When they were little, the twins Orlando and Rolando Zapata were fans of norteño music, and the person responsible for that was their father, who was a fan of bands like Carlos y José, Los Cadetes de Linares and other cult groups of that genre.
At the age of 11 the Zapata brothers learned to play the instruments, one the accordion and the other the bajo quinto. So they told their dad that they wanted to do it in public places; his father began taking them to restaurants in Houston, where for ten dollars they would play a song. And since then they have not stopped.
“It all started as a hobby,” Orlando said. “But when people started looking for us, that’s when we decided to jump right in. [a la música]”.
Now, under the name of Los Dos de Tamaulipas —the Mexican city that borders McAllen, where they were born— the 22-year-old Zapatas are not only part of the El Fantasma tour, which also includes Gerardo Díaz y Su Hierarquía. , Voz de Mando and Jr Salazar, but are also promoting their own songs.
“Mis inicios”, the song that the brothers are now promoting, is not a norteña, but a song recorded with a band, which marks the first time that the brothers have interpreted this genre on an album.
To date, the official video of this cut already has more than 300,000 visits, since the Zapatas are a sensation on social networks; they also have more than 7 million streams a month and their videos exceed 70 million views.
“My beginnings” will be part of an album of six songs, five of which will be covers. Among the corridos included are “El limpiavidrios” by Valentín Elizalde and “El corrido del borrego”, by Los Tucanes de Tijuana.
Today, their dad no longer takes them to sing in restaurants in Texas. Now they are the ones who take their dad on his tours.