Page - 27 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 2/2016

Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 2 2o16 Alejandro Miranda | Journeying with a musical practice 27 workshop there, do you remember him? I was thinking about doing Montreal, Toronto, New York…” For Pedro, journeying with the practice represents a way of making a living, a job. And yet he does not see himself as a migrant, nor he is classified as one by the bureaucracies of the US and Mexico. Moving with a practice assumes multiple forms and meanings. The day of the inter- view he added with a hint of pride: ‘I have already been in all the son jarocho communities in the US’, which was a way of expressing the joy that derives from being potentially able to move. This statement is reminiscent of Ghassan Hage’s (2005, 470-471) notion of ‘existential mobility’: “We move physically so we can feel that we are existentially on the move again or at least moving better. I believe that the movement we call migration cannot be understood without taking into account this relationship between existential and physical movement. What’s more, such a relationship allows us to construct a whole social physics of socio-existential mobility, explaining different kinds of mobility rather than homogenizing them with one term that equates the travel of the totally-at-home-having-fun tourist and the travel of the fragile, dislocated and hesitant refugee.” There are, indeed, various ways in which existential and physical mobility are related. While Pedro’s practices of mobility are embedded in the recuperation of traditional son jarocho (namely the emergence of groups, festivals and workshops), they also represent the possibility of physical movement that makes travelling with the practice a meaningful activity. Social and existential mobility are frequently related, but they are not the same phenomenon (Hage 2009, 99). The mobilities of Pedro carry meanings of discovery, education and cultivation of a practice that is worth preserving and diffusing. Simultaneously, they originate in a context of social disadvan- tage, chronic unemployment in Mexico and the consequential difficulties of making a living. Not surprisingly, a sense of being ‘stuck’ is common among practitioners who struggle to meet their basic economic needs by dedicating their time and efforts to make a living as professional musicians, teachers or luthiers. Pedro’s experience is unusual in terms of the extent of his travels, the expertise that he has developed as a workshop facilitator and performer, and the depth of his involvement within transnational networks of practitioners. Yet, the various forms of mobility that converge in his journeying are not unique, but certainly resonate with the experiences of other practitioners as all of them take part in various forms of mobility. In this case, being existentially mobile entails the possibility of earning an income in a context of precariousness, contributing to the development of numerous communities of prac- titioners, meeting friends and having the satisfaction of being known ‘because of the things I’ve done’. This journeying may resemble in some ways the experience of other son jarocho practi- tioners as many travel long distances to attend fandangos and workshops. It may also echo the experience of international migrants, although the recurrence and extent of his travels is out of the ordinary. Yet, all these experiences of mobility seem to contain the excitement of ‘going somewhere’ as a common ingredient: “I’m going here and there because it’s my job. I play on stage because it’s my job. But I also have a commitment with fandango and the communities. Many tell me that they want to travel as much as I do, but I tell them that I do it because it is a job, like any other job. But