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Courtesy Jennifer Mooney Event-goers dancing at the 2025 Nuevo Americana Music Festival held in Costilla in late June

Nuevo Americana Music Festival Celebrates Nine Years

By JENNIFER MOONEY Contributing writer


The Arellano family has called the region home for hundreds of years. Brothers Chris and Rodney Arellano are well-known area musicians who live in Costilla. They were raised playing music and have built on the family tradition.
Nine years ago, Chris started the first Nuevo Americana Music Festival and it’s still going strong.


A new location for the festival this year was in the heart of the RCCLA—in the shadow of Latir Peak and lakes. This year’s gathering boasted attendance of nearly 500, most of whom camped for the weekend and shared food, friendship, and dancing. Some folks, such as Guillermo Casarrubias, one of the event’s most athletic dancers (and owner of Taos’s Bent Street Grill), seemed to barely take a seat.


RCCLA campsites sit astride the meandering Rio Costilla, dotted with cattle. While some may have found the cows to be a distraction, their majestic beauty very much contributed to the scene. On Saturday, before the 1 p.m. start of the music, campers hiked, fished, and relaxed with friends. Daytime temperatures were mild (70 to low 80s) with some chilly but refreshing sleeping weather.


Folks donned a blend of western and outdoors attire, topped off with cowboy hats and native jewelry. The scene was nothing less than a happening. It resembled how famed Yellowstone series’ director-creator Taylor Sheridan likely spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to mimic on his popular television shows.


The Arellanos were raised to give back to their community. Their mom, Henrietta, unfailingly their most ardent supporter, attends the majority of their music gigs and is held in high regard by all patrons. Additionally, brother Chris holds an annual School of Rock and students performed at their music festival.


The festival commences annually with dancing by Itzcalli en Nanantzin (native dancers) who offer attendees a spiritual cleansing, for which many lined up to receive. Local Audra Herrera is one of the dancers.


The musical lineup included a blend of classic Americana in both Spanish and English, reflecting the cosmopolitan blend of the patrons. Often, attendees broke out in song.


When the brothers Arellano played with other family members and Jimmy Stadler, the dance floor (constructed by Van Beachem) was packed with both seemingly professional dancers and novices.


Nuevo Americana—at heart—is a community event. While it boasts attendees who travel from Colorado, Texas, and Taos, it happens thanks to local folks who volunteer, contribute financially, and hop in to provide food for purchase. This includes master chefs Amanda “Mandy” Johnsrud (Chris’s wife) and Arroyo Seco’s Pete and Tenci (owners of Teofilo’s in Los Lunas, NM) who prepared Tenci’s well-known red chili. Special thanks to the Costilla Community Association for their food booth as well.


The festival is a unique happening, joining people who sometimes share divergent views on issues, but choose to come together for a weekend of joint fellowship. This is thanks to the vision of Chris Arellano.


“Our new location is absolutely breathtaking. Next year will be our tenth milestone. It has been a decade of progress and learning,” Chris Arellano said. Mark your calendars for 2026.


The event’s setup and tear-down were provided by the Arellano family and friends.


This year’s musical lineup included:

  • The Roswells
  • Big Violet
  • Christina Gomez
  • CJ&R
  • Highway 38 Hounddogs
  • Red Strings
  • Chris Arellano’s Summer School of Rock
  • Itzcalli en Nanantzin
  • Arellano Brothers Band
  • Jimmy Stadler

Chris thanks his event and music 2025 sponsors:

  • RCCLA and campground staff, Rio Costilla Park (Amalia, NM)
  • Jim Vidamore, Fay Ranches
  • Carl Brown at Southern Exposure (Red River)
  • Cisco Guevara Los Rios River Runners
  • Graham and Carol Knight
  • Emile Dubia
  • Merchantile Family
  • Linda G and G, Bent Street Grill (Taos)
  • Bob and Ruth Friedrichs
  • Rick and Connie Whelan
  • Alma Duran, Costilla Gas and Grocery
  • Van Beacham, Questa Lumber
  • Dennis Trujillo and Donna Cordova, 101 Bar and Restaurant (Garcia, CO)


Chris Arellano’s Nuevo Americana blends the Norteno music of his northern New Mexico roots with blues, alternative country, and bilingual storytelling. A seasoned performer and multi-instrumentalist, Chris has played from Nashville to the Pacific Northwest and now calls his hometown of Costilla, NM home once again. He’s the founder of the Nuevo Americana music festival—now in its ninth year—and leads the beloved summer school of rock, a kids music camp each summer. Through every song, Chris shares stories shaped by heritage, heart, and home.Upcoming performances, booking info and more can be found at chrisjarellano.com.

Author

  • Jennifer Mooney and her husband Don are Arroyo Seco residents. She is the author of Hope, Interrupted (Orange Fraser Press, May 2021.) She is a long-time writer with articles/columns published in numerous newspapers. She is the founder of a communications consultancy, after decades as a senior corporate executive. Her BA is in Journalism and Geology (Albion College) and MA in Industrial and Organizational Psychology (The Union Institute and University.) She is the mother of two grown daughters and the step-mom of two daughters. She is an active outdoor-woman and relishes her time on the trail — preferably in Northern New Mexico. She is a board member for the Taos Center for the Arts.

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