Julieta Venegas Reflects on Her Career and Roots in New Album 'Norteña' and Memoir

If you're Julieta Venegas — the beloved, accordion-playing folk-pop dreamer who blazed a distinct musical trail in Latin indie-rock with open-hearted elegies that have sold millions and millions of records since the early 2000s — laying out your complex life story might seem like a daunting task.

The Mexican pioneer, who has inspired everyone from Natalia Lafourcade to Tainy, talks about her album Norteña and her accompanying memoir.

For a long time now, the Mexican singer-songwriter had been kicking around ideas for a project that would let her reflect on her decades-long career and upbringing, linking together chapters like her childhood on the border and her early days playing in bands like the ska outfit Tijuana No.