La Santa Cecilia: Cumbia with a Social Justice Twist

La Santa Cecilia‘s soulful music mixes cumbia, klezmer, rock (and more!) with politics, a love for Los Angeles, and romance. Their second album, “Treinta Días” won the Grammy for best Latin Rock album and they have a new album out, “Someday New”. Their cover of Strawberry Fields Forever pays homage to workers who pick strawberries, and their music video for El Hielo – ICE speaks directly to the difficult and antiquated immigration policies affecting the 11 million undocumented immigrations living in this country.

I had the opportunity to speak with percussionist Miguel Ramirez and accordionist Pepe Carlos from La Santa Cecilia. We talked music, growing up bilingual and Pepe’s plight living as an undocumented immigrant for 25 years. We chatted via phone for KBOO Community Radio’s arts program, Stage & Studio.

Check out the podcast!

Air date: 10/21/2016