Music, Cars and Latinx Culture at Pitzer’s Rockabilly

Lowriders gleaming in the sun. Bands rocking out with ’50s and ’60s jams. Local vendors selling handcrafted jewelry and art. These are the ingredients that make Rockabilly at Pitzer College. Since 2007, Pitzer’s Latinx Student Union (LSU) has hosted the festival to celebrate SoCal Latinx art, music and car culture. This year’s Rockabilly is on April 25, 2026.

LSU Co-Presidents Alexander Icedo Granillo ’28 and Natalie Ascorra ’28 are putting together the 19th annual Rockabilly along with other LSU members. The festival invites all Claremont Colleges students and the local community to share music, cuisine and culture.

“Although the Latinx community is very diverse and rich in cultures, music and cars especially tie the community together,” said Icedo Granillo. “The community aspect of Rockabilly is what is most important to us.”

Ascorra attended Rockabilly with her mother when she was a prospective student. She considered it “a great experience to meet current students” and aspires to pass that opportunity on.

Rockabilly: 2026 Edition

This year’s Rockabilly includes:

• Music by The Honeydrops, Cherry Bomb Revival and DJ Isalena
• A classic car show 
• Student-designed Rockabilly merchandise
• An inflatable obstacle course and a photo booth
• Art, crafts, clothes and delicious food offered by student and local vendors
• Fundraising for social justice non-profits
• The chance to meet and get involved with Pitzer’s community partners

Music will be ongoing from noon to 4 p.m., followed by a dinner starting at 5 p.m. The event is taking place on the Mounds and McConnell Apron at Pitzer.

LSU members Gizelle Corvera ’29 and Lina Lasden ’29 designed the 2026 Rockabilly merchandise. All sales will go to support community organizations.

Since the beginning, Rockabilly has raised money for local organizations and service projects. Ascorra is excited to expand this tradition. Through the Critical Action & Social Advocacy (CASA) Pitzer program in the fall, she had a transformative experience working with the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (IC4IJ). She wants to create similar opportunities for other students.

Ascorra said that, outside of CASA Pitzer or a social responsibility praxis course, students don’t know how to connect with Pitzer’s community partners. So, LSU has invited IC4IJ and other organizations to table at Rockabilly. Ascorra hopes students can discover more ways to collaborate with organizers.

According to Icedo Granillo, LSU has also intentionally recruited more diverse vendors. Staff member Bernice Lopez and LSU community liaisons Jorge Martinez ’29 and Melane Lopez Serrano ’28 have helped with the logistics.

“Now more than ever, it’s important for Latinx communities to come together and to support small and local businesses,” said Icedo Granillo.

Intercultural Music and Community

As a genre, rockabilly blends country western, rhythm, blues and rock ‘n’ roll music. LSU students created a zine in 2024 to delve into rockabilly’s history. According to their research, “the ‘rock’ in rockabilly reflected the Black rocking rhythm and blues tradition, and the ‘billy’ gestured to hillbilly country tradition.”

In their zine, LSU students explored how the Chicanx Latinx community infused themselves into rockabilly in the 1990s. This included lowrider culture, a creative expression of identity and pride in the face of societal surveillance.

“Lowrider car shows and car clubs similarly provided a space … to build community and doubled as spaces for community service — raising money, hosting food drives, etc.,” wrote the students.

Ascorra is proud to continue this student-led tradition, which she credits as being part of Pitzer’s multicultural learning environment.

“Rockabilly reflects Pitzer’s cultural awareness and core value of intercultural understanding,” she said.