Muacute;sica nortentilde;a, a musical genre with its roots in the folk ballad traditions of Northern Mexico and the Texas-Mexican border region, has become a hugely popular musical style in the U.S., particularly among Mexican immigrants. Featuring evocative songs about undocumented border-crossers, drug traffickers, and the plight of immigrant workers, muacute;sica nortentilde;a has become the music of a "nation between nations."Muacute;sica Nortentilde;ais the first definitive history of this transnational music that has found enormous commercial success in norteameacute;rica. Cathy Ragland, an ethnomusicologist and former music critic, serves up the fascinating fifty-year story of muacute;sica nortentilde;a, enlivened by interviews with important musicians and her own first-hand observations of live musical performances. Beyond calling our attention to musical influences, Ragland shows readers the social and economic forces at work behind the music. By comparing muacute;sica nortentilde;a with other popular musical forms, including conjunto tejano, she helps us understand and appreciate the musical ties that bind the Mexican diaspora.