The Mavericks

Formed in Miami in 1989, The Mavericks have built themselves on the fringe of Nashville country by mixing early country, country rock, Americana, vintage pop and Latino textures, with a strong anchoring in the Tex‑Mex universe. Around Raul Malo, singer and principal songwriter of Cuban origin, the band from the start developed an identity nourished as much by honky‑tonk as by 1950s rock’n’roll and Latin music. After an initial independent album, The Mavericks signed with MCA Nashville and released From Hell to Paradise in 1992, before finding a wider audience with What a Crying Shame in 1994 and then Music for All Occasions in 1995, where their country writing opened more to pop arrangements and border colors, notably on All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down with Flaco Jiménez. The late 1990s confirmed this evolution with Trampoline in 1998, more open to soul, dance rhythms and Latin orchestrations. After a breakup in 2000, then a sporadic return around the album The Mavericks in 2003, The Mavericks reformed permanently at the beginning of the 2010s with Paul Deakin, Eddie Perez and Jerry Dale McFadden alongside Malo. This new period yielded In Time in 2013, Mono in 2015, Brand New Day in 2017, the covers album Play the Hits in 2019, En Español in 2020, the first album entirely in Spanish, then Moon & Stars in 2024. Onstage as in the studio, The Mavericks have kept this fluid blend between country ballads, swing, orchestral pop and Latin heritage that runs through their entire trajectory.