Edwin Luna y La Trakalosa de Monterrey

Edwin Luna is the founder, leader, and lead vocalist of Banda la Trakalosa de Monterrey. He is the fourth son of the late Don Miguel Luna (aka “El Gorrion”) of the legendary duo El Palomo y El Gorrion. Born in 1987, the younger Luna’s professional career began at the age of eight, when he was brought onto the stage by his father. The youngster rebelled afterward. Though he would be cajoled and coerced to sing at parties, he hated music for a time. In high school he studied accounting but, due no doubt to his father’s influence, he made his way back toward music. At 15 he worked with Cadereyta’s Don Arsenio Jimenez and in Banda Sinaloa, Virgilio Canales y Liberacion, and the Piricuaco Band.
After an invitation by former members of La Real Banda Chilera to create a new band, Luna formed the first version of his group, Banda la Escandalosa, in 2010. In October, he was signed to Remex Music. In March of the following year, half his group’s members quit to form another ensemble. Undaunted, he hired musicians from Sonora, Oaxaca, Jalisco, Guanajuato, and Monterrey. The new unit was renamed Banda la Trakalosa de Monterrey. In June, the group cut its first single for Remex, “Después de Ti No Hay Nada.” It hit the Top 20 on various Mexican radio charts. Their second single, “San Lunes,” appeared in November and showcased a more distinct Monterrey flavor. It not only placed number one on northern Mexico’s radio charts, but received airplay throughout the country and in the southwestern United States. Banda la Trakalosa also backed El Pelon del Mikrophone on his smash hit dance number “La Cumbia Tribalera.”
In early 2012, Banda la Trakalosa cut a cover of Salvador Aponte’s “Doble Vida.” It was released within a month of the composer’s own version, and both songs rocketed to the top of the charts. Later that year, Banda la Trakalosa released a compilation album of the same title, which included all of their singles, a new song entitled “Concha del Alma,” and a few fan favorites. Their proper studio debut, De Monterrey a Sinaloa, was introduced with the hit pre-release single “Un Par de Cerdos.” Between radio play and Internet and television video views, the band not only reached the charts and received massive airplay, but began touring far and wide across Mexico and the United States. The single “Broche de Oro” was billed to Edwin Luna y Banda la Trakalosa de Monterrey, and was quickly followed by the album La Banda Grande de la Sultana del Norte in early 2014. A collaborative remix collection of hits with Tierra Sagrada, Reto de Éxitos ReMex, appeared the following year. The 2016 compilation album Asi Cantaba Mi Padre featured the final studio appearance of El Palomo y El Gorrion. In 2017, Luna returned with two albums: the CD/DVD collection 10+10 and the studio album Mi Otro You. After Luna served as a judge for the Mexican talent show La Academia in 2018, he and Banda la Trakalosa de Monterrey released Me Hicisite un Borracho early the following year. In 2020, the group commemorated its tenth anniversary with shows at Arena Monterrey and National Auditorium. ~ Thom Jurek