Roberto Martínez was born in 1929 in the village of Chacon in northern New Mexico, where he grew up. He was exposed to regional musical traditions by his parents who sang romance, indita and corrido ballads. He married and moved to Denver, Colorado, where he reacquainted himself with guitar playing, which he had learned as a child. In 1960 he relocated to Albuquerque and joined Mariachi Aguila. Two years later he formed his own music group, Los Reyes de Albuquerque, with Miguel Archibeque, Rey Flores, and George Benavidez.
Writing corridos whenever he was inspired, his most popular was also his most controversial, "Corrido de Rio Arriba," written in 1967 about Reyes Lopez Tijerina and the Tierra Amarilla Courthouse raid. As the group's local popularity grew, they also became recognized in a wider region and began producing commercial recordings. They have performed at prestigious folk festivals such as the Smithsonian's American Folk Life Festival. Martínez himself has received national recognition and was inducted into the National Corridistas Hall of Fame in 2002.
From the guide to the Roberto Martínez Festival Performances with Los Reyes de Albuquerque, 1991-2006, (University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research)
