Carín León

Carin Leon Biography by Thom Jurek Possessed of a rich, dramatic, tenor singing voice, a storyteller's gift for narrative, and dazzling instrumental skills, Sonoran musician Carin Leon is a triple threat: He is the chief songwriter, guitarist, and producer of the charting Mexican Regional band Grupo Arranke, a professional songwriter for artists including Christian Nodal, Cutaes de Sinaloa, and Adriel Favela, and a charting solo artist. His artistic mission lies in recovering the roots and ranchera essence at the heart of Mexican Regional music. Leon's songs constantly blur the lines between ranchera, banda, mariachi, and corridos. Since launching a solo career in 2018, Leon has recorded more than 80 songs, including the Top Ten Mexican Regional hit "Me La Avente" from 2019's popular full-length El Malo. Along with releasing his own albums like 2021's Inédito, he remains a member of Grupo Arranke, a charting machine all on their own. Leon was born Oscar Armando de Leon Diaz La Huez in 1989, in Hermosillo, a city in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. He was born into a family of amateur musicians and is the only member of his clan to become a professional. Though he enjoyed music and sang from the time he was a toddler, Leon didn’t begin playing guitar until he was in high school. At 15, he taught himself by picking up things on the radio and from friends. A quick study, he formed his first band the following year with schoolmates and decided to pursue music as a career. In 2010 he became a founding member, singer, and songwriter of Grupo Arranke, a charting success story in both Mexico and the United States. Amanecida Con Todo y Con Todos Leon's solo success simultaneously coincided with his band's. Their first big hit, "A Traves del Vaso," ran up a dozen Latin charts in 2017 (it has been covered by several bandas since). The very next year, Leon delivered a whopping four solo albums: Desvelada con Banda y Mariachi, A Puro Pelo, Pa Las de Vidrio (all live) and the studio outing Amanecida con Todo y con Todos. All were close in spirit musically to Grupo Arranke's, but the gears were soon to shift. Borrachera con Taka Takas Leon released the groundbreaking El Malo in 2019. Led by the success of its number six lead single "Me La Avente," the album received airplay across Mexico and the Southwestern United States due to its seamless meld of Mexican regional subgenres, from polkas and bandas to mariachis, rancheras, and corridos -- sometimes in the same song -- Leon's hyper-traditional music filled with strings, horns, accordions, acoustic guitars, bass and snare drums, resonated not only with older fans, but with a younger generation who preferred stylistic divisions not remotely connected to genre territoriality. After intense touring with Grupo Arranke and solo, he issued the 34-track digital collection Borrachera con Taka Takas in January of 2020 and followed it with the live Encerrados Perro Enfiestados in April. The full-length Inédito arrived May 2021, anchored by the single "Otra a Tu Salud."