Intocable might sound like a superhero name, but front man Ricky Muñoz knows his band is far from being "untouchable."

In 1999, the Latin Grammy-winning Tejano group founded by Muñoz and friend René Martínez in Zapata, Texas was involved in a car accident while on tour in México. Two of its members, Jose Angel "Pepe" Farias and Silvestre Rodriguez, were killed along with the band's road manager – just a few months after the band performed for an estimated 65,000 fans at the Houston Astrodome.

Muñoz considered retirement but pushed ahead, telling the San Antonio Express-News that the group's fans had brought them back: "We got hundreds of calls, letters, postcards... [w]e really felt the people were on our side." Intocable returned to the stage six months later. The band is now comprised of Muñoz (vocals-accordion), Martínez (drums), Sergio Serna (percussion), Johnny Lee Rosas (acoustic bass), Dany Sánchez (vocals-acoustic bass), Juan Hernández (MC) and Felix Salinas (electric bass).

Combining the Norteño rhythms of Ramon Ayala with pop melodies and arrangements, Intocable built its devoted fan base by touring constantly. The band has kept its set list fresh by releasing nearly an album a year since its major label debut in 1994. In 2005, Intocable's tenth anniversary, the band released X, a double CD featuring the hit single Aire; the second bonus disc features covers by artists like Pepe Aguilar, Tego Calderón and Kinky.

For those unsure if they should call Intocable Tejano or Norteño, Ricky Muñoz has an answer: "We don’t necessarily fall under a specific genre, we are a vanguard group … groups like Los Tigres Del Norte or Intocable always stay in the minds of the people, because we have and create our own style of making music."

José Darey Castro of Los Dareyes de la Sierra is confident a band isn't defined by its name.

The vocalist-accordionist from Navojoa, Sonora started his Norteño career a decade ago, when he founded Los Llegadores de Sonora. The band later changed its name to Los Alteños de la Sierra and built a following in México with tracks like La Más Bonita de Todas and "El Tamarindo." Then tragedy struck.

In 2004, the band's tour bus was ambushed by unknown gunmen. Castro survived multiple gunshot wounds, but guitarist Daniel Gracia Zayas did not make it. The event was immortalized in two songs, La Tragedia de los Alteños and El Corrido de la Tragedia de Los Alteños de la Sierra:

Dos Cheyennes del año pararon al camión del grupo Los Alteños, preguntando por el vocalista y a todos les quitaron el sueño, los desviaron de la carretera y no identificaron al dueño.

Las noticias dicen que fue asalto, lástima que mataron a varios, Daniel Gracia fue uno de ellos, guitarrista del grupo Norteño. Le siguieron el Chino y el Chivo, y el Gordito no escapó de aquello.

A year later, the founding members of Los Alteños – Castro, José Miguel Enríquez (bass) and Alberto Verdugo Leyva (guitar) – splintered off from the group to form Los Dareyes de la Sierra. A resulting feud with the current incarnation of Los Alteños and the loss of a bandmate has done little to slow the momentum built by Castro over the last 10 years. Hasta El Día De Hoy, the lead single from their most recent release, Dareyes de la Sierra: Con Banda, is currently number one on Billboard's Regional Mexican chart.