El Paso County Community College District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national

origin, religion, gender, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
From the Faculty Advisor and Editor, Tony Procell
If you love music, this issue of Borderlands is for you.
If you don’t love music, this issue of Borderlands is also for you.
Whether you are a heavy live-music goer or a light live-music goer, a practicing
musician, one who once played an instrument or sang, or one who has never been a
musician; whether you are a hard-core music fan, a middle-of-the-way music fan, or
not a music fan at all, a casual listener or a devoted song freak; whether you hang out
with music connoisseurs or besmirch music connoisseurs; this issue of Borderlands
is for you.
This is a different kind of issue. It is not one you pick up and read straight through.
It is meant to provoke discussion among friends and acquaintances, to reminisce
about times gone by and new discoveries. It is an issue filled with articles on musical
artists, historical and contemporary; music-infused nightclubs and cantinas, recording
studios, orchestras, festivals, genres, songs, short stories and poems related to music,
art pieces that resonate with music, and there is even something for kids and youth. Above all, this issue is filled
with inspiration, hope and that mighty propulsion to drive you forward with that dream that would assuredly
become a reality with a bit of persistence and a lot of soul. It can happen, as the pages of this issue harmoniously
point out. This issue encourages you to tap your foot at the next song you hear, be inspired by it, share it with a
friend, look up the artist, and surrender to that temptation to immerse yourself in music at any level, in any form.
The best thing about this issue of Borderlands is that the very essence of the musicality found within these pages is
either homegrown, had some involvement with, or reflects on the El Paso music scene. Perhaps the incredible
music is among the top defining features of this border town we call El Paso.
Eat your hearts out Chicago, New Orleans, Austin, Nashville, Los Angeles, New York, Miami; El Paso is right up
there with you. You just don’t know it!
Tony Procell,
borderlands@epcc.edu

1
 From the Librarian, Rachel Murphree
This has been a year of constant changes for us all, so it’s fitting to have new leadership
at Borderlands. Welcome to our new Faculty Advisor/Editor Tony Procell from the
Northwest campus of EPCC! He’s got great plans to continue the traditions of the
publication and implement new ways as well.
Speaking of new…
We will be splitting up our articles for this issue. We will publish some in the print
supplement to the El Paso Inc. and others online only in a “flip book” version which will
be available online. Stay tuned to our website! Both editions of Borderlands will give
you a flavor of the old and new of El Paso’s music.
Speaking of changes…
Our students went through upheaval this scholastic year, adapting to online only classes and research.
The classes on library research that I teach went online, as well as my extra individual sessions with students.
Seeing them over video chat was exciting and cemented a rapport with them. Our theme of El Paso music
scene fit in nicely with only using online sources, and many of them enjoyed the opportunity to write about
current musicians and groups. There were several students who caught the “bug” of being a Borderlands
detective, enjoying the historical hunt for clues to tell the story of musicians in our past!
I was fortunate to be able to write a long article on Trinidad Concha which will appear online in the
flipbook version. If you don’t know him, he was an influential bandleader, composer, musician and musical
director of the San Ignacio parish in the Segundo Barrio. If you drive by his former house at the corner of
Virginia and 5th streets, you’ll see a Texas Historic Marker which was placed there in 2011.
Be sure to check out our flipbook on our website: http://epcc.libguides.com/borderlands to read my
article on his impact on the pioneer music scene in our great city, and to learn about other El Paso musicians!

Rachel Murphree,
rmurphre@epcc.edu

2
 Samantha Linn,
Student Editor
I have been a resident of El Paso, Texas, for over
five years. I am majoring in English and Ameri-
can Literature and minoring in Philosophy at the
University of Texas at El Paso This is my second
year as Borderlands editor, and I hope to use the
research and investigative skills acquired during
my time with the publication in my future en-
deavors in creative nonfiction writing. I enjoy
exploring El Paso’s diverse, colorful history and
hope to continue to draw attention to the city
through my academic and professional careers.
Karla Estrada,
Student Editor
I am currently in my second year of college as
a biology major, focusing on dentistry. I’ve
always loved science, as I find it interesting
how our world works, especially the human
body. I also love learning and exploring; it is a
great opportunity to grow and gainexperience.
One day I hope to travel to underprivileged
countries and help people who need oral care.
Besides studying science, I love to swim. I
was a competitive swimmer for 13 years, and
I like the feeling of the water rushing through my body. It almost
makes me feel like I am a superhero going through the water. Swim-
ming is therapeutic; I use it to relieve stress and forget about every-
thing.

Dalia Hajir, Marco Renderos,

Student Editor
I am a sophomore currently studying Studio
Art at El Paso Community College. I'll never
forget the moment when I saw the film
WALL-E onscreen; it changed my whole
world! Inspired as a child by other engaging
cartoons, movies, and shows, I love to create
my own stories and characters to share with
others and wish to do so for a living. And
though I focus on the visual arts, writing
found a place in my heart! By pursuing Crea-
tive Writing and Studio Art as majors, my
goal is to become a professional character designer for DreamWorks,
Pixar, Cartoon Network, or another animation studio, and hopefully
become a source of motivation for aspiring artists!
Student Editor
I was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. I am
attending El Paso Community College as an
English major. I hold immense appreciation
for any and all kinds of art forms. During my
childhood, I especially found solace in music,
something that will be an essential part of
who I am for eternity. Over the years I have
grown to love writing. It has given me the
freedom to express my thoughts and ideas in
a safe, articulate manner. It’s fair to say that I
would not be the person I am without these
two art forms, music and writing. They are two things that help me
make sense of myself and the world that surrounds us. They are the
essence of me.

Borderlands Contributors
Daris Aguilar Zahid Fernandez Mario Perez
Victoria Alcantar Ashley Flores Arianna Peru
Eric Apodaca Virginia Gabriel Carols Ramirez
Ashley Avila Idaly Gamboa Marco Renderos
Brandon Bigler Julie Gonzalez Kenia Rios
Alejandro Caballero Dalia Hajir Karina Rivas
Andrew Cabrera Alejandro Holguin Brandon Rivera
Stephanie Castillo John Ibarra Bryan Robledo
Daniella Chavez Alan Infante Jacklyn Rodriguez
Patricia Colon Aliana Jimenez Mazzy Rojas
Jacob Cruz Samantha Linn Astrid Saenz
Anahi De La Cruz Sanai Lozano Celest Sanchez
Joann De La Cruz Adrian Martinez David Silva
Liliana De La Rosa Paulina Martinez Damian Soto
Brianna Del Real Oscar Mendez Anahi Talamantes
Devion Denmark Adrian Morales Jacob Torres
Karla Enriquez Elisha Morales Noe Valdez
Magelin Espina Leslie Morales Saucedo Kennedy Varela
de Zambrano Rachel Murphree Rosalva Varela
Kennadi Espinoza Grace Murray Oscar Velasquez
Daniela Esquivel Ha Ngo Ximena Villa
Castro Brianna Ortiz Sheena Viramontes
Robert Dozal Luis Otero Lawrence Welsh
Karla Estrada Anai Perez Abraham Zambrano

