Ramon Ayala y sus Bravos Del Norte

Ramón Ayala is a Mexican songwriter and accordionist. He has defined much of modern norteño music with his distinctive accordion playing and lyrics. Ramón Ayala was born in the Argentinean colony in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, on March 10, 1945. By the age of five, Ramón had his first contact with music as he started accordion lessons with his father Ramón Cobarrubias, a local musician. He started to perform in several public places in order to support his modest family and had his first band experience with a group called Los Jilgueros de Marín and a time later with Los Pavoreales.

Ayala moved to Reynosa, a town in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, where he met Cornelio Reyna at a local bar called “El Cadillac”. Reyna was a member of a duet called Carta Blanca, but when his partner left he asked Ayala to join him, so they formed Los Relámpagos del Norte. The group was able to release a self-titled album featuring the hit single “Ya No Llores”. For the following 8 years, Los Relámpagos Del Norte reinvented norteño music being able to make it more appealing and expanding its reach (at first it was considered cantina music). With numerous appearances in the musical charts, they released up to twenty albums which featured songs like "El Disgusto", "Devolucion", "Mi Tesoro", "Tengo Miedo", amongst others. In 1971, Reyna left in order to try his luck in the mariachi genre and Ayala was left without a singer.

That same year, Ayala, determined to continue his musical career, formed the band Ramón Ayala y sus Bravos Del Norte. In just a year, it showed that Ayala was on the right track with his new band and vocalist, Antonio Sauceda. Just when Ayala had made a name for him and his band, Sauceda decided to leave the band and devote his life to God joining a seminary. Ayala enlisted then Eliseo Robles who used to sing with his brother. During the time when Robles sang for the band they became very successful and created a style that became the standard for norteño music. The band remained fruitful even though Robles left and was replaced by Antonio Coronado who eventually left too. In 1993, Ayala celebrated his 30th anniversary of musical career with Mario Marichalar as lead vocalist. Ramón Ayala, also known as “The King of the Accordion”, has won many American and Latino Grammy awards.