Tony Garcia Hoping To Become The Next Valley Native to Win The Big Squeeze Finals‏

This is going to be a week that Tony Garcia will remember for the rest of his life. On Wednesday, he graduated from Juarez-Lincoln High School. On Saturday, he's going to be competing at Texas Folklife’s 24th annual Accordion Kings & Queens Festival in Houston.

Jesus Garza, a teacher at Juarez-Lincoln High School, was the individual that introduced the Big Squeeze competition to Garcia at the start of his senior year.

"I sent a video (to Texas Folklife), that was the first time I ever tried out," said Tony Garcia, 18-years-old, from Mission.

The try-out video included "Picame Tarantula" (huapango) and "Ciudad Victoria" (polka). After the video was reviewed by Texas Folklife's judges, he was called up to compete at the semi-finals in Austin on April 20. Based off his performance that day at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum, he advanced to the Big Squeeze Finals on June 1. Garcia will be competing at the Miller Outdoor Theatre for the Big Squeeze championship against three other finalists: Luis Gonzalez, 17-years-old, Grand Prairie; Yesenia Garcia, 17-years-old, Houston; and Michael Ramos, 17-years-old, Dallas. The winner will walk away with a prize package that includes a new Hohner accordion, a cash prize, performance opportunities and much, much more.

Garcia's been a remarkably fast learner. He's only been playing for 2 1/2 years, so it wasn't that long ago that he got his first accordion — a Hohner Compadre en el tono de sol (in the key of GCF).

"As I got out of baseball practice, my dad called me and told me that he had gotten me the accordion he promised me for two years," Garcia said. "The ride on the bus could not go any faster, it seemed like it took me hours to get home."

As soon as he got home, he got his hands on the accordion he had been eagerly waiting for. Unfortunately, he couldn't do much with it that first day since he didn't know how to play the unique instrument. When you hear about conjunto musicians, it's typically a family tradition passed down from generation to generation. But Garcia's story is different. He was the first member in his family to acquire a squeezebox.

"I don't have any uncles or (family members) that had ever gotten an accordion before," Garcia said. "I'm actually the first one, I learned by myself. Honestly, it's all by ear, all by desire."

Since his first accordion, he's gone on to add three more to his personal collection — another Hohner Compadre, a Hohner Xtreme and a Gabbanelli. There was just something about the accordion that grabbed a hold of Garcia and wouldn't let go. He was hooked.

"The thing that really attracted me was you can express yourself," Garcia said. "It's a stress reliever. It's a thing that at the end of the day, that you actually want to go play."

When I asked Garcia about who his two biggest musical influences were, he was quick to answer with two accordionists. The first being norteño virtuoso Juan Villarreal.

"Watching him live is something else," Garcia said. "He just makes everything look so easy but man everything is so hard from him. His melodies are not easy. Like how my generation (uses the word) 'swag', he has a different type of swag."

His other favorite musician is conjunto icon Paulino Bernal.

"His polkas are very different," observed Garcia. "I like the melodies he likes. It's something very different that you don't hear from (other) accordion players."

Despite having a lot on his plate, with practicing the accordion at home and being a part of Conjunto Sol (his school's conjunto), he still found time for other extracurricular activities. A sports enthusiast, Garcia was often seen on the baseball field, playing left-field for the Juarez-Lincoln Huskies. Now that his high school days are officially over, he's making plans for the next chapter of his life.

"I want to go to college and get a degree," Garcia said enthusiastically.

While he looks ahead to the future, Garcia is confident that an accordion will always be by his side.

"It's my favorite hobby," Garcia said. "It's a thing that I would like to do for the rest of my life, it's an awesome feeling (playing the accordion). If I ever have a son, I would love for him to play."

Me Avente

Rene Gasca

If you ever step foot inside McAllen's Cursilerias — located on the corner of Dove Ave. and 10th Street — make sure to take note of the live band's trumpet player. Throughout the years, on the road and in the recording studios, Rene Gasca has made his mark in the Tejano music industry. 

"I've been playing a long time dude," said Rene Gasca laughing.   

Originally from Houston, Gasca credits his two older brothers for exposing him to music at an early age. 

"One (brother) played the trumpet and the other one played the trombone," Gasca said. "They started in school, they (then) became musicians and were playing with a lot of really good Tejano bands."

One of his brothers, Luis Gasca, would go on to become one of the most acclaimed trumpet players of the era. Gasca proudly recalls how Luis accompanied Janis Joplin and performed at Woodstock in 1969. 

As an adolescent, he followed in his brothers footsteps by being a part of the school band. Gasca quickly immersed himself with the local music scene in north-side Houston. One of the first bands he played with was La Mafia. 

"I played with them when I was in high school," Gasca said. "We weren't a professional band yet, we were just playing locally."

Gasca notes that these were the pre-keyboard era days of the genre. It was a period where horns reigned supreme in Tejano music.  

"At that time, horns were more popular," Gasca said. "I was a trumpet player and at that time, all the (Tejano) bands had a brass section. Now a days, it's changed. Now it's more keyboards and accordions. Which is fine, maybe (it's) because of the economy, people can't travel with large groups. It's more expensive so they've cut down."