3
Thank you everyone who helped make this issue a possibility, especially all the English 1302 students who worked tirelessly
researching and writing papers in consideration for publication. Thank you also to those listed below for their support,
guidance and help.
• The El Paso Community College Board of Trustees
• Dr. William Serrata, EPCC President
• Dr. Steve Smith, EPCC Vice President of Instruction and Workforce Education
• Dr. Lydia Tena, Campus Dean and Dean of Instructional Programs, Northwest Campus
• Lorely Ambriz, Northwest Campus Head Librarian
• Michael Duncan, EPCC NW English Professor
• Brooke Bryan, EPCC Northwest Writing Center Tutor
• Elvia Guzman-Jarnagin, Senior Administrative Associate, Northwest Campus
• James Heiney, Interim Director, Marketing and Community Relations
• James O’Keeffe, NECHS English Professor
• Ellie Fenton, PDX Printing
• Beatriz Garcia, Graphic Designer, PDX Printing
• El Paso, Inc.
• Dr. Ginger Scarbrough, Program Manager, New Mexico State University
• Richard Baron, Photographer of Art Lewis
• Hector Montes, Photographer of Art Lewis
• Rick Pawlenty, Photographer of Rosa’s Cantina, RPalentry Photography
• Robert Dozal, Artist, Dozal Fine Art Gallery
• Lilly Sanchez, Mariachi Femenil Flores Mexicanas
• Enrique Aragon, Mariachi Alegre
• Claudia Rivers, UTEP Library, Head of Special Collections
• Abbie Weiser, CA UTEP Library, Assistant Head of Special Collections
• Rosemary Flores, Operations Manager for El Paso Symphony Orchestra
• The Arhoolie Foundation
• UC Santa Barbara Library
• Brontë Procell, Studio Artist and Creative Writer
• Mary Procell, CSR Reporter
Front cover artwork by Mason Pascal. A special thanks to you!
Front Cover from top left to right then bottom left to right: Don Tosti, Zuill Bailey, Art Lewis, Khalid and Lucy Scarbrough.
This publication could not have been put together had it not been for the encouragement, support and dedication of
Northwest librarian Rachel Murphree. Her superior library and research skills, coupled with her vast knowledge of the El
Paso landscape, proved invaluable during the last several months as this issue of Borderlands came together. At the end of the
day, Rachel’s navigation and vast Borderlands experience is what kept the ship afloat. Thank you, Rachel!

Above all, the warmest of thanks to Ruth Vise, retired El Paso Community College English Professor and the
previous, long-standing Borderlands Faculty Advisor/Editor. Ruth left behind a legacy that will live beyond this
century and traverse well into the next. The 28 issues that bloomed under her guidance exhibit a standard and
presence that serve as the foundation for future issues. The heart and soul she poured into every issue she oversaw
is a testament to her love of the El Paso Southwest history and culture, and her dedication to information sharing.
Thank you, Ruth, for the very spirit you breathed into what we know as Borderlands.
Produced by Students and Publication Staff of El Paso Community College.
Borderlands is published annually by El Paso Community College, P. O. 20500, El Paso, TX 79998. It is researched and
written by English 1302 students and the Borderlands staff of the College. All rights reserved. Printing is by PDX Printing, 208
Octavia St., El Paso, TX 79901, a private firm in no way connected with the El Paso Community College. Funds for the
publication of this issue are provided by the El Paso Community College District; however, the views and opinions
expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the El Paso Community College. Furthermore, El Paso
Community College does not accept responsibility for possible errors in the accuracy of student research that is represented
in these articles, although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy.

El Paso County Community College District does not discriminate on the basis or race, color, national origin,
religion, gender, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

4
6 Art Lewis: 59 El Paso
The Sun City Jazzman: Music that Never Ends by Marty Robbins
by Samantha Linn 60 Zoomer Roberts:
11 The Musician’s Bar (Short Story) Zooming Through Adversity
by Samantha Linn by Andrew Cabrera
14 Don Tosti, The Zoot Suit Man 62 Juan Gabriel: The Latin Enigma
by Samantha Linn and Dalia Hajir by Marco Renderos
18 Lawrence Welsh Poetry 66 Vikki Carr:
19 Trinidad Concha: A Lyrical Lifestyle Through the Decades
Pioneer “Musical Cobbler” Provides Firm Footing by Ashley Flores
for El Paso’s Music Scene 69 Trio Panama (Artwork)
by Rachel Murphree by Robert Dozal
25 Rayo and Reva Reyes: 69 Living in the Flatted Fifth (Poem)
The Musical Legacy of the Reyes Duo by Tony Procell
by Dalia Hajir 70 Club 101 and a Bevy of Iconic Nightspots
33 Campesino (Artwork) by Marco Renderos
by Mario Perez 72 PT and the Cruisers: An Unforgettable Band,
33 El Campesino (Short Story) A Cruise Down Memory Lane
by Brontë Procell by Stephanie Castillo
34 The Life and Times of Lucy Scarbrough: 75 Stairway to Heavenly Success:
Breaking Barriers El Paso’s Cigarettes After Sex
by Daniela Esquivel by Samantha Linn
39 Zuill Bailey, Felipa Solis and El Paso Pro Musica: 78 Hidden Treasures of Local Metal, A Partial Story
Healing the El Paso Landscape, Note by Note by Adrian Martinez and Rachel Murphree
by Karla Estrada 79 An El Paso Gypsy: Stevie Nicks
47 The Heart of El Paso: by Patricia Colón
El Paso Symphony Orchestra 81 Sun City Music Festival: Electrifying El Paso
by Kennedy Varela by Victoria Alcantar and Dalia Hajir
50 El Paso’s Youth: A Musical Revolution 83 Radio la Chusma: A Bridge Between Borders
by Karla Estrada by Dalia Hajir and Leslie Saucedo
55 Fusing Art and Music 83 Mariachis: Mexico’s Cultural Stars
by John Ibarra by Dalia Hajir
56 Rosa’s Cantina, Down in West Texas 85 Khalid: El Paso’s Adopted Son
by Sheena Viramontes by Ha Ngo

