Martineztown is a very typical New Mexico barrio in many ways. It's history reaches back to the time of the United States entrada in the middle of the 19th century. It's musical history is rooted in the neighborhood fiestas, in the churches, in the schools and in family. One sees in a palpable way the connections of music and place, of music and community.

And one sees the power of the mass media as it affects subsequent generations and their experience of music. The focus in mass media is on the 'star', is on the individual performer. The community disappears in the sea of faces that is the audience. None-the-less the feeling is genuine and it can evoke the experience felt listening and participating in the singing of hymns in church. The experience of music is very personal and paradoxically the communal roots are evoked.

This video shows the power of the mass media and the dreams of stardom it evokes in surprizing ways woven into the history of Martineztown.