CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — "I love mariachi music. I love the passion of Mariachi music and just the vibe, the energy that I get when I sing it. It's just natural for me."
For 12 years, Margaret Rodriguez has been the face -- and voice -- of one of Corpus Christi's pre-eminent mariachi groups, Los Mariachis Corpus Christi.
"Basically, like, we're like a jukebox, you know?” she said. “Somebody resonates with a song that their grandmother used to sing to them when they were a kid and they wanna hear that. Um, their grandma might be sick and, or their grandma may have already passed away and they wanna hear that particular song."
Her influences are obvious when she performs: Selena. Juan Gabriel. The group even plays some Celia Cruz. But Linda Ronstadt holds a special place in her heart.
"I watched 'Canciones De Mi Padre' over and over and over and over while I was growing up," she said. "I had a copy of an old VHS tape that, I think, one of my neighbors had recorded it and she gave it to me when she found out that I was singing or interested in singing. And I just loved it."
But like most local musicians, while music is life, it's not her whole life.
The full-time mom also has a full-time day job. And while balancing all of her jobs can be tricky, she's never felt the need to choose.
"I work in TV, also,” she said. “So I love TV. And I love singing. So why would you give up one or the other? If you can do both, then do both of them, you know? You just handle it. You just handle it, because you can't give up one or the other because you love both of them."
But for less established singers, the struggle, as they say, is real.
'Jenny B' is a Tejano singer from San Antonio. You've probably even seen her on Domingo Live.
But when the bright lights turn off, and her sparkly hat goes back on its rack, she goes back to being her dad's 'only employee' in his general contracting business.
“With my dad, it's, it's a little bit easier because he understands, he knows what's going on, he knows about my career,” she said. “Obviously, he fully supports it."
Working in the family business gives her the flexibility to pursue her career that jobs in the past didn't. And the mental toughness she needs to push forward in music.
"I feel like at the same time in this industry, believe it or not, like I need that toughness more than I need the feminine because I'm already, by nature, feminine,” she said. “But in this industry, in order to survive, you kind of have to have the mindset of a tough man."
As she works to create social-media content and hustle to make her dream a reality, she reminds us that most local musicians are just like us when they walk off stage.
"But I get it, I mean, some people, you know, they see artists as like this phenomenon . . . . and it, it's far from the truth, you know,” she said. “Everybody -- we're all human. We all have families, you know? We all have amazing times in our careers. They also have horrible times in our careers. Life happens. Death, you know. Accidents. I mean, there's just so much that I, I feel like people forget that could happen to us too."
