Carin León brought a touch of Mexico — and a whole lot of country-rock swagger — to Spotify House on Friday night. The música mexicana star surprised the crowd at Ole Red with a late-night performance that included a soulful cover of Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” and a singalong to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
“I’m not a country singer, I’m a guy that loves country,” León told the crowd, most of whom were waiting for Kelsea Ballerini, who closed out the Spotify House stage.
“I never thought I’d be playing at some place in Nashville. Never in my life,” he said at one point. “But I’m here living. I feel the excitement of trying to [make you guys like me].”
He opened his set with “The One (Pero No Como Yo),” his collaboration with Kane Brown, and saved his solo breakthrough, “Primera Cita,” for later in the night. Throughout the performance, he wove in some of his música mexicana classics, including 2019’s “Me La Aventé” and “Me Está Doliendo,” his collaboration with Alejandro Fernández.
León’s Friday night performance marked the first time that a Latin music act performed their own set at CMA Fest‘s Spotify House.
“Carin is making bold strides in the space, and we’re proud to support his journey and introduce his sound to new audiences,” Maggie Oritz, Artist Partnerships lead at Spotify, told Rolling Stone. “Música mexicana is, at its core, country music — just in Spanish. So to have one of the genre’s leading voices perform at Spotify House in Nashville is not only an honor, it’s something we’re incredibly proud of.”
The Spotify House appearance came right after León joined Cody Johnson onstage at Nissan Stadium for a rendition of “She Hurts Like Tequila,” their recent bilingual collaboration, which León also played at Spotify House.
On Saturday, León is set to continue with CMA Fest activities and will join a panel discussion titled “Latino Trailblazers in Country,” featuring Mōriah, Kat Luna, and Los Hermanos Mendoza, at the Fest’s Fan Fair.
“It was nearly impossible for this moment not to come,” he told Rolling Stone about the country-Mexican music merge. “It was almost intuitive, especially with how similar these genres are. The music on both sides is almost primal, without pretension.”
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