After graduating from high school, Gasca went to Boston to study at the Berklee College of Music, majoring in Performance & Arranging. When he came back to Texas in the early 1980's, he joined Little Joe y La Familia.

"(Little Joe) gave me an opportunity to play with his band," Gasca said. "I got to see a lot at an early age."

Gasca estimates that he was about 20 years old at the time. For a year, he joined Little Joe on the road throughout Texas, California, Washington, and many other states. He would regularly be performing at the famous bailes in McAllen. 

"I always loved coming to the Valley because the dances were really nice," remembers Gasca. "When we got to the dance halls, there would be lines of people outside waiting to get in."

After a stint in California that saw him perform with musicians from Mexico and Brazil, Gasca returned to Texas. In the early 1990's, he was hired to record for Selena's hit album Amor Prohibido (1994). That album included "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" and "El Chico del Apartamento 512". 

"I was very fortunate to have been able to record with her," Gasca recalls. "She was a very good person, she had a lot of talent. The whole band at that time (did)."

He continued being a studio musician while still finding time to go on the road when the opportunity arose. In the past fifteen years, Gasca has collaborated with performers like Bobby Pulido, Elida y Avante and Alicia Villarreal. 

For the past five months, Gasca has been performing with Rudo — Cursilerias' house band. The ten-member band is under the musical leadership of Mario Villarreal, a musician that Gasca met on tour with Alicia Villarreal. They play a variety of music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Some of the genres they cover are pop, rock, norteño, Tejano, banda and salsa.

"It's a great band, I really enjoy playing with them," Gasca said. "One thing here (in the Valley) is that people appreciate music and they always like live music. They support live music and bands. It's always been like that, even when I came here thirty years ago with Little Joe." 

Ultimately, Gasca feels he's been able to work consistently due to evolving with music throughout the decades. He credits his versatility and keeping an open mind with his success.  

"(Music is) all I've ever done," Gasca said. "I'm fortunate that I've been able to last this long in the music business." 

RGV Conjuntofest 2013

This Sunday in Weslaco could be the start of a new conjunto tradition in the Valley.

Earlier this year, Lonnie Gonzales went to the Manny and Rick Tamez — the new owners of The Horseman's Bar & Grill — to share an idea he had.

"There is a big conjunto fanbase here in the Valley but they don't have a conjunto festival here (in this area)," said Lonnie Gonzales, vocalist and bajo-sexto player of Los Badd Boyz Del Valle. "So these people get to hear about the (Tejano) Conjunto Festival in San Antonio. They see the fliers on Facebook and they don't get to go cause it's expensive and it's far."

Lonnie thought it would be neat to create a local version of that festival down here in the Valley. Both Manny and Rick agreed with Lonnie, and decided to move forward with the project. RGV Conjuntofest 2013 was born.

"It started off small but now it's looking to be really, really good man," Lonnie explained.

The acts that are currently scheduled to be performing at this new festival include the Tejano Boys (Brownsville), Conjunto Prestigio (Dallas), Crystal N' Crew (Houston), Mando y La Venganza (Corpus Christi), Ruben Vela Jr. (Santa Rosa), Los Badd Boyz Del Valle (Edcouch-Elsa), and Boni Mauricio (Corpus Christi). The last four acts listed are also part of this weekend's Tejano Conjunto Festival in San Antonio. The way Galax Z Fair brought a piece of SXSW to McAllen, Lonnie has succeeded in bringing in a bit of the TCF to Weslaco. 

To those unfamiliar with the headliner, Boni Mauricio was an inductee into the "Tejano Roots" Hall of Fame in 2011. He's one of the most popular and respected musicians on the conjunto circuit. Los Badd Boyz Del Valle have also earned their reputation as being one of the finest conjuntos around. In 2012, they were awarded the "Conjunto of the Year" prize from the South Texas Conjunto Association.

"(I'm going) to support all conjuntos and keep the music alive," said Maria Ortiz Almaraz, a conjunto fan who's planning on attending RGV Conjuntofest. "The memories I have of my aunts and uncles, listening and dancing to this wonderful music and introducing it to me. (Now I'm) making those same happy memories with my family."

Conjunto music has been kept alive by people like Maria. It's a part of their tradition, something that they will be pass on from generation to generation.

"Some of (these conjunto) bands don't have enough airplay," Lonnie said. "Our music is not mainstream, (but) it's our culture. We play for the people at quinceañeras, weddings and festivals. That's how we keep it alive."

There is something to be said about the resiliency of conjunto music. While other styles have suffered through lack of radio support, conjunto has remained strong after 80 plus years. Like Cajun music in Louisiana, conjunto has become a significant part of our cultural identity in South Texas. So if you want to experience what conjunto music feels like first hand, this festival on Sunday is your opportunity to do so. 

RGV Conjuntofest will take place on Sunday, from 3:00 PM to 10:00 PM. The bands will perform in indoor and outdoor stages. The cover charge will be $10.00 at the door, but kids under ten years of age get in free. For more information, please call 956-463-7223 or visit https://www.facebook.com/TheNewHorsemansGrillSaloon.