Professional Musician, Researcher and Academic
Specializing in Mexicano and Chicana/o cultural expression and production, popular culture, performance and aesthetics, anthropology of music, transnational networks, and communal development Greater Mexico.
Biography
At the age of eight, Rodríguez started his exploration of Mexican cultural expressions when his mother, Theresa Rodríguez, forced him to start taking Mexican folklorico dance classes. After dancing for three years and performing with the family group Los Mestizos (directed by Theresa Rodriguez), Russell met Artemio Posadas and Juan Francisco Díaz who were working with the music ensemble from the University of San Luis Potosi, Mexico that at the time was accompanying the local ensemble Los Lupeños in San José. It was in 1973 that Rodríguez began his first musical apprenticeship with Posadas, learning son huasteco and son jarocho. He additionally took lessons with Juan F. Diaz learning the requinto jarocho and guitar. Rodríguez accompanied Posadas and Díaz in various performances at venues such as La Peña in Berkeley and accompanying folklorico dance groups in the Bay Area. In 1974 he was invited to join Los Lupeños de San José as a dancer bringing him in closer contact with Posadas, Diaz and other local musicians. In 1977, Posadas formalized an ensemble called Los Trovadores de la Costa with Rodríguez and Ruben Killingsworth that would later integrate musicians Noé Montoya and Rick Mendoza. Rodríguez became endearingly known as the “kid” that plays Mexican music. .
By the time Rodríguez was 14, some of the local mariachi musicians became to recognize him, and he was invited by Juan Fernández to join his group Mariachi Los Rancheros. Rodríguez’s mother, however, was not willing to let her child go work “al talón” in bars at that age, thus postponing his entrance into this style of music. It was also during this time that Rodríguez worked closely with fellow musician Noé Montoya to learn a Chicano music repertoire. Montoya, who was a member of El Teatro Campesino, shared a variety of labor songs, songs from the farmworkers movement, nueva trova, oldies, and the music of Lalo Guerrero and encouraged Rodríguez to explore Chicano theater, which he did, working with groups such as Teatro de la Gente, Teatro Campesino and Teatro Vision. Montoya also created opportunities for Rodríguez to work with other important Chicano musicians in the area such as Eduardo Robledo, Ben Cadena, Yolanda Perez, Debbie, Felipe and Pancho Rodriguez, Enrique Ramírez, Miguel Govea, David Silva and Danny Valdez. The interaction with Montoya was foundational to Rodríguez’s musical trajectory as a musician and academic.
By 18 Rodríguez started to perform with some local and student groups like the UCSC mariachi ensemble led by David Kilpatrick, which was being taught by Juan F. Díaz, one of Rodríguez’s first teachers. He also received much encouragement from other local musicians such as Barbara Perez, Laura Sobrino and Jonathon Clark to engage mariachi music. Rodríguez joined the Mariachi Mixtlán officially in 1982. In this group he worked closely with musicians such as Juan Fernández (his first mentor in mariachi music), Salvador González and Manuel Aguilar, attaining a foundation of mariachi technique. It was in this ensemble that Rodríguez was also exposed to music literacy, as the majority of the group (located in the Monterrey area) were Anglo symphonic musicians and music teachers. Around 1984 Rodríguez began an exploration of mariachi music in other location such as Mexico City, Los Angeles and Puerto Rico working with a variety of groups and master musicians. In 1989 Rodríguez joined one of the top ensembles in the Bay Area, Mariachi Azteca, led by one of his first teachers, Juan F. Díaz (el Pato). Rodríguez apprenticed with Díaz for over 10 years solidifying many skills that defined the mariachi— ear training, transposing, accompaniment, and attaining a large repertory of music. In this ensemble he refined his technique on the guitar, vihuela and guitarrón and became a sought out musician for performances, concerts and recordings.
Since 1984, while working solely in mariachi, Rodríguez had been attending classes at local junior colleges and in 1992 he transferred to Santa Clara University completing a degree in Anthropology in 1994. In the fall of 1995, he was accepted into a Master program in Latin American Studies at Stanford University, where he also initiated, along with student Robert Lucero and administrator/musician Chris Gonzalez Clarke, a mariachi ensemble course through the music department. During this time Rodríguez began a musical relationship with Gonzalez Clarke, Carlos “Charlie” Montoya and Mario Barrera, musicians from the Dr. Loco y sus Rockin’ Jalapeño band, who were interested in learning and practicing Mexican folk music. This relationship formed into the group Los Jappening Jarochos focused on playing jarocho music that later transformed into the group Los Otros. In this ensemble Rodríguez started to develop his skills in composing original Chicano music. Through Los Otros he also came into contact and developed friendships and working relationships with musicians from other Chicana/o ensembles such as Quetzal, Ozomatli, Grito Serpentino and Los Lobos.
