Los Amigos de la Sierra is a traditional norteño band that performs throughout the Northwest, across the U.S., and in Vera Cruz, Mexico. Bandleader, Jose "Pepe" Contreras and several of the groups members first learned to play a variety of musical instruments in an after school program lead by Juan Antonio Martinez. The band formed in 2007.
Bio
Los Amigos de la Sierra is a traditional norteño band that performs throughout the Northwest, across the U.S., and in Vera Cruz, Mexico. Jose "Pepe" Contreras is Los Amigos’s leader, lead singer, and accordionist. He and several of the group’s members first learned to play a variety of musical instruments in an after-school program that Juan Antonio Martinez taught at Hood River Middle School. Martinez, who grew up playing traditional music in Mexico, instructed the future band members in piano, violin, guitar, and accordion. Contreras joined Martinez’s mariachi group at age 13 and played with the maestro until he was 20. In 2007, Pepe Contreras formed his own group, Los Amigos de la Sierra, which also includes Alex Viramontes, drums and bajo sexto; Armando Lopez, electric bass and guitarrón, and Cameron Marquez, bajo sexto. In 2010, Contreras started playing accordion, which added to the traditional norteño sound of the band.
