Martin Saavedra grew up in a small town in Jalisco, Mexico called Lagos de Moreno where he learned to play music at the age of 15 from his father who was a trumpetist. He began playing and learning various instruments as part of mariachi groups and at 21 years was performing with Mexican mariachi star Vicente Fernandez. He eventually immigrated to Boyle Heights and fell in love with the community where he continues to play, compose, and teach mariachi music.

"Mi Comunidad" [My Community] is one of 10 songs commissioned for Sounds of California: Boyle Heights. Sounds of California: Boyle Heights is a project of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts in collaboration with the Community Power Collective, the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Radio Bilingüe and local residents to record, compose, present, and archive the local soundscape, focusing on themes of anti-displacement and belonging.

Rola del Día and the The Sounds of California: Boyle Heights project are supported by the California Arts Council and California Humanities.