Beyond the Border: Meaning and Authenticity in the Adoption of Texas-Mexican Conjunto Music by International Artists

Abstract Since the 1990s, Texas-Mexican conjunto music has been adopted around the world, raising contemporary considerations of sociological significance in newly widespread musical repertories. In an increasingly postnational world, regional cultural commodities and notions of musical authenticity are no longer confined to an individual race, class, language, or location. For international conjunto musicians, the ability to create an individual identity based on common stylistic heritages, socioeconomic backgrounds, imagined familial connections, and aesthetic attraction demonstrates that popular music can serve to rearticulate a sense of belonging for musicians that is accessible only through new forms of electronic dissemination.