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Like day labourers working in construction, the mariachis of Boyle Heights, East LA, hang around on Mariachi Plaza to pick up work. You will see them most days in their dark suits, embroidered jackets, and silver buttons running up the sides of their pants.

The life of a ‘street’ mariachi is pretty unpredictable. In the past, people used to drive, or walk up, to hire them. Now bookings often come over the phone. Boyle Heights is changing. Rents are rising and, especially since the arrival of the Metro Station, developers are moving in. It is hard to know how much this will affect the work of the mariachi.

Writer Evangeline Ordaz was born a block from Mariachi Plaza and worked for years as a legal aid attorney in the neighbourhood. She talks to musicians and residents at neighbourhood celebrations for Santa Cecilia – the adopted patron saint of the mariachi – and spends a night in the Latino suburbs of Los Angeles with the mariachis of Boyle Heights, East LA.

(Photo: Children wearing mariachi suits with guitars, take part in the Santa Cecilia procession)