5
 A

The Sun City Jazzman: Music that Never Ends

By Samantha Linn

6
I
n the early 1940s, a small boy
from Houston snatched up his
mother’s broom, drew it close to
his lips and blew sweet,
imaginary melodies into its wooden
handle. He danced with the broom,
floating like a mellow saxophonist
across the kitchen tile, and the
passionate musician’s stern expression
made its way onto the boy’s youthful
face. He played to the likes of John
Coltrane and Charlie Parker, pioneering
saxophonists he surely heard often and
imitated with his mother’s cleaning
instruments. Only five, he didn’t know
how to appropriately handle the sax,
but he would learn soon enough.
Art Lewis (Photo Courtesy of Richard Baron)
He felt utterly transported in time
when he opened his eyes, observing
himself standing on a club stage,
blowing into a real saxophone. The
sultry air of the dimly lit club interior
made him question if he was dreaming.
The sunbathed homely kitchen, his
mother’s voice calling from the other
room, the broom he grasped between
his aspiring hands – it all vanished in
place of the hazy scene. His sharp
imaginary notes permeated plumes of
smoke. His face was now less youthful,
but he still had that musician’s
sternness mingling with a child’s
innocence, a child’s willingness to
continue learning despite his age.
When you hear the sounds of Art
Lewis’ sax, said Brad Cooper, a
distinguished El Paso Times columnist
who explored the El Paso-Juarez
nightlife in his “Bordernites” editorials,
“you could be just anywhere. Philly,
K.C., Chicago.” He wrote only what he
saw: a man making love to his sax,
holding it close to his lips, making it
whine over the Sun City whose
nocturnal life glittered in the intense
darkness of night. “He sounds and
tastes like sex. No other words are
necessary,” Cooper wrote in another
7
“Bordernites” column about the
jazzman who effortlessly jived with his
horn. And like so many others who
heard the sounds of Lewis, Cooper
couldn’t keep the good news to
himself. “If you’ve ever heard Art
Lewis on sax, let’s just say he plays
moist and passionate,” Cooper wrote in
November 1988.
Cooper, like many, was mystified
and downright intrigued by Lewis’
choice to live out his musical career in
El Paso, the quiet border town not very
well known for its jazz scene (or lack
thereof). “The only reason I can figure
out why Art Lewis still is in El Paso is
that there must be outstanding
warrants on him in all neighboring
states,” Cooper stated. Contrary to the
journalist’s skepticism, Lewis
maintained a clean record. He could
have been in any other place, blowing
the rooftop off any club, arousing
sexual tension among his listeners, and
leaving his audiences wide-eyed and
entranced, but he chose to stay here,
the Sun City. Lewis would have told
any inquirer that he owed it to the
warm-hearted people of El Paso and
the reciprocated love.
Arthur L. Lewis, known to many as
“Art,” was born in Crockett, Texas,
April 13, 1936, to Burvia B. Lewis and
Letha Wheeler Lewis. During his early
years, he first interacted with the
soulful church music that brings
congregations to worship. The music
moved him, and he later recalled, “It
had so much power behind it, you
couldn’t sit down.” The music
possessed emotion; it communicated
feeling, something beyond the spoken
word, and Lewis took the lessons
liturgical music taught him and applied
them to his own musical experience.
While Lewis’ first instrument may
have been his mom’s kitchen broom,
there is no doubt he already possessed
soul and felt an ardor calling him to
jam. It was only a matter of channeling
that energy. In an August 1995 El Paso
Times article, Jose Escamilla and Adrian
Quiz stated, “He got into jazz by
watching movies at African-American
movie theatres and by listening to jazz
musicians.” In high school, Lewis
started studying music and playing the
tuba, an instrument generally regarded
for orchestras and marching bands. It
wasn’t until 16 that he owned an
instrument all to himself, his very own
“axe,” his significant other, a glittering,
bronze saxophone, his forever compadre.
In a June 1992 El Paso Times article,
Nicole Carroll wrote that Lewis asked
his mother for a sax. “She thought
music might corrupt me,” Lewis told
Carroll. When his mother asked her
pastor if she should get him his own
horn, the pastor exclaimed, “Maybe
he’ll convince a lot more people to
come back to church.” Lewis’ life-long
love affair with the sax had begun, and
indeed the sounds he delivered were
nothing short of spiritual, perhaps a
result of divine intervention.
“Come on, let’s go to work,” said
Lewis’ friend, Robert Milbum, who
convinced him to start playing gigs in
Houston three months after Lewis
picked up the saxophone. “Come on,
we’ll jam!” Milbum played piano and, esteemed blues singer who combined
as Lewis recalled, “He only knew one blues, gospel and R&B to create his
key, G. I knew one key, C.” Lewis told own unique sound. They started in
Carroll, “He didn’t know that much Florida in 1954 and moved north up
about piano and I didn’t know that the East Coast. They played their
much about the sax. It was how we instruments like a couple of magicians,
played that affected the listeners.” In a hypnotizing audiences at clubs in New
November 2003 King’s X artist profile, York, all the way to Chicago and then
Richard Baron recalled Lewis’ words: St. Louis, leaving a trail of entranced
“Our main goal was to get the club-goers. Some may be waiting for
customer to drink because the more the duo’s return to this very day. Until
the listener drinks, the better the band then, they remain in their mesmerized
sounds,” as if Lewis couldn’t intoxicate trance.
any sober listener with the inebriating Lewis then parted from Bland to
sounds of his horn. He continued, join Louisiana-native Clifton Chenier,
“You have to entertain; you have to get an accordion player and Grammy-
that lady on the dance floor.’” As Award winner. Chenier was known for,
Lewis stated, it wasn’t a matter of and is still remembered as being, the
knowing a plethora of keys and being King of Zydeco, a genre that combines
able to play like a proficient star. It was blues, R&B and indigenous Louisiana
about playing those few notes they Creole jams. The two musical
knew in the right order and troublemakers toured the home of jazz,
incorporating a couple of secret Louisiana.
ingredients, personality and soul. As soon as he settled in, the Army
Milbum may have called it work, but beckoned him. He cancelled his gig of
Lewis would’ve told anyone he had the night, only to be informed that the
never worked a day in his life. Lewis war had ended. Baron asserted in his
stated, “The main thing is to get the blog post that Lewis found himself
music played. The
money will have to
come later,” Tamara
Chapman wrote in an
April 1984 El Paso Times
article. Throughout
Lewis’ entire musical
career, financial success
eluded him, but that
never really affected the
great jazzman. As long
as he did what he loved,
ripping out those
voluptuous riffs and
fervent licks, he was
happy. The warm smile
on his affable face told
anyone, even a stranger,
that he was perfectly
content making a
modest living, which is
the mark, or should I
say note, of a true
musician. It is about the
music, not the money.
After playing
professionally in
Houston, Lewis toured
with Bobby Bland, an
Art Lewis (Photo courtesy of Hector Montes)
8
headed to Mexico instead, to play tunes
there. In the Escamilla and Quiz article,
Lewis explained that he wanted to play
music in Mexico but realized he needed
work permits. In 1960, Lewis stopped
at a gas station in a southwestern town
bordering the United States and
Mexico. “A guy stepped up to the car
and said, ‘Can I help you, Sir?’ These
were small words, but they were
powerful words and I had never heard
anything like that before.” These words
were the most comforting ones a
foreigner in a strange land could
conceive. Lewis got a taste of the El
Paso kindness that pervades the Sun
City. He couldn’t think of letting this
hidden gem of a place evade him, and
his cravings for Latin jazz were satiated
in the land where all cultures are
accepted and celebrated. Friends of
Lewis invited him to join their band in
El Paso and he ultimately decided to
stay. The Sun City gained one of its
most treasured legends, who at the
time was only 24.
The irony is that Lewis seemed to Art Lewis Artworks 1992
arrive in El Paso from out of nowhere,
from out of the blues, as it were. “The
truth is, I’ve never asked Art where he Just as for Cooper, many overlooked Lewis on a Thursday night as well as
came from,” wrote Cooper in a June the question of Lewis’ origins, on the weekend: “Art (King) Lewis
1992 “Bordernites” piece, “because I’m awestruck by his being, his grandeur, with His Magic Saxophone,” read the
so enamored by the Art Lewis of today his ability to take a hunk of brass and ad. Lewis’ glorious sax stuffed the
-- and tomorrow.” Like an angel who generate smooth, soothing sounds as smoke-filled room with its glorious
descended from heaven, he arrived he fronted many El Paso venues. As echo, the one that brought Philly,
with little trace of his past. “When Art far as they were concerned, he could’ve Kansas City, and Chicago to the
Lewis plays the sax, the resulting sound been an angel from heaven. That southwest border town. The audience
is honey that coats the senses. I once would’ve convinced them all. got a taste of the authentic jazz scene
asked what he was doing in El Paso,” In his near half-century in the Sun of those far-off places. With Lewis,
wrote Cooper. Many wondered what City, Lewis let the howl of his sax that cool, mellow saxman adorning the
Lewis was doing in a place like El Paso guide him from gig to gig. He started stage, they didn’t just hear the music,
when he could be making it big in New his El Paso jazz journey, playing they felt their souls stir within their
York, Chicago or New Orleans. alongside world-renowned bluesman bodies.
Frankly, the jazzman didn’t fit the El extraordinaire, singer, songwriter, and According to Baron, Lewis then
Paso music scene. His style resonated guitarist Long John Hunter, whose went on to start his own band: “I
with his experiences touring the United notably best-known song is “El Paso became what I call an earth citizen, and
States and his deep roots as an African- Rock.” The two musicians played at that’s how my band The Earthmen
American musician. His presence in El the King’s X on Mesa Street, a bar with came about.” In October 1989, Lewis
Paso was radically unprecedented, for a rich history of housing artists like and The Earthmen played at Shawver
there were only a few with similar Lewis, still in business today. Park in the Lower Valley of El Paso at
backgrounds and experiences that According to the blog post by Baron, the Texas Jazz Festival, the longest free
preceded him. This gave Lewis his the Lewis/Hunter duo lasted ten years, -running jazz festival globally.
trademark identity in the city. He a decade of dueling blues guitar licks A year later, Lewis and The
became El Paso’s most well-known, and blowing jazz changes, both Earthmen played at a concert series
well-respected tenor sax player, his monster players. held at San Jacinto Plaza called Art a la
pervasive jazz chops spewing from his A March 1970 El Paso Times issue Carte. The El Paso Arts Resources
horn from east to west, north to south. advertised the King’s X Club, featuring Department sponsored the program