In 1998 Rodríguez began his doctoral program, under the mentorship of Olga Nájera-Ramírez, at UC Santa Cruz in Anthropology completing the program in 2006 and producing a dissertation on the transnational nature of mariachi music. While working towards his doctorate, Rodriguez had the opportunity to work closely with Daniel Sheehy, who at the time was the Director of Folkways Recordings at the Smithsonian Institute. Rodriguez worked as a researcher of the archival collection as well as a compiler, producer, annotator and guest musician for various recording projects. After receiving his doctorate, Rodriguez was awarded a University of California Presidential Fellowship to work with George Lipsitz at Santa Barbara from 2007-2009. Upon completing the fellowship academic positions were impacted by the economical downfall, so Rodriguez worked lectureships until the Alliance for California Traditional Arts hired him as a program manager from 2011-2017.In 2010, he completed work as the assistant producer and musical director for the documentary La Danza Escenica: El Sello de Rafael Zamarripa, produced by Olga Nájera-Ramírez and contributed his talents as a musicians and composer to Ray Tellez’ documentary The Storm that Swept México. In 2013 Rodríguez composed an original score for the B. Traven’s novel Macario and in 2018 the score for the original theater play La Departera, both for San Jose’s premiere Chicano theater ensemble Teatro Vision. Both scores have been recorded and produced as CDs, featuring some of the finest Mexicano and Chicana/o musicians in the California Bay Area. There Rodriguez managed the Apprenticeship Program and contributing to scale programming that served the California cultural communities practicing traditional arts. Importantly, he was exposed to the diversity of California’s folk and traditional arts scene and how cultural expressions and cultural bearers contribute to the forging of communities.
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Russell C. Rodríguez has developed into an experienced cultural worker, academic, and accomplished artist. He is currently an assistant professor in the Music Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He continues to work as a musician with the Rasquache Liberation Front with old friends Chris Gonzalez Clarke and Charlie Montoya, freelance with mariachi ensembles and engage special projects with master musicians such as Juan Reyes, Oscar Ortega and Claudio Naranjos Vega.
Education
| 2006 | Ph.D. Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz |
| 1998 | M.A. Latin American Studies Program, Stanford University |
| 1994 | B.S. Anthropology, Santa Clara University |
Honors and Awards
| 2023 | The American Folklore Society Américo Paredes Prize |
| 2020 | The University of California, Santa Cruz: Academic Senate Excellence in Teaching Award |
| 2007 – 2008 | The University of California President Postdoctoral Fellowship – Mentor George Lipsitz at University of California, Santa Barbara |
| 2005 | AAA Minority Dissertation Fellowship |
| 2005 | University of California, Santa Cruz President Dissertation Fellowship |
| 2002 | The University of California Consortium on Mexico and the United States, UC-MEXUS Dissertation Research Grant |
| 1998 1998 | University of California, Santa Cruz Chicano Latino Research Center Summer Grant Award University of California, Santa Cruz Cota-Robles Fellowship |
| 1979 | National Endowment for the Arts – Folk Arts Apprenticeship Grant |
Affiliations and Collaborators
University of California, Santa Cruz Music Department, Assistant Professor
Los Mejicas de UCSC, Faculty Advisor
Mariachi Eterno de UCSC, Faculty Advisor
Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Board Member
Teatro Vision, Collaborator
Rasquache Liberation Front, Band Member
Mariachi Azteca, Guitarist
Mariachi Tapatio, Guitarist
Mariachi Mexicanisimo, Guitarist
Américo Paredes Prize
Rodríguez was awarded the Américo Paredes award by the Cultural Diversity Committee, the Chicana/Chicano Section, and the Folklore Latino, Latinoamericano, y Caribeño Section in collaboration with the AFS Executive Board.
Recent Album Release
Check out the premiere album by the Rasquache Liberation Front, produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos and Chris Gonzalez Clarke. Rodríguez is featured as a co-composer, arranger and musician. The self titled album is available on all major platforms.
Album Curation
Check out ROLAS DE AZTLÁN that features historical recordings from the Chicano Movement featuringVarious Artists, which co-produced by Rodríguez for the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Label.
In Concert
With the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Rodríguez co-curated “Masters of the Son Jarocho” featuring, Cesar Castro, Xochi Flores, Artemio Posadas, Dolores Garcia, Luis Sarimiento, and Anna Urzua for the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress.