The most important group in the history of mariachi music is Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, founded in 1898 by Gaspar Vargas in Tecalitlán, Jalisco.

The style of music that would become Mariachi arose in the Jalisco region of Mexico, and was also called son jaliscience.

One of the main highlights: Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi. Who can forget the unnamed traveling musician, who dreams to make his way in the world through his art. But, by an accidental trade of guitar cases, he gets wrongly marked as a ruthless criminal that the local drug lord had imprisoned and now wants dead.

In addition to the subtitled version, Columbia had an English dubbed version prepared for home video release in the United States.