Horóscopos de Durango

By Dan Kimpel

Jun 19 2007

Successful bands rarely experience decades of longevity, but Horóscopos de Durango is a group that has a history stretching back over three decades. Back in 1975, regional Mexican music in the U.S. — let alone in the chilly climate of the Midwest — was a rarity when Armando Terrazas established his six-member band. (Durango's connection with Chicago had been forged in the early 20th century, when Midwestern railroad companies lured workers from the sparsely populated state in Mexico, albeit one notable for its railroad development prior to the Mexican Revolution.)

Today, Duranguense music from Chicago enjoys unprecedented popularity: As many as five of the top 10 spots on Billboard's Latin charts in the past year have belonged to the genre. “Tamborazo” includes a combination of tuba, accordion and saxophone, and it takes its name from the tamborazo drum, an instrument popular during the revolution; a large bass drum.

Horóscopos de Durango is a family affair, as Terrazas’s daughters, Vicky and Marisol, now lead the long-lived aggregation. In recent years, the group has tallied an impressive number of Billboard Awards, including 2007 Regional Mexican Album of the Year, Female Group and Airplay, plus numerous Latin Grammys.

Certainly, a band that is fronted by two women in miniskirts and cowboy boots can generate an initial level of intrigue, but it has been the group’s long-standing devotion to a very specific form of regional music that has ensured their longevity and made them one of Latin music’s most popular, and certainly most enduring, hit makers.