9

Art Lewis El Paso Art 1997
and showcased a variety of talent
within the region, from modern jazz
artists to blues.
The opening of the Musicians Bar,
or Jam Sessions, then located at 4800
Dyer Street, stands as one of Lewis’
greatest accomplishments. Only open
on Tuesday nights from 8:30 to 10:30
p.m., the little adobe building offered
musicians a place to flaunt their chops
and slide slips during extended jams. In
his April 1992 Bordernites piece, Cooper
explained that “Jam Sessions is
designed to fill the gap that Lewis sees
in El Paso.” Lewis claimed, “This is to
create more live music, more jamming
for the listeners’ appreciation.” This un
-orchestrated, emotionally-driven,
jamming fell in line with Lewis’ style.
In his profile, Baron stated that Lewis
learned most of what he knew from
spending hours on the porch practicing
with his grandfather. “He taught me to
let your mind be the strongest thing
about you, and that words can save you
or destroy you…I play things that I’ve
never heard. Sometimes when I play a
lick on my horn, it’s just that time to
play it – I can’t force it and I can’t
delay it.” Jazz Sessions remained an
iconic location through the years.
Cooper claimed that Jazz Sessions was
“very near a couple of places that, as
far as I know, are the only African-
American bars in the city.”
For Lewis, jamming meant more
than just having fun. It stood for a
good cause. In a 1997 article, Ramon
Renteria explained that Lewis played at
the annual Juneteenth celebration at
the University of Texas at El Paso.
Celebrating the day African Americans
in Texas learned of their freedom on
June 19, 1865, the Art Lewis Jazz
Quartet reveled freely alongside other
talented groups, like the Umoja in
Motion dance troupe. Additionally, in
March of 1988, Lewis performed at a
human rights celebration and raised
money for the El Paso chapter of
Amnesty International.
According to Escamilla and Quiz,
the jazz legend said he liked “the
freedom African-American musicians
had.” From a young age, he
understood that “back in the ‘40s you
10
had segregation, but it wasn’t for the
musicians. They had freedom to play
whatever, although the blacks had to
stay on the main floor and the whites
on the balcony.” Through his heartfelt
music, Lewis suggested that music has
no actual ethnicity. As a sax-wielding
jazzman, he showed people they were
all the same. Despite a person’s outer
appearance, skin color, their social
status or ethnicity, in the dim lights of a
steamy nightclub, they were raw,
human souls, all together and
tranquilized by the sound of the sax
flowing through them.
Playing gigs four days a week, Lewis
had a jam-packed schedule. He was
often sought after to play at numerous
events, including private parties. He
released Artworks in 1992, an inviting
debut mix of blues and border-inspired
tunes to include the song “Downtown
Bordertown.” In a March 1997 El Paso
Times article, Maria Cortes Gonzalez
explained that around the time of
Lewis’ 62nd birthday, he released a
second album called El Paso Art
containing Latin jazz tunes. Lewis’
blend of Latin and jazz styles exhibits
the diversity of his personality and his
love for the music of different
ethnicities. El Paso Art is a labor of
love, the product of affection for a city
represented by multiethnic people and
a friendship that began in the 1970s.
Hector Montes met Lewis at a Central
El Paso bar where he first heard the
saxman play. What seemed like a
lifetime later, in 1998, Montes found
himself producing El Paso Art and
organizing Lewis’ annual birthday jams.
One of Lewis’ closest friends, Montes
knew the jazzman rather well. In a
1998 El Paso Times article by David
Borunda, he stated that “he [Lewis] is
one of the most authentic jazz and
blues guys in El Paso.”
Nicole Carroll explained in her June
1992 El Paso Times article that the El
Paso City Council declared June 23rd
Art Lewis Day. Steve Snyder, a
background instrumentalist in Lewis’
Artworks, expressed, “He’s an
institution like the Miners or the
Diablos…” Through his success,
however, Lewis always regarded
himself as a student of music. “I call
myself a student of music. That way I
don’t close the door on knowledge…”
said the jazzman in an April 1997 El
Paso Times article by Cortes Gonzalez.
The article covered Lewis’ 61st
birthday. Lewis said, “Age is a state of
mind. As long as the ideas are still
there – that’s the main thing.”
Although increasing in age and
wisdom, Lewis’ harmonic spirit
remained young and open to new
experiences. In a 1996 El Paso Times
article covering Lewis’ 60th birthday, he
stated, “I was taught that jazz is always
a new experience. Any time you play a
song - even if it’s 100 times - the
emotional side of music is always
completely new…I don’t think about
yesterday too much…Jazz is so close
to yesterday. You build off yesterday,
but you don’t repeat it.”
In a February 2012 whatsup article,
Dan Lambert, a guitarist whose eclectic
style fuses rock, jazz and music from
other cultures and countries, explained
that to be close to his “ailing mother,”
the great jazzman returned to Houston
in 2004. The Sun City lost one of their
greatest legends, but they would never
forget his legacy. Lewis passed away in
Houston on January 31, 2012, at the
age of 75.
“There’s an old saying that says that
the end of a song is only the beginning
of it. That music never ends and the
knowledge of it doesn’t either,” Lewis
told Cortes Gonzalez in 1994. “And
only if you were satisfied with what
you’ve played, that would be the
stopping point.” Lewis continued, “I’ve
never reached that point.”
Lucky for us, Lewis never found his
stopping point. If you listen hard, you
can almost hear the wail of his sax
hovering over our beloved city. The
mellow sounds drift low and close to
the glittering city and the barren
landscape. You can hear the jazzman’s
never-ending song, his emotionally-
inspired jams, his legacy serenely
making its way through the night. The
image of a small boy holding a broom
to his lips marks only the beginning of
a great song, a song that never ends.

view. I played my sax low and calm. I had all evening, just
The Musician’s Bar warming up for my gig. Why, I played a sweet run, just let it
roll out of me. The air never felt so still, the outside world
Fiction by Samantha Linn never stopped for me like that, never just froze, you see. I

