Maira Solis is the show\u2019s architect \u2014 as well as the director of Mariachi Tierra Mia, the L.A.-based group that will perform a mariachi program the night of Sept. 27 before launching into a set of Smiths covers with the band, The Last Line of Defense.<\/p>\n
As to the enduring love Mexican Angelenos have for The Smiths, Solis will be the first to admit she didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
Keep up with LAist.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis was, like, not intentional at all,\u201d she said of the crossover.<\/p>\n
Learning about The Smiths<\/p>\n
The inadvertent mash-up happened in December 2024, just hours before Mariachi Tierra Mia was set to play a house gig \u2014 a \u201clucha libre-themed Christmas party\u201d \u2014 when their client asked if the group knew any songs by The Smiths.<\/p>\n
That would be the \u201880s Manchester band \u2014 led by singer-lyricist (and the Pope of Mope himself) Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr \u2014 that crafted songs as gorgeous and achy as they are wry and over-the-top. \u201cLast Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me\u201d and \u201cGirlfriend in a Coma\u201d are popular titles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, \u2018I don’t think so,\u2019\u201d Solis said. She double-checked with her husband, Ivan Pe\u00f1a, guitarist and singer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe turned around, and he’s like, \u2018I f\u2014ing love The Smiths,\u2019\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789822702_822_.jpeg\")
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The Smiths tour posters photographed in London this month. The band and its lead singer remain very popular with Mexican Americans. <\/p>\n
(<\/p>\n
Carl Court<\/p>\n
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Getty Images<\/p>\n
)<\/p>\n
A few hours later, Pe\u00f1a, with a serape draped over his Charro suit and little preparation, belted out \u201cHeaven Knows I\u2019m Miserable Now\u201d \u2014 and brought down the house.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike, the mariachis were jamming out, the taco people, the bar people, everyone in attendance was just like, \u2018Yeah,\u2019\u201d Solis said.<\/p>\n
That performance, captured on video, went viral on social media. Then the requests started to flood in.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, we love all your traditional songs,\u201d her clients would tell Solis. \u201cBut can you put a Smiths song in there?\u201d<\/p>\n
Learning mariachi’s centuries-old songbook one gig at a time<\/p>\n
Solis picked up the violin in middle school and continued on in high school. Both schools in Boyle Heights offered mariachi programs that exposed her to the music.<\/p>\n
Some of the students, she said, were already doing paid gigs and took her under their wing.<\/p>\n
Solis was very much humbled at her first backyard gig, armed with a repertoire of about 20 songs learned from school, around age 14.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized, \u2018Oh my God, I don’t know anything,\u2019\u201d she said, comparing her knowledge to the music\u2019s vast songbook that has been passed down for generations.<\/p>\n
Then there are the subgenres. \u201cPeople will ask for a bolero, a huapango, a son, a ranchera,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
And the music keeps adding new numbers, such as \u201cRisk It All\u201d by Bruno Mars.<\/p>\n
Is it really so strange (yes, that\u2019s indeed a Smiths reference) then, that mariachi would meet The Smiths?<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of mariachi songs stand the test of time because they’re very poetic,\u201d she said, as they are commonly about heartbreak and hardships. \u201cThe melodies really give life to those words.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just like the music of The Smiths.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s why they’re timeless,\u201d Solis said. \u201cThe whole purpose \u200aof our \u2018Mariachi Meets The Smiths\u2019 \u2014 it\u2019s gonna blend that.\u201d<\/p>\n
How to go<\/p>\n
Mariachi Meets The Smiths<\/p>\n