Stephanie Urbina Jones - Shaman Heart: The Bittersweet Beautiful Ride (2017)

Born in San Antonio, Stephanie is descended from both Americans and Mexicans, and she was exposed to the traditional country music that was played around the house growing up as much as she was the mariachi band music from the Mexican immigrants her grandmother would help to house and integrate. During her period of soul-searching, Stephanie journeyed to Mexico to discover more of those Latin influences and cultures, and she fell in love with their positive thinking and party attitude. This is on display on the opening and closing tracks of the new record, beginning with the vacation-themed ‘Vamonos’ (which deftly strikes a perfect middle ground between country and Latin), and ending with the peppery hot ‘Revolucion