I
closed my eyes, but, hell, I could still see. I was in a dark
’d wanted to hear the burning wail of his sax for some
room, by my lonesome self, just speaking to my brass. She
time now. I saw the ad in the paper, beside a photo of
understood all I was saying even though I wasn’t speaking no
him. His smile was something else, even on newsprint,
real language. I made out faces that started filling the
which usually ruins a face. Beyond the black ink I made
blackness. I played wild. The faces fought their eyelids from
out a glaze of copper, a hue of brown-orange bleeding from
closing, but my sounds won. They all closed their eyes as if to
his instrument into his look. Man, I saw his skin as clear as
hear me clearer. And this is the real freaky thing, man. It gave
day, even if the paper was just black and white. I knew
me goose pimples all ‘round. All of a sudden I was leaving
somebody’s look just ain’t that simple. That, really, it’s kind
myself. Hell, I thought I was dying. I just split. I done became
of more convoluted, more honest, I reckoned.
one of them cats in the crowd, and I saw myself playing cool
I used to read about him in the paper, Art “King” Lewis
and slick. I thought the scene looked a lot like that cubist
playing with Long John Hunter at the Kings X. That was way
painting my high school teacher, Miss De Leon, showed us
back in the ‘60s. I was just a kid, five, six maybe. I heard the
when we studied forms, contrast and shadows. Yeah, I
rave of Hunter’s electric instrument mixing with the blaring
remember – Picasso! I remember seeing that chaos of colors,
whine of Mr. Lewis’ sax. They say it was like sweet maple
the one with the three musicians, for the first time. Miss De
syrup just leaking from their fingers. A couple of men making
Leon said in her kind of squeaky way, “Look closely at the
sounds that just oozed into you and gave you life, they said. I
rhythm, now.” I thought, there ain’t no rhythm to see. The
never heard it myself, but in a town like this, man, you
only rhythm I knew was the shuffle beat of jazz. Miss De
believe what gets ‘round.
Leon was trying to teach you can see a rhythm, too, with your
I started seeing the saxman, Lewis, everywhere after that,
eyes, and not just hear it. She said, “Notice the colors and
in the buttons of my shirt, at the bottom of my glass, at the
repetitions. Try to see it as one and understand it as best you
park – I thought I really saw him – standing cool and relaxed,
can.” I tried, but couldn’t make sense of a harlequin, a pierrot
and I couldn’t get him out of my thoughts. I suppose it was
and a monk being friends. And somehow they each meant
the spirit of my old man trying to tell me something, and I
something queer, something I knew I felt but I couldn’t really
had to convince myself that couldn’t be, that sort of thing
understand.
didn’t happen, that it couldn’t, ‘specially for a person like me.
I reckon because of Miss De Leon, I see rhythm
I sat at my rickety table, a hunk of oak with four wobbly
everywhere now, in a trash bag turned inside out from a can
legs. I held my glittering sax between my fingers, letting it rest
during a heavy gust, a crowd of tumbling leaves crossing a
on my lap. The evening swam through my filthy windows,
road, and in faces, too, I see a rhythm. Why, some are slow
just barged past all the grime and gunk packed onto the walls
and cool, others unpleasant and needy. I see a rhythm
and windows of my place. It reached the horn I held, and
whenever I think of Mr. Picasso and the three musicians. I
everything ‘round me grew dim. Something funny, sort of
see repeated lines. I see sound. I feel it and become it.
odd, happened. The studio, my crib, kind of faded from my
11
 Anyways, I looked like one of them on the stage, all
crazy and square. But somehow that way of looking at
myself made sense. I understood myself more than I
would’ve if I looked ordinary, if I didn’t resemble a piece
of the whole, a part of the band. And what really freaked
me, that saxman, Lewis, was right beside me the entire
time, and I didn’t know. The third one, he looked like my
old man. He played the keys so soft, looked so in love with
his instrument. I never saw someone show so much
affection toward them keys like that. Well, my old man, he
let his fingers ride wild to their own likin’. He done let
them soar across them keys, just like he used to on the
little platform stage in a jazz club.
The saxman stood in the middle. My Pop and I looked
a lot like the two thieves next to him, because he was the
star, he was the savior. After some time, though, none of
us was better than the other. We became one and the
same, kind of like the Trinity, three-in-one, man. We were
all just the same, jamming until our chops were beat,
smoking up the room. Well, the traffic outside of my
shabby studio suddenly froze, everything around me froze,
and I could’ve sworn I nearly heard my old man say, “Go,
Son.”
So, I figured I’d go see the saxman play. I didn’t know
what to expect. I just knew I had to, and I couldn’t stop
my legs from moving towards the little adobe building. I
walked along Dyer Street away from my muddy Pinto. I
glanced back at her and sighed. I felt an awful prickling
throughout my body, but I kept moving anyways, just like
my old man always told me, “Keep moving along, keep
goin’ in life, Son.”
My daddy used to tell me how majestic the saxman
could make a person feel. He always said jazz makes you
feel things you didn’t know you could. He taught me that
Jazz is a language you don’t have to learn, anyone can feel
it, and it doesn’t discriminate. He used to say, “Mr. Lewis
speaks all kind of languages into his horn. When he’s
playing, man, I tell ya, he makes a doll forgot all she knows
‘bout livin’. He makes that man in his zoot clothes think
he’s poor as any beggar. And he don’t care. Nobody needs
nothin’ when they hear the sounds of a horn. They just
wanna remember they’s alive, they wanna speak the
universal language, they wanna know what it means to just
ride, ya see.”
When I was just a boy, I used to ask him what he meant
by all that. He said one day I’d understand. When I started
playing the horn myself, I understood because I felt that
oneness, that loose sensation, that freedom and salvation.
Why, Mr. Lewis is the reason I play. Folks always said Mr.
Lewis can make a woman move even when she don’t want
to. He can make a person confess all their sins as if the
Lord’s returning for his rapturous sounds. They say, too,
that you can see the sky open up, the clouds part like the
Red Sea, as if the Lord himself is trying to catch the least
echo of Mr. Lewis playing a lick on his horn. I suppose I
wanted that magic, too. I started playing real young; played
like a rusty gate in the first few years. But I really caught on
12
fast. I picked up that horn and never put it down. I was
going to be a real saxman, and my old man said I could, so
I reckoned it was true. Now, I figured I’d forgot everything
my father taught me. Because I don’t seem to feel it
anymore, not like I used to anyway. Hell, I can play the
notes, but I ain’t communicating the way I was taught. I
suppose I stopped ever wanting to hear Mr. Lewis play as I
got older because I stopped believing in him. Then that
magic happened when I left myself, and man I couldn’t
help but seeing what the saxman had for me. I just had to
know what made him so special, because, hell, I wanted
some of that magic, too.
I strolled under the lamplight, resting my hands in the
pockets of my ragged trousers. I felt the cool dryness of
the desert air. I done felt more alive than ever before. I
suppose it was the wind on my skin and the sound of
something muffled playing in a nearby building; it made me
hungry to jam.
I spotted a red, hand-painted sign out front. It read, The
Musician’s Bar. I’d be lying if I said the area didn’t feel
empty and forgotten; the sign, the outside of the bar, the
way every surrounding thing was asleep, except for this
one. I’d read in the paper that Mr. Lewis owned the place,
but I started to have my doubts. I reached the front door
and slowly pushed on it. My heart began to race. I tried to
reason with myself, saying in my head that I could leave at
any moment. I best leave now before anyone even knows
I’m here, I thought. But then the wooden door was open,
and without realizing it, I was standing in a room with
patches for carpet.
I felt transported to a spiritual world in that place. The
lighting was dim. A single lamp hung from the ceiling
above where four or five men sat in a circle. Save for some
neon glowing signs and lamps fastened to the wall, there
was no other light. The room was small, but it didn’t
appear so because of the mirrors lining the top half of the
walls. Hell, the room felt over-sized. Wherever the mirrors
didn’t cover the wall hung blood-red flock-patterned
wallpaper – something left behind from the days of the
Wild West. Honest to God, I couldn’t tell the men’s
moving shadows from the patterns on the wallpaper. Hell,
I just reckoned there was something in the wall trying to
make its way out, a ghost dancing a jig. No matter how
much people said Mr. Lewis sounded like heaven, well,
let’s just say this place reminded me of hell with all the lack
of light, all the red that glowed like fire on all of them
mirrors.
Spiritual sounds carried kind of muffled in the breeze of
the small room. Mr. Lewis sat caressing his sax. Several
other men sat about him, playing other instruments, one
pounding the keys, another plucking his bass, one
knocking at his drums, and more. The hum of Mr. Lewis’
horn was sublime. I stood at the entrance of the bar, nearly
closing my eyes, trying to feel the music, trying to see
rhythm and become it, the way I once had before. I heard
the sounds of a rushing city. I was far away from this
desert, far away from this club. I felt I was in the thick of

