3Ball MTY live at Pachanga Latino Music Festival at Fiesta Gardens. Photo by Mari Hernandez.

Latin Grammy Award-winning DJs 3Ball MTY are responsible for bringing the tribal (pronounced like “tree-ball”) movement from Mexico and exposing it with the world. Tribal is an electronic-based genre that includes electro-cumbia with a elements of norteño and other traditional Mexican rhythms mixed in. Yes, this is the movement that sparked the Mexican pointy boots videos you’ve seen online over the past couple of years.

3Ball MTY’s fame took off in 2012 when their single “Inténtalo” reached No.1 on the Billboard Latin Songs chart while the song’s music video was on regular rotation on various Spanish language media. In November of 2012, 3Ball MTY won the 2012 Latin Grammy for Best New Artist. Their list of accolades goes on and on.

The young DJs were part of this year’s Pachanga Latino Music Festival in May at Fiesta Gardens. Austin Vida’s Ian Morales worked with Blastro2 to produce the following video interview with Erick Rincon, Sheeqo Beat and DJ Otto. The video includes bits of their live performance from their set. In the following video interview Morales talks with 3Ball MTY about how they came together as a group, how the success of Intentalo change their lives and what they are working on in regards to their next album.

Grupo Fantasma perform a headlining concert at The Belmont on June 29. Courtesy photo.

Grupo Fantasma is a Grammy Award winning Latin fusion collective that formed in 2000 here in Austin. The biggest and baddest Latin band in the land, the group has worked or recorded with Maceo Parker, Sheila-E, Curt Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets, Ruben Ramos, GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan and indie-singer songwriter icon Daniel Johnston. They even served as the back up band for Prince on numerous occasions.

On Saturday, June 29, Grupo Fantasma will perform a headlining concert at The Belmont. Austin-based Latin fusion band Como Las Movies, which features former members of Maneja Beto, open the show. The best part? We have a pair of tickets to giveaway to one of our lucky Austin Vida readers.

The giveaway will be conducted as a raffle on Facebook. Just click LIKE every time you see a link to this post on our Facebook wall. We will pick the winner on Friday, June 21. The winner will be notified via Facebook email and shared on our Facebook wall before 5 p.m. Good luck!

The Belmont is located at 305 West 6th Street. 21+ welcome. Doors at 8 p.m. Show at 9 p.m. Advance tickets are available for this show here.

This Sunday, the Alianza Cultural Latinoamericana invites you to the 7th anniversary celebration of Cafe con Letras. Come and enjoy the participation of the artistic community of Austin.

The celebration will happen tomorrow starting at 7 p.m. at Janitzio Mexican Restaurant located at 600 W. Martin Luther King Blvd. Admission is free.  Visit the facebook event page here.

Martinez is a veteran in the Tejano music industry, not only as an artist himself, but also as a producer, engineer, and songwriter, having collaborated with artists like Rebecca Valadez, Ram Herrera, Sunny Sauceda, and Los Desperadoz. His latest album, Dedicado A Mi Madre, released in 2012, features covers of some of his late mother’s favorite songs. Also performing with Martinez will be his father, Anselmo “Chemiro” Martinez, a popular Orquesta Tejana performer in the 1960s and Texas Talent Musicians Association’s Hall of Fame inductee.

The Conjunto Cats, an up-and-coming conjunto from Seguin, will also take the stage. Led by bajo sexto player Art Campos, the group has been steadily gaining ground in the past year, opening for groups like Los Texas Wranglers, Los Enmascarados, and Little Joe y La Familia, and participating in various conjunto shootouts in central Texas, including the 2013 Rancho Alegre Conjunto Festival.

San Antonio country singer Buddy Lonesome is also scheduled to perform as a special guest, offering a country flavor to the show.

Long story short: A lot of bang for your buck with this show, with a wide variety of music for just about everyone.

