walking upstream…
Julión Álvarez y su Norteño Banda
photo: dulce osuna · cc by-sa 4.0 ↗Julión Álvarez y su Norteño Banda
Julio César Álvarez Montelongo left La Concordia, Chiapas as a teenager chasing the banda scene of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, and got his real break by accident — working as a tour guide for a visiting Banda El Recodo, he struck up a conversation with the group's Poncho Lizárraga that routed him into Banda MS, where he sang lead from 2003 to 2006. Going solo in 2007 as Julión Álvarez y su Norteño Banda, he became one of regional Mexican music's defining voices of the 2010s, pairing a booming, elastic baritone with singalong choruses and a cappella tags on hits like 'Te Hubieras Ido Antes' and 'El Terrenal.'
the sound in question
2010
El TerrenalJulión Álvarez y su Norteño Banda
walk the tributaries ↓
El Coyote y su Banda Tierra Santa2000s · banda sinaloense / banda romántica
El Coyote is one of the three names on Julión's own 2016 tribute record Mis Ídolos, Hoy Mis Amigos!!! — a whole album of covers and new duets ('El Guitarrero' is theirs) built around the artists he's called his idols. Sinaloan banda's reedy, nasal high tenor and its taste for wounded-pride storytelling, full of jilted lovers getting even, runs straight through both careers.
listen: upstream & here
2004
Piquetes de HormigaEl Coyote y su Banda Tierra Santa
2013
Te Hubieras Ido AntesJulión Álvarez y su Norteño Banda
listen forThe strained, nasal top notes right at a chorus's peak, and the way a clever, biting lyric turns heartbreak into a punchline without losing the ache underneath.
Pancho Barraza2000s · banda romántica / banda sinaloense
Barraza — 'El Poeta del Amor' — is the second idol on that same tribute album, with their own duet ('Hay Amores'). He's widely credited with steering banda toward a slower, romantic-ballad songwriting style in the early '90s, trading corrido swagger for a plainspoken verse that builds to a wrenching chorus; Julión's own ballads follow that same blueprint.
listen: upstream & heresource: Wikipedia — Mis Ídolos, Hoy Mis Amigos!!! (2016 tribute album to El Coyote, Pancho Barraza & Julio Preciado) ↗
1995
Mi Enemigo El AmorPancho Barraza
2015
El Amor de Su VidaJulión Álvarez y su Norteño Banda
listen forA patient, almost spoken-word verse that holds back until the chorus finally opens up — banda arranged like a bolero, tuba and clarinet cushioning a lyric that reads like a diary entry.
Julio Preciado1990s · banda sinaloense
Preciado — the booming 'Gigante de la Banda' who fronted Banda El Recodo through the mid-'90s before going solo — is the third idol on the record, dueting with Julión on 'Cariñito Cariñito.' His full-chested, declarative belt riding right on top of the horn section, built for a crowd to shout back, is the template Julión reaches for on his uptempo, singalong numbers.
listen: upstream & heresource: Wikipedia — Mis Ídolos, Hoy Mis Amigos!!! (2016 tribute album to El Coyote, Pancho Barraza & Julio Preciado) ↗
1998
Dos Hojas Sin RumboJulio Preciado
2020
Cuando Te AméJulión Álvarez y su Norteño Banda
listen forA big, unforced chest voice that rides on top of the horns instead of ducking under them, phrased so a whole room can shout the line back.