Starting out in the early 1990s, when mainstream country music was being inundated by rootless, prefabricated "hat acts," the Miami, FL-based Mavericks offered an alternative that was at once contemporary and tradition-minded. Led by the big-voiced Raul Malo, the band incorporated the influences of honky-tonk, Tex-Mex, rockabilly, and classic pop a la Roy Orbison and Rick Nelson into a decidedly modern approach. Throughout that decade (and into the next) the Mavericks burned up the pop and country charts, earning CMA awards and Grammy nominations in the process.