The Texas Club Bar and Grill is located on Burleson Road just south of Ben White Boulevard in southeast Austin. Cover is $6 all night, and 21+ are welcome. For more information call (512) 541-7621.

Saturday, June 15, Flamingo Cantina will host a three band Latin music showcase titled “Kumbiamba.” All three performers will want to keep you in house all night as they are all headliners in their own right. It matters not if you speak the language or not, you’ll just need a pulse and open ears to enjoy this one. Here’s a brief breakdown of the night’s performers.

Como Las Movies is a relatively new name in Austin but with familiar faces. The group features a few former Maneja Beto members. After debuting to the public during Free Week in January, the group the next Latin up-and-comer in the Austin music scene. Their music incorporates elements of R&B, electro-funk, Caribbean music, and Tejano. Lots of keyboards, couple of laptops, traditional Latin percussion as well as electronic percussion. Some accordion too. Lots of jams; minimal vocals. Como Las Movies perform at 9:30 p.m.

El Tule is a staple in Austin’s Latin music scene. Their lyrics are about history, art and culture often focus on legends and tales of the mystical. Their music blends elements of salsa, merengue, cumbia and reggae set to Spanish lyrics. El Tule are currently performing in support of their latest release, Volumen III, and take the stage at 11 p.m.

La Frenetika is Austin’s biggest South American-inspired orkesta. The group performs both original and cover songs rooted in traditional Colombian cumbia, vallenato and gozadera. This year La Frentika added new female vocalist Evelyn Beltran, performed her first show with the group this past March at our Barrio Bash showcase. They have an enthusiastic following and put on an energetic live show which will begin at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday night.

Flamingo Cantina is located at 515 E. 6th Street. Doors open at 9 p.m. Cover is $7. 21+ welcome. Visit the Facebook event page here.

* Please not the above video for La Frenetika is with their previous female vocalist.

Cilantro Boombox formed when producer/bassist Felix Pacheco and Joe Willard of saxophonist Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears fame came together in 2010. Their unique brand of Afro-Latin fusion or “bilingual funk” incorporates elements of hip hop, salsa, electronica and reggae. The group is performing in support of their self-titled release.

Club DeVille is located at 900 Red River. Doors open at 9 p.m. 21+ welcome. Visit the Facebook event page here.

Watch the music video for “Last Call” from Cilantro Boombox below.

Friday, June 14, Totally Tejano Fridays continue at Tejano Ranch with Elida Reyna y Avante. Fans will not be disappointed by Reyna and her band, who always put on a great show highlighted by her truly awesome stage presence and energetic, passionate performance style.

In the past few years, Reyna has dominated Tejano music, consistently taking home honors at the Tejano Music Awards (including Female Vocalist of the Year every year since 2007!), as well as the Latin Grammy Award for Best Tejano Album in 2010. Her solo success, as well as her recent duets with another super-hot performer, Jesse Turner of Siggno, have firmly solidified her Tejano superstar status.

One of the great things about Reyna is that she’s more than eye candy. Although undeniably gorgeous, she has written many of her own songs and has the chops to do any genre she chooses with her strong voice that is never shrill or grating. In fact, aside from the modern Tejano she is known for, she also recorded Mis Raizes back in 2006, an album that featured Conjunto favorite Ruben De La Cruz and fellow Mercedes, Texas native, the legendary Gilberto Perez. On top of all that, she also did a mariachi duet with Michael Salgado and even performed with him for President Barack Obama’s Latino Inauguration ceremony.

Long story short – Elida Reyna is hot, and at the top of her game. Expect an amazing show and large crowd of adoring fans.

Tejano Ranch is located at 7601 North Lamar, just south of Highway 183 in north Austin. The doors open at 8 p.m. The cover charge is $10 before 9 p.m, and $12 cover after 9 p.m. 18+ are welcome. Visit the event page on Facebook here.

