Introducing Viva Tejano

Introducing the latest podcast from Texas Monthly, "Viva Tejano.” Latin music is ascending in the U.S., and, in some surprising ways, much of the story behind the trend begins in Texas. On Viva Tejano, host J.B. Sauceda talks with legendary tejano artists and well-known tejano music fans about how the music has shaped their lives. It’s a nostalgic journey and a close look at the influences behind many of today’s biggest acts in música Mexicana. Audio subscribers to Texas Monthly can listen to episodes one week early, and get access to exclusive bonus material. Visit texasmonthly.com/audio to learn more.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, y'all. I'm JB. Southseva, a writer at Texas Monthly
and host of Texas Country Reporter. I'm also hosting Texas
Monthly's latest podcast, Viva Dejano, the story of Teano music
told by the people who lived it and have been
shaped by it. I've gotten to talk with some amazing
artists for the show, and I'm excited to share those
conversations with you. This is a personal story for me,

(00:22):
the nostalgic sound in my childhood, but also a sound
I hear today in places where I least expect it.
Here's the trailer that Texas tornadoes.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
You got it, so take it away about it.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
Every Sunday morning, when I was a kid and my
family and I had a ritual after we got home
from Sunday mass My mom would get started cooking chodis
and eggs or Barbara CoA we picked up on the
way home, and my siblings and I would change out
of our church clothes and turn on the TV. If
we made it in time, we'd hear that whirling electric

(00:57):
keyboard and those frantic horns. This was the golden age
of Tejano music, a rich mashup of styles Conjunto, Borgesta, Northeno, Cumbia,
all with their own histories in Texas, Mexico and beyond.

(01:25):
We were one of millions of households who tuned into
the Johnny Canalis Show to watch our favorite bands and
discover new ones. The show is long gone and Johnny
passed away earlier this year, but the Hana music lives
on and today artists like Besso Pluma and Grupo Fronterra
dominate the airwaves on the new text this monthly podcast

(02:01):
Viva Tejano. Well, It's sport the Hanno music past and present,
with help from Texans whose lives have been shaped by
the music and for whom it became an obsession.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Sunday to the church after church about Lakoa and then
music Canalis.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
My dad and I used to go on tour. We'd
stop in every single town, every small town, big city,
and there was always ady Hano radio station and every
all we had to do is look for the antenna.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
My mom was the one who taught me, like, yo,
you gotta play this, you gotta play this. This is
the kind of music people like, like, play this song
when you got to dance.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
For going sometimes I cried because my dad said, I
want you to connect with the people and not be
afraid to play.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
It's part nostalgia, part exploration of our unique d Hano culture.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
There's different genres cal junto to Hanno. They call it
to Hanno. I call it text mix to Hano.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
As a genre, it's very broad.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
That could be Stevie Ravob. You know.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
I girl and coma feels like homegirls, you know what
I mean.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
They see us, they see our image. We're not these
Barbie cut girls.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
You know.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
We are who we are. We're from Texas and we
were proud of that.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
I'm gonna get hated on for this, but we went
over to Miami and we experienced a lot of races
from other Latin cultures.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
Was it hard being a female accordion player?

Speaker 2 (03:21):
You better believe it. My goal is to someday leave
the younger kids carrying on the tradition.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
It's like, bro, we're all the same, you know, Like,
no matter what culture you are, we all do the
same stuff. We all hang out in our garage and
we drink beer and do barbecue and we just sing
about it.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
This is Viva Tehuana, a podcast about the Junta. Music
told by the people who make it and live it
coming November twelfth. And are you and Nina the Mexican races?
I mean, we declare we are the Mexican No