Los Tucanes de Tijuana will fire-up fans with a mix of corridos and cumbias.

The Salinas Valley is the Salad Bowl of the world. With a large Latino population, Salinas is also a must-stop for big names of Mexican regional music. 

This year’s Big Week Kickoff’s Concierto Baile de Salinas features a trio of artists that will not disappoint: ​​Los Tucanes de Tijuana, the Grammy winning norteño band; El Fantasma; and Chiquis, Jenny Rivera’s daughter. 

Los Tucanes de Tijuana is a successful norteño group that has entertained fans for decades with a long repertoire of corridos and cumbia-norteña. The Tucanes’ music is intergenerational and reaches far beyond Mexico. The group was in Coachella in 2019 and three years prior, they were the ambassadors of norteño music in Spain.

Mario Quintero Lara, the group’s vocalist and composer, has penned many of Tucanes’ biggest hits including “La Chona,” “Pa’ Nada, Pa’ Nada y Pa’ Nada,” “Mis tres animales” and more.

“Para el todo es inspiracion,” Gustavo “Chito” Labrada Valenzuela, Tucanes drummer says.

“La Chona,” about a woman who is the life of the party, is a classic Tucanes song, a hit since its release in 1995. As the story goes, Quintero Lara wrote the song in five minutes, but it has become a party anthem. 

Quintero Lara, his cousins Mario Moreno and Joel Higuera and David Servín Raya, moved from Sinaloa, a state that is known for its banda music, to pursue their musical careers. They formed the group in 1987. 

In the early 2000s, the group became a quintet. Nowadays, Quintero Lara and Servín Raya, percussion, are the remaining original members. The other three members are Alfredo González (accordion), Labrada Valenzuela and Luis Adrián Cazares Gómez (bass).

The Tucanes have been in the music scene for nearly four decades and they remain current. The group has adapted from selling music on cassettes and CDs to online streaming apps. Streaming has helped them to pinpoint where their music is listed the most and it has reached countries like Holland and Japan. 

“Wow, they consume our music over there,” Labrada Valenzuela says, recalling the moment he first checked the app's analytics. 

The band’s tour stops vary. Playlists are adjusted for the region and crowd. 

“Here [the concert] is like a taqueria,” Labrada Valenzuela says. The group begins with a potpourri of two or three songs followed by requests from the crowd. “The entire California area loves corrido songs,” he adds.

Concierto Baile de Salinas starts at 5:30pm Saturday, July 13. Salinas Sports Complex, 1034 Main St., Salinas. $58-$204. (800) 549-4989, carodeo.com.