It was in November of 2012 when Lords of Wax champion and Peligrosa member Chorizo Funk teamed up with with percussionist Rudy Rexx to bring the people Clásico. Rexx and Chorizo Funk wanted to bring more “umph” to the standard live DJ set in Austin with the percussion accompanyment to the DJ tracks. Rexx, a longtime percussionist, has played with numerous groups including Grupo Fantasma, Brownout, Maneja Beto and Vallejo to name a few.

“The idea is for me to play a variety of musical genres (cumbia, salsa, boogaloo, guaguanco, etc) born out of the African diaspora in Latin America with the added touch of live percussion.” said Chorizo Funk.

Tonight at Takoba both Rudy Rexx and Chorizo Funk will be doing their Clásico set from 9 p.m. to midnight. Takoba is located at 1411 E. 7th St. No cover. All ages welcome. Visit the Facebook event page here.

Win tickets to see Mexican rock legends Caifanes at Stubb's on JUne 16 from Austin Vida. Courtesy photo.

Mexico City-based Rock en Español icons Caifanes set the internet ablaze in 2011 when the group announced via Twitter that they were reuniting for the Vive Latino festival and the Coachella Festival. The Mexican icons are one of the most important bands in the country’s history and have millions of fans worldwide. They were at the forefront of new rock movement in late ’80s and early ’90s with bands like Fobia, Soda Stereo, Maldita Vecidad and Cafe Tacuba.

On Sunday, June 16, Caifanes are performing a headlining concert in Austin at Stubb’s. The best part? We have two pairs of tickets to giveaway to a couple of our lucky Austin Vida readers. We have two ways you can win. Read how to enter your name in both drawings below.

Facebook Giveaway

First, follow Austin Vida on Facebook HERE. This first giveaway will be conducted as a raffle on Facebook. Just click LIKE every time you see a link to this post on our Facebook wall. We will pick the winners on Friday, June 14. That’s two days before the show. The winner will be notified via Facebook email with details on how to claim your tickets and shared on our Facebook wall before 5 p.m.

Twitter Giveaway:

First, make sure to follow Austin Vida on Twitter HERE. This second giveaway will be conducted as a raffle from the names of people who retweet our official contest Tweet below. In order to enter our drawing, you must retweet it directly from the Austin Vida Twitter account as is. Elimination of @profiles or #hash tags will void your entry. Each retweet will count as one entry. The winner will be announced on Twitter and we will direct message them details on how to claim the tickets. If we cannot reach you via direct message, we will “@” message you with an email address to contact us. If you do not pay attention after entering the contest, you may lose out. Here is the official Caifanes ticket giveaway tweet:

Win tickets to see @CAIFANESMEX at @StubbsAustin on June 16 from @AustinVida. Details here: http://tinyurl.com/CaifanesAV. #austin #latino

Stubb’s is located at 801 Red River. Doors open at 7 p.m. All ages welcome. Advance tickets can be purchased for this show here.

The folks at The North Door are continuing their Free Film Tuesday series this summer starting with an action packed movie. To kick things off right, the Puro Chingon Social Club is screening Robert Rodriguez’s Machete, an Austin filmed movie, on June 11.

The Puro Chingon Social Club was formed by the Puro Chingon Collective, an Austin Art Collective that works in specializing on zines, interactive theater and public art interactions. They’ve created a ChingoZine, which is an art zine that promotes aspiring Latino artists.

It’s also no secret that writer/director Robert Rodriguez, texas native and former UT student, loves filming in Austin. With the Machete Kills premiere tip toeing around the corner, the free Machete screening is a great way to refresh your memory. Machete, played by Danny Trejo chronicles his revenge rampage as he seeks the man who betrayed and set him up. The film stars Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez (born in San Antonio by the way), Robert De Niro and Cheech Marin.

The North Door is located at 501 Brushy St. The screening will be at the main stage. Doors open at 7 p.m. It’s free and open to the public. For more information and updates visit the Facebook event or the North Door’s website.