Art Lewis (Photo courtesy of Hector Montes)
Harlem, but I wasn’t, and that fascinated me. The sounds
just glided through my soul, tore at my physical being, trying
to tell me something I wasn’t sure I was ready to know.
All of a sudden, the music softened and released its
emotion, its rage and boiling temper. I heard some voices
guiding the stop. I opened my eyes.
“Kid, come jam!” called one of the men. I was beside
myself when he looked my way. I discovered it was him.
“Nah, I’m just listening, Mr. Lewis. I ain’t got my horn,
anyhow.” I said embarrassed.
“Here, Kid. Ya got a reed and mouthpiece? Then take my
horn,” he said walking over, handing me his sax, then
disappearing into another room, coming out seconds later
with a darker, ancient hunk of brass. I pulled my Rico reed
and a mouthpiece from my trousers and twisted it onto the
neck of his instrument.
“All right, ladies, let’s break it down,” he said after
sipping his bourbon.
13
The boy on the keys started playing something
sultry and loose. Then the other cats just joined in
whenever they felt. I waited some time and finally
started playing notes I thought no one ought to hear.
As the sounds carried on, Mr. Lewis pulled away from
his sax. I noticed he was looking my way, so I imitated
his act, stopping my sounds.
He said to me, “Get hot, Kid. Stop playing so
cool.”
My face got warm real fast. “Mr. Lewis, I don’t
know how to feel it. I know how to play the notes, but
I can’t really speak the language. You know what I’m
saying, Mr. Lewis?”
He gave me a look of understanding. “I dig it, Kid.”
“Hey, crazies,” he said, addressing the others who
were lost in a riff, “let’s give this kid a solo with his
horn. Just follow me into it, smooth and easy.”
I listened to him play. I was relearning everything I
thought I already knew. He spoke a language I felt in
my soul. I couldn’t understand the words. He just
spoke truth to my heart. His language didn’t
discriminate, it didn’t mean something better to
someone else’s soul more than another. It was raw and
from his bones to mine, and it overcame the barriers
that we had all put up for so long. I reckoned this is
what heaven must be like. We ain’t all that different
after all; we’re really just one of a kind, even if we think
we’re too good to see it.
I joined in, loosely holding my brass, the way I had
the day the magic came to me. I thought of the three
musicians and Mr. Picasso, imagined we were made of
shapes and colors, all just designed to bring music into
the world. I felt a silence growing among the others,
but I still played whatever my heart told me. All of a
sudden it made everything okay, hearing the sounds
come out of me without even thinking ‘bout it. It was
queer and marvelous and terrifying. I had no control,
and still I kept the sound floating. It was out of this
world, man.
When it felt right, I settled down from my frenzy and
played a final note. The room fell silent.
“Baby,” I heard one of the jammers say, “that was
divine.”
Mr. Lewis sipped his bourbon, “Keep it goin’, Kid.” He
closed his eyes. “The end of a song’s only the beginnin’,” he
said. “Music never ends and ya knowledge of it don’t either.”
He opened his eyes again, smiling like he did in the paper.
Something like magic happened again, man. Under that one
bulb, where a fly wacked itself against the light, Mr. Lewis’
body shone like the setting sun.
I reckon Mr. Lewis really is a god. He’s too good to be
one of us, I thought. I started playing again, and just watched
the man before me sip at his bourbon. I started out playing
gentle, then played what sounded like thunder. And I spoke
a language I’d never known before, but, hell, I understood
every word.
 The Zoot Suit
Music Man
By Dalia Hajir and Samantha Linn

Don Tosti Pachuco Boogie, The Original Historic Recordings. 2002 Arhoolie Records

14
F use the funky sounds of
boogie, the sultry whirl of
jazz and the bouncing roll of
the blues. Now give it a
Spanish twist, throw in a flavorful
pinch of Latino spice, and you get the
popular music genre of the 1940s,
Pachuco, a fantastic celebration in
which Latino rhythms swiftly swing
across the dance floor under the
singing of a saxophone, all hosted by a
clean-cut man in a zoot suit, dignified,
guapo, and especially proud of his
culture, Don Tosti. “When asked what
is Latino rhythm and blues,” in an
article in The Desert Sun, “Tosti
answered: ‘Ah, my dear, it is the taking
of Ebonic blues and putting a Spanish
twist on it. It is called Pachuco—the
language of El Paso, Texas, where I
was born.’”
The father of Pachuco was a society
musician, one who desired to integrate
Latino traditions in his compositions
and who brought the elegance of his
marginalized heritage to the spotlight.
He was one of the many Mexican-
American youths who refused to
wholly assimilate themselves into the
Anglo-American society, choosing
instead to “embrace American pop
culture and make it into their own,”
stated the Los Angeles Times. The
identity of this subculture, called
Pachuco, spun around jazz, the swing
music scene and the famed zoot suits. Don Tosti (Photo courtesy of the Arhoolie Foundation, Manuel Peña Collection)
Describing their fashion, an El Paso
Times article stated, “Their long coats,
pancake hats, pegged pants, and thick- Martínez Tostado. His last name article on the El Paso Symphony
soled shoes,” all drew lots of attention suggests he was hot stuff. He could Orchestra in this issue of Borderlands).
for their exotic colors and excessive play hot, too, making music that forced Tostado’s brilliance as a musician
fabric, provoking controversy as they you to gravitate from the corner of the began at the age of seven when he first
were seen as a waste of wool during the dance floor towards the center of the got ahold of a violin. His success was
Second World War, a time in which room, where the beat of Tostado's no accident, however. The Oakland
materials were scarce. The hybrid musical blend resounded… crowned by Tribune newspaper related that the
“Spanglish” slang of the zoot suiters that tinge of Latino spice! Martínezes were a musical family.
also stood out throughout the As a youngster, the Father of Though not present at this stage of
Southwest. Being a Spanish speaker Pachuco studied under well-known Tostado’s life, his father, Don Ramon
was not enough to make sense of individuals, such as Rayo Reyes, a Martínez, became the leader of a ten-
phrases, such as "¡Ese vato, qué de aquella prominent musician and bandleader piece band; his sister, a singer. But
ranfla traes!" (Hey dude, you have a nice from El Paso (see article on Rayo and Tostado began as a bit of a
lowrider!), making the style a sort of Reva Reyes in this issue of Borderlands); troublemaker, which signaled his
fiesta that you could only fully grasp if “Verdin” Rodriquez; Pioquinto tendency to defy the rules. Often, he
you let yourself be absorbed by it. Gonzalez, orchestra director and fought other kids in the neighborhood
Tosti came into the world in El composer from Juarez; and Tranquilino he called a "humble Mexican barrio,”
Chuco (The Pachuco name for El Paso) Paez, principal violoncello player from stated The Desert Sun. The solution? His
on March 27, 1923, as Edmundo the El Paso Symphony Orchestra (see family forced him to practice music for

