David Wax Museum is a folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 band blending traditional Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 son music with Americana

Americana

Americana refers to artifacts, or a collection of artifacts, related to the history, geography, folklore and cultural heritage of the United States. Many kinds of material fall within the definition of Americana: paintings, prints and drawings; license plates or entire vehicles, household objects,...

 in what they call "Mexo-Americana"

The band had its breakthrough after winning a contest for a spot at the 2010 Newport Folk Festival.

Winners in the Americana category in the 2010 Boston Music Awards

Musical style

David Wax became interested in rural Mexican folk music and focuses on different styles of son music. Wax, who hails from Columbia, Mo., sings and primarily plays the jarana, a Mexican instrument similar to a guitar.

Slezak is a fiddler and vocalist who in the Museum also plays quijada, a percussion instrument made from a donkey’s jawbone.