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Kacey Musgraves has three mariachi-playing brothers who were arrested by ICE earlier this year. signed on as the opening act for three of their shows in Texas next month.
The Gámez-Cuéllar brothers – Antonio, Caleb and Joshua – will support Musgraves May 3-5 at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas. The performances are part of Musgrave’s upcoming Middle of Nowhere tour; Tickets go on sale Wednesday, April 29th at 10 a.m. local time.
The brothers, aged between 12 and 18, were arrested along with their parents at a regular authorities appointment in February. The family had fled Mexico from cartel members and applied for asylum in 2023 when they entered the United States, where they found a new home in McAllen, Texas.
Excellent mariachi musicians
Antonio and Caleb are both part of Mariachi Oro, their high school’s award-winning mariachi band; Antonio is also considered the best mariachi trumpeter in the entire state of Texas. The youngest of the three brothers, Joshua, is also a mariachi musician.
The family’s detention sparked widespread protests in Texas against the Trump administration’s deportation policies. The family was released at the beginning of March.
Musgraves announced the cast on Instagram, sharing a poster for the upcoming shows. In addition to her long history of openly criticizing Trump, Musgraves told NPR that she wanted to spotlight Tejano music and mariachi musicians on her new album, “Middle of Nowhere,” out May 1.
Making Mexican culture visible
“In this time that we are living in, I really want to do everything I can to show that I deeply appreciate Mexican culture, that I notice it and that it plays a role,” Musgraves said in March. “It shaped me as a person – in a way that I wasn’t always aware of – and influenced who I am and the music I make today.”
