In late February 2026, The Mariachi Brothers, a musical group of 3 teen boys, were targeted by ICE and sent to a detention facility. Upon their release, after bipartisan outcry, the brothers were contacted by Country music superstar Kacey Musgraves. Asking to open three of her shows in New Braunfels, Texas. 

Two weeks after their release from ICE detention, the boys and their father shared the stage with Kacey Musgraves. It was a powerful statement of musical and cultural solidarity that has its origins in the Tejano musical movement and in the man who started it all, Johnny Canales. 

In this episode, two years after the death of Johnny Canales, we revisit a conversation with Adrian Arredondo and Myrna Perez, the directors of “Take It Away: The Rise and Fall of Tejano Hollywood,” a documentary about Canales’s life and legacy in Tejano Music. 

Featured image courtesy of Adrian Arredondo.

***

Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for exclusive episodes, sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes chisme on Latino USA and all our podcasts.

Host: Maria Hinojosa

Producer and reporter: Reynaldo Leaños Jr. 

Rebroadcast: Monica Morales-Garcia and Nicole Rothwell. 

Editor: Andrea López-Crusado

Social Media: Luis Luna, Adreanna Rodriguez and Anhelo Reyes

Engineer: JJ Querubin

Managing Editor: Fernanda Echavarri

Executive Producers: Peniley Ramirez and Maria Hinojosa