The latest offering from Stephanie Urbina Jones & The Honky Tonk Mariachi, Manuel’s Destiny, goes far beyond the limits of the typical album: it’s a saga, a joyride, an impassioned reclamation of her cultural heritage, and—above all—a riveting tribute to the power of a dream to travel over 100 years and three generations. From her great-grandfather crossing the border, to an artist living and telling a transcendent story, and ultimately living Manuel’s Destiny. Over the course of 11 wildly dazzling songs, the Texas-bred, Nashville/Mexico-based singer/songwriter sets her storytelling to a one-of-a-kind sound she’s created and calls “Honky Tonk Mariachi”—a gorgeously orchestrated fusion of her Mexican roots and San Antonio, TX Hill Country upbringing, centered in the stunning vocal prowess she’s shown in touring across the globe, sharing the stage with legends like Willie Nelson, and making history as the first artist ever to perform with mariachi at the Grand Ole Opry. The result is the most revelatory work yet from a truly visionary artist, one that leaves the listener newly emboldened to fearlessly follow their hearts and live a dreamer’s tale. For Urbina Jones, the making of such an ambitious and all-encompassing album took decades of soul-searching and careful excavation of her family’s history. Originally from San Antonio, she spent much of her early childhood at backyard barbecues at the home of her paternal grandmother, where she first heard the traditional Mexican music, she now describes as “a transmission of pure joy and love.” When her parents divorced, Jones moved to a small town in Texas, and as a young girl, frequented local honky-tonks, two-stepping to songs by all the country greats and listening to poets like Jerry Jeff Walker, Guy Clark, and Townes Van Zant carve out songs by the potbelly stove in Luckenbach, TX. (“Margie the bartender was my babysitter. I got to put the sawdust on the floors,” she recalls). But despite her many happy memories, that period of Urbina Jones’ life also carried a heavy burden of pain. “After I was pulled away from my father, I was told to hide the fact that I was Mexican, which haunted me for a very long time,” she says. At age 18, however, Urbina Jones made her first trip to Mexico (accompanied by her father) and immediately felt a profound sense of revelation. “I fell madly in love with my culture—the people, the music, the food,” she says. “I finally realized, ‘This is who I am.’ From this moment on, the direction of my life changed. I became passionate about telling a new story celebrating my roots. My pain turned into my passion and purpose.” As she unraveled her family’s history, Urbina Jones learned of her great-grandfather, Manuel Anaya Urbina: a Mapimí, Hidalgo, Mexico native who went to the Vatican to study for the priesthood in the late 1800s. After two years in Rome, he rejected his childhood religion. “He returned to Mexico and crossed into El Paso in 1907— left his country, left his family, left his faith, left everything to embark on a new life for his own personal freedom,” she says. “He ended up becoming the first Mexican Baptist minister in San Antonio and spread the gospel all over the Southwest. Once I discovered his story, I became passionate about the idea of this dreamer crossing the border to follow his heart. I feel as if his dream has lived on through me, and now I want to share it as a source of inspiration for anyone seeking their own divine truth.” The follow-up to 2018’s Tularosa (a powerhouse album stacked with mariachi-infused covers of country classics like “Ring of Fire” and “Jolene”), Manuel’s Destiny finds Urbina Jones moving forward with her mission of introducing audiences everywhere to the unbridled passion and heart of Mexico. “As a little girl growing up listening to mariachi, the joyful sound of their voices singing together always felt like an instrument in itself, and I knew from the start that I wanted that to be woven into every song on this album,” she says. Produced by Urbina Jones and Preston Sullivan, and recorded live at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas—not far from where her great-grandfather crossed into El Paso—Manuel’s Destiny achieves its lush and fiery sound thanks to contributions from over a dozen musicians, including guitarrón player Mike Hernandez (also the album’s mariachi session leader), Urbina Jones’ bandleader/longtime guitarist Patterson Barrett, and a lineup of esteemed mariachi players from all over Texas, Nashville, Los Angeles, and Mexico. With its resplendent selection of heart-on-sleeve ballads, hip-swinging Texican Americana anthems, and pedal steel-laced country- rock songs, Manuel’s Destiny ultimately radiates an electrifying energy, adding even greater impact to the countless pieces of wisdom woven into her lyrics. In many ways a document of Urbina Jones’ own whirlwind adventures in ...