15
at least two hours a day to keep him
busy. By the time he was ten, he could
play seven instruments.
Warmly regarded today as a notable
ex-student, Tostado attended Aoy
Elementary and played for the school's
orchestra, where his counterparts and
teachers saw before them somebody
who would do something great with his
life. Tostado was exceptional from the
very beginning. At just the age of nine,
he reached professional status as a
violinist within the El Paso Symphony
Orchestra. In the orchestra, he was the
youngest, the lead violinist and a
sensation with an unmatched talent for
the next seven years, by itself a
remarkable feat for a musician of any
age. Interestingly, he only spoke Spanish
at the time, and in return, his teachers
called him Don Tosti because they
found his name hard to pronounce, a
distinction that set the tone for later
difficulties in his adulthood.
While nine-year-old Tostado began
studying piano in the orchestra, his
potential career in this all was thwarted
years later by an injury to his left hand.
The El Paso Times stated that "in a fight
over a girl, an assailant tried to stab him
with a dagger, which he grabbed in self-
defense, slicing the tendons between his
thumb and index finger." The blood
scared the other boy away, Tostado
related.
“That’s life,” shrugged Tostado
Don Tosti with Count Basie presenting a copy of “Pachuco Boogie”
(Photo courtesy of Arhoolie Foundation, Manuel Peña Collection)
during the interview, his scar still visible
70 years later. This injury didn’t hold
him back; if his burning desire to make
some sound was not attainable on the
piano, he would achieve it with another
instrument. Blowing beautiful melodies,
he picked up the saxophone; then, like
the unstoppable wind, he picked up the
clarinet, moving forward with these
instruments and with what his father
later defined as a “terrific” bass, he kept
his passion for music alive.
In 1939, when Tostado was 14, he
left for Los Angeles because he wanted
to see his mother, who had left him in
the care of his grandparents and aunts,
and they ended up living together. The
young teen had a hunger to learn any
and every instrument he could get his
hands on, literally. He played with the
National High School Symphony and
was concertmaster for the All-City
Symphony Orchestra for three straight
years. Then he formed his own swing
band, transitioned to the upright bass
and began exploring jazz saxophone.
The band performed spectacularly.
Everyone loved Tostado’s music.
Everyone wanted more. Several times he
was "almost hired," but as soon as he
gave out his Mexican name, Edmundo
Tostado was turned away. In his “Artist
Biography” on the Allmusic website,
writer Jason Ankeny explains that it was
at this time that the Mexican-American
music man realized his “Latino ethnicity
16
was costing him playing gigs, including a
slot in the Los Angeles Philharmonic.”
To get ahead of the game, Tostado
transformed the nickname of his youth
into his stage name. Edmundo Tostado
became Don Tosti at the age of 19.
Strong-willed, hardworking and sharp,
he didn’t let anyone get in the way of his
aspirations.
Beyond a doubt, Tosti was musically
inclined; however, he also remained
physically active. “He won several
welterweight bouts in the Pacific
Association boxing tournament in
1943,” according to an Oakland Tribune
article. Music, however, remained his
priority. Simultaneously, Tosti studied
accounting at the Los Angeles City
College and played in the school jazz
band, yet another sign of his dynamism.
However, his first big break, as he
called it, loomed. One of the finest jazz
singers and the top pre-bop trombonist,
Jack Teagarden, offered still 19-year-old
Tosti a job with his band in the Big
Apple -- the City That Never Sleeps,
The Melting Pot -- New York City!
During the following years, Tosti
scored jobs with some of the greatest
swing classics, including American jazz
composer Jimmy Dorsey, clarinetist,
saxophonist and one of the top
bandleaders of the era; then with Charlie
Barnet, another jazz saxophonist and
composer; and Les Brown, who, for 60
years, led a first-class jazz band. In 1948,
again, Tosti joined Dorsey, who served
as his best man at his first wedding.
The “big-band era,” as Ankeny called
it in his article, was a hard time for many
Mexican-Americans who wanted to play
at the peak of the music world. Tosti
was only one of a handful to achieve
professional status. It is crucial, then, to
recognize that the discrimination Tosti
and many other Mexican-American
artists and performers faced in this era
was nothing short of injurious. The
resentment of having to hide his given
name motivated the music man to melt
Latino rhythms into his instruments
because, despite the distresses caused by
the racial prejudices he encountered in
his lifetime, he always kept his goals in
sight. He did not shrink at the noise of
racism. Instead, he used the voice of his
music to let his heritage, his inspiration,
shine through it.
Latino music would be forever
changed when his father, Don Ramon
Martínez, returned to Tosti’s life. The
Desert Sun stated that Martínez was "a
former naval officer who had become a
professional wrestler, boxer and show
biz promoter," and who saw great
potential in his son, and advised him to
write his own music. Intrigued, Tosti
followed through. Soon he began doing
very well with his songs. Ankeny wrote,
“Eventually he formed his own band
with pianist Eddie Cano, saxophonist
Bob Hernandez and drummer Raul
Diaz, fusing jazz, boogie and blues with
Latin rhythms to create a style he called
Pachuco. From this style, his most
celebrated song, “Pachuco Boogie,” was
born. “‘Pachuco Boogie’ was an
unprecedented success,” Ankeny said.
“Its thumping piano and driving jump
blues beat seamlessly meld with Tosti’s
frenetic Chicano rap, colorfully evoking
the hipster chic of the growing zoot suit
subculture.” Today, a copy of “Pachuco
Boogie” remains part of the
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in
Washington D.C.
The success of “Pachuco Boogie”
was phenomenal. Tosti and his band,
the Pachuco Boogie Boys, sold millions
of copies of their recording in 1948. An
August 2004 Tallahassee Democrat article,
along with many others, reported that
“Pachuco Boogie” was the “first million
-selling Latin song,” and it was thanks to
Don Tosti (Photo courtesy of UC Santa
Barbara Library)
that little boy from “Chuco Town” (Photo courtesy of the Arhoolie Foundation,
who kept playing music despite what Manuel Peña Collection)
was thrown at him. The Pachuco
Boogie Boys "went on to attain an
unheard-of success for a Chicano
band," stated the El Paso Times in
1980. “The Pachuco sound gave
rhythm to an emerging Mexican-
American youth culture inspired by
the Zoot Suit scene,” noted a Boston
Globe article in 2004. The song spun
praise during different decades, and
over time, the word “Pachuco” held a
whole new meaning. The craze for
Latin music was on.
It is worth mentioning that the
Pachuco style was not a definite
formula. In his versatility, Tosti
diluted the spice of his earlier hits to
fit the King of the Mambo's style—
Cuban musician Perez Prado—when
he signed a contract with RCA
Records, an American record label cancer in May 2004, according to his
which signed prominent artists of the sister, Marylin Martínez Wood. In
era, such as Elvis Presley, David Bowie, August of that year, at the age of 81, the
Nina Simone, and Sam Cook, though Zoot Suit Music Man passed away in
Tosti would often come back to his own peaceful bliss. “He was really something
style with songs like "Chicano Boogie," special, a very talented man,” his sister
too. reminisced with affection. We can only
With his fame skyrocketing, Tosti assume the glorious Pachuco sounds led
performed at the Hollywood Palladium, him gracefully away to his final
according to Ankeny, and for a year he destination.
hosted his own television show, Just weeks before his death, Tosti
Momentos Alegres (Happy Moments). In was named the “Godfather of Latino
1961, as if triumphantly walking off a Rhythm and Blues,” a fitting title for a
stage, he decided to leave Los Angeles man who embraced his elegant, classy
and move to Palm Springs, California, and alluring Mexican heritage and made
where he married model and actress a name for himself amidst targeted
Ruth Lila Margulies, to whom he racism toward the Mexican-American
endearingly referred to as his “little girl.” culture and lifestyle. He became a
Not surprisingly, Tosti spent his last symbol of success for aspiring musicians
years giving back. "When I moved to from similar backgrounds. Actors,
the desert, I became the orchestra leader singers and artists can now proudly use
at the Biltmore Hotel for 10 years," their given names “without the penalties
Tosti recalled in an interview with the that he had suffered,” something he
Desert Sun. "After the Biltmore, I went thankfully acknowledged to the Desert
to the Canyon Hotel for three years. Sun. But even before this new era, Tosti
Then I went to the Plaza Hotel. Now I let the world see him for who he was,
am mostly retired, but I do appear with and the world learned to love him for
my band doing society country club that.
work. I run my own agency -- so if a job Listening to the Pachuco Boogie is
comes along that I don't like, I send like joining a big party. Anyone can
someone else." jump in. Everyone is welcome.
He was no longer as famous as he Everyone is accepted. So, put your
once had been, but no one can argue he dancing shoes on and get ready to
lived the good life. Unfortunately, Tosti swing, Don Tosti style!
was diagnosed with advanced prostate
17
Poetry by Lawrence Welsh

