The U.S. Postal Service on Friday, July 15, celebrated the release of a new series of stamps honoring mariachi.

Mariachi “is a genre of regional Mexican music that dates back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of different regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, two trumpets and at least one guitar, including a high-pitched vihuela and an acoustic bass guitar called a guitarrón, and all players taking turns singing lead and doing backup vocals”, according to Wikipedia.

The stamps were issued in New Mexico, in a ceremony that brought together musicians and fans from around the world in a weekend marked by concerts organized by 30th annual Mariachi Spectacular de Albuquerque.

According to the Associated Press, “The five graphic stamps were the creation of artist Rafael López, who lives and works in both Mexico and San Diego. Each features an individual performer dressed in traditional clothing with their instrument. While the outfits are ornate, the backgrounds are simple and bright, inspired by the palette of another Mexican craft — ‘papel picado’, the banners of elaborate paper cutouts that are often put up for parties and other events”.

Artist Rafael López said in an interview in Mexico reproduced by the Associated Press, “We all need a little bit of a moment to relax and feel happy once in a while and this music does it. […] So I think that’s something that makes us Latinos very proud to see something that started in this region of Mexico and all of a sudden it becomes part of the Southwest culture, it becomes part of the United States as well. Before you know it, it’s universal, it’s international”.

Also, according to the publication, “López grew up in Mexico City surrounded by mariachi music. He plays the guitar, the violin and the six-string guitarrón that provides the bass line for a mariachi ensemble.

He knows where each band member needs to place their hands to create that special tone. And that’s reflected in the images on the postage stamps”.

“The images also were inspired by movie posters from Mexico’s golden era of cinema during the 1940s and ’50s and by travel posters put out by the U.S. government in the late 1930s and early ‘40s”: “I wanted to have that quality of nostalgia, […] I didn’t want it to look modern but rather like something we would remember from when we were kids”, said López.

The artist “also created the Latin Music Legend Series Merengue stamp and illustrated a children’s book by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor”, as reported by AP.