Mariachi vocalist Nydia Rojas was born in Whittier, California in 1981 but grew up in Guadalajara; there she first encountered the indigenous music of northern Mexico, including ranchera and folk. At the age of nine she began performing regularly with a mariachi group at an East Los Angeles restaurant, later studying her craft at the Mariachi Heritage Society Program at the Los Angeles Music and Art School. After becoming the primary vocalist with the all-female Mariachi Reyba de Los Angeles, Rojas signed a solo contract with Arista Latin; her self-titled debut LP was issued in 1997, when she was just 16-years-old. Si Me Conocieras followed two years later. ~ Jason Ankeny