Bonnaroo Club Stage Band of the Day: Ximena Sariñana

As we’ve been doing for the past several years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with as many bands as we can from Bonnaroo‘s impressive 2015 lineup. In addition to the main stage acts, we also want to be sure to give the Club Stage bands some love, so, for the remainder of our coverage, we’ll be doubling up with a second daily spotlight. They might be the smallest artists on Bonnaroo’s bill, but the Club Stage bands some of the best and most exciting up and coming acts around. As with our main stage previews, we’ll start from the bottom and work our way up. Keep reading for your Bonnaroo Club Stage Band of the Day…

LEARN

Though she’s a pretty big deal in her native Mexico, singer and actress Ximena Sariñana might not quite have reached household name status yet stateside. Born to a producer/director father and a screenwriter mother, Ximena began her career as a child actress at a young age, while simultaneously indulging in her fascination with music, sparked after attending an Ella Fitzgerald concert. Sariñana’s Spanish-langue debut album, Mediocre, was released in 2008, to worldwide critical acclaim and major award nominations. Nabbing work as a composer, and following outside collaborations with artists like Jason Mraz and The Mars Volta’s Omar Rodríguez-López, Ximena challenged herself to start from scratch with an English-langauge, self-titled sophomore release in 2011. The last few years have only seen her fame rise, especially in Mexico, and, last year, she appeared as a judge on Mexico tiene talento (the Mexican version of America’s Got Talent) and released her third major label LP, No Todo lo Puedes Dar.

Influenced primarily by jazz and pop, Sariñana’s sound is definitely driven by her powerful, soulful voice and ability to channel a ton of emotion in multiple languages. She’s a favorite of MTV Mexico, has been compared to Norah Jones by Rolling Stone, and has proven skilled at exploring various influences without losing her poppy, pleasant style.

LISTEN | “Different”