Auditorium stage, showing a vintage framed photograph of the two smiling together.
Los Parientes arrived and walked through the brightly painted metal gate fronting the Loza family home as Lupe watched, festooned in a marigold yellow dress and wearing intricately beaded earrings depicting guitars, the instrument she used to play.
For their third song, Moreno Jr. sang “Cariño” in a clear high tenor that echoed down the street, which Loza and Moreno Sr. said is filled with residents who are also mariachis, most neighbors likely off serenading in other parts of town. They said that come Sunday morning, the neighborhood would be filled with sound.
‘The emotion and the love’
Moreno Sr. said Los Parientes had so far arranged 18 mañanitas and seranatas gigs around San Antonio and would remain on call throughout the weekend and even into Monday.
They and other mariachi groups are hired for a fee of around $200 depending on the size of the group, up to $450 an hour for a longer performance.
Though some gigs are arranged as early as Thursday evening, with some on Friday, things really pick up late Saturday night when mariachis can expect to play straight through from 10 p.m. until 3 a.m. or 4 a.m., according to Alejandro San Miguel, a University of Texas at Austin student who will join his grandfather Juan Ortiz’s Mariachi Los Campanas de America troupe for his first round of serenatas ever. After a short break, they’ll go out again.
“You just go house to house to house to house, you go home, take a nap. And then you start again, maybe stop for food and then start again,” said San Miguel.
He’s experienced serenatas before and said he looks forward to witnessing the experience as a musician.
“The beautiful thing about these serenatas is you really get to see the emotion and the love that all these kids have for their mother. They can be all hard or all machismo, all super manly, and then they just give it all for their mom. They’ll start hugging their mom, all their siblings, and it gets super emotional. It’s a really beautiful thing to see,” he said.
It’s a big day for mariachis for a reason, San Miguel said. “Everyone loves their moms so much. And they know in our culture, if you want to show that you care, you get a mariachi.”
