When we talk about Hispanic music in America, we’re talking about a story that’s been here all along.
In the 1950s and ’60s, this music lived mostly inside the community. Mexican rancheras and mariachi carried stories of home and heartbreak. Cuban rhythms like mambo and cha-cha-chá filled dance halls. Spanish-language radio became a cultural lifeline.
By the 1970s, identity moved front and center. The Chicano movement gave music a political voice. Santana blended Latin rhythms with rock, and salsa exploded in New York. This music wasn’t asking for permission anymore — it was claiming space.
In the 1980s and ’90s, doors opened wider. Artists like Gloria Estefan, Selena, Ricky Martin, and Shakira brought bilingual and Spanish-language music into the American mainstream.
In the 2000s, regional sounds took hold — reggaeton, banda, norteño — telling stories about immigration, work, and daily life. |
On today'show, we play a highly subjective selection of our favorite songs of 2025. Not the "Best of 2025," because who died and left me emperor to declare what's best and what isn't? (I'd make a lousy music critic, no?) But I can strongly make the case that if someone did endow me with that power, such a list would include Wet Leg, Pulp, Ella, Mavis, Margo and a whole lot more from today's playlist!
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Ico feldspar, does your dirty mind danger information feel content?
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50 years ago, an album was released that would sell more copies than any other album in bluegrass history - and hold on to that record for 25 years. The album was called Old & In The Way and its all-star cast of pickers included Grateful Dead icon Jerry Garcia on banjo, David Grisman on mandolin, Vassar Clements on fiddle, John Kahn on bass, and Peter Rowan on guitar. Peter and Rocky recently had a great conversation about his music career, and this episode of the Yolo County Breakdown features that interview. Peter talks about his early days sneaking into music clubs in Massachusetts, and Rocky follows the path of his musical journey through his time with Joe Val, Bill Monroe, Muleskinner, Townes Van Zandt, Wyatt Ellis, and much more. Peter is a gifted story teller, and this conversation is one you will not want to miss!
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Coming up this evening on The Russ Tolman Goodtime Hour, a fine selection of tunes from Gill Landry, Mayer Hawthorne, Nick Lowe, Theo Lawrence, and more. Listen up at 9 p.m. Pacific on KDRT 95.7 fm | KDRT.org — streaming thereafter on your favorite podcast application. :-)
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Thu, 12/11/2025 - 4:30pm | RayK
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