ON THE DEATH OF SLEEPY WILLAMATH JAZZ I WILL NOT LOVE THE BLUES
LA BEEF forget pacific northwest obsessions
but become
mesa became with place them at midnight
all back alleys like transplanted blues from seattle or
or after at 3 a.m.
to burn or roll out bend and reach for the harmonica
for an american dream and become only the river to drive the
or harmonica rain
even if that’s every airwaves: as the snow falls like musselwhite
chevrolet and ford fm still unknown on a portland dial
butterfield
on the boulevard that delivers sonny criss, blue mitchell,
like a stuck and rusted
that turns to a song sonny clark big river harp
all songs now from and all those true ecstasies of now and
to say
a human jukebox then again look for another
that plays town to town what floats to the columbia and then
another one that almost plays itself
state to state becomes the sea in memory again
and goes on after or for a way away
that final breath is taken past the love
THE PANTHER BURNS: PANTHER for another
wear or a loser’s
CROSS HARP REVERSED the purple vestments or lover’s
that key or song in east moline to shine melodious end
to west peoria or forgotten or glow
for black tar heroin for another’s
or that original hells angels speed soundtrack: THE BLUES CYCLE
still cooked in san berdoo… super reverb as they go
to memphis backwards
perhaps confusion or oblivion or cross harp to begin
is good enough like lawndale or in eastern one chromatic
hawthorne kentucky or diatonic
or which way’s the beach? will ride to cross
they ask at inglewood’s edge will ride on like cross harp
which way to the turning and collapse for a gretsch blasted through
once again country gentleman tremolo or reverb
which way to the grave’s reply? or all white to drive the green
falcons bullet mic
it’s here in a skull’s embrace of that show in the red
tomorrow that show purple lights
of the bones humming a universal song the melting faces like go
and universal cry and the tombs like already
and tomes getting gone
of retrospect

Lawrence Welsh
Lawrence Welsh has published 12 books of poetry, including Begging for Vultures: New and Selected Poems, 1994-
2009 (University of New Mexico Press). This collection won the New Mexico-Arizona Book Award. It was also
named a Notable Book by Southwest Books of the Year and a finalist for both the PEN Southwest Book Award
and the Writers’ League of Texas Book Award. In 2018, the University of New Mexico Press published Cutting the
Wire: Photographs and Poetry from the U.S.-Mexico Border, a collaboration with Ray Gonzalez and Bruce Berman. This
book won the Southwest Book Award, the Southwest Books of the Year Award and was a finalist for the New
Mexico-Arizona Book Award. Welsh’s work has appeared in more than 300 national and regional publications.

18
 Pioneer
“Musical Cob-
bler” Provides
Firm Footing
V
irtuoso clari-
netist, compos-
for El Paso’s er, bandleader,
choir director,
Music Scene musical arranger,
teacher and…oh, yes,
shoemaker!

By Rachel Murphree

Trinidad Concha (Photo courtesy of Cinco Puntos Press)

19
 Don Trinidad Concha left his
position as Assistant Director of
Porfirio Diaz’ Mexican Military Band,
moved to El Paso and helped shape
the early years of music in the city.
His musical service ran the gamut.
He led the city’s first Mexican Típica
Orchestra, was the music arranger for
the locally famous McGinty Band and
formed Concha’s Mexican Concert
Band. The Concert band traveled
throughout the region playing classical
music that appealed to both cultures on rougher music was smoothed to fit elite
the border and promoted
El Paso. He organized and
directed children’s choirs
and bands at St. Ignatius
school in later years, touring
with the school’s Boys’
Band as far away as
Chicago and many in
between.
Trinidad Concha was
born in 1862 in
Guanajuato, Mexico, and
trained as a shoemaker. As
part of the Mexican Military
Band, he toured the U.S. in
1893-1894. The last stop
before heading back to
Mexico City was El Paso.
According to David Romo
in Ringside Seat to a
Revolution, violoncello player
Charles Rokahr asked him
to arrange music for the
McGinty Band and offered
him a position in his boot
shop. After he was denied
permission and warned to
leave the Mexican band,
that it would make him a
deserter, Concha and his Trinidad Concha’s Historical Marker
family moved to El Paso (Photo by Rachel Murphree)
anyway. He joined his
brother and fellow musician, Melitón
Concha, a barber and landlord in the
city since 1886. Census records show
the family moved to El Paso in 1894,
and the first (of many) newspaper
mentions of Concha was for playing a
clarinet solo for a St. Patrick’s Day
celebration in 1895.
Señor Concha established El Paso’s
first Mexican Típica Orchestra around
1896, which rehearsed in the back
room of Melitón’s barbershop at 417
South El Paso Street. An orquesta típica
is a smaller string orchestra, comprised
of usually five to seven musicians,
centered around a violinist, who plays
folk music associated with rural mestizo
populations. In his book Mexican
American Orquesta, Manuel Peña wrote
that during this time “many Latin
American elites were smitten by
costumbrismo, or the desire to experience
an invented ‘national’ culture as
attributed to the common folk.” The
tastes, which led to nationalist and local
típicas being established throughout the
region. The costumes of the elite
groups and their songs are similar to
that of mariachi.
Tenor sax player Melitón joined his
brother in the típica. Most of the
musicians worked in the cigar factories,
a major El Paso industry, and a few
were professional musicians. According
to a 1950 El Paso Times article, most
picked up music by ear and didn’t set
20
out to make money. They went
“traveling from house to house,
wherever the occasion demanded
music.” A band member still living
remembered their pride for their
performance at the Myar’s Opera
House to celebrate 16 de septiembre,
or Mexican Independence Day,
covered by the El Paso Herald. That
year they also serenaded Mexican
Consul Francisco Mallen with a 28-
piece típica and played for the Knights
of Pythias. Historian Romo writes that
one of Concha’s
compositions, De Torreón a
Lerdo, “is still played by
mariachi and norteño
groups today.”
Concha established
Concha’s Mexican Concert
Band around 1898, per
Romo. It included 12 men
formerly with Diaz’ band,
and his son David and his
brothers Rafael, Jesus and
Melitón. The band ranged
from a sextet to a 40-piece
brass band. They played
“Mexicanized European
music,” such as waltzes,
mazurkas, polkas and
operas. Concha’s Band
played at the grand opening
of the Hotel Orndorff in
June 1899, providing
ballroom dancing until
midnight. Alzina Orndorff
DeGroff and her husband
had remodeled the existing
Vendome hotel to open the
Orndorff. Decades later,
she built the iconic hotel
that is now the Cortez
Building on the same site.
An August 1899 article
on one of the band’s outdoor
performances stated, “Long before the
hour of starting, every available seat in
the plaza was occupied, and carriages
of every description lined the streets
two and three deep.” Outdoor music
was common entertainment in that
time before television and radio. Over
the years, there was a struggle to find
funding for these free concerts; funds
were solicited from business owners,
railroad tycoons and various unions.
Finally, after multiple public petitions,
the City Council took on the
responsibility, but not consistently.
Mrs. DeGroff was a patron of the
band, encouraging subscribers to
donate to provide public music in the
plaza Thursdays and Sundays
throughout the summer in 1902. In
honor of Mrs. DeGroff, the band
played on the hotel’s balcony in July of
that year.
The band played at other kinds of
events: Elks conventions, Democratic
rallies, anti-gambling meetings, both
Mexican and American patriotic events,
graduations, Woman’s Club festivities,
Club de San Ignacio (Photo courtesy of the University of Texas Library, Special Collections, Stout Feldman Collection)
funerals of distinguished Mexican
leaders from El Paso, midwinter
carnivals and parades.
One of the parades was a large
Labor Day parade in 1902. As was
common in cities at that time, workers
from various unions marched in the
parade and bands. Concha’s Band had
a prominent spot right after the parade
marshal and his aides. The El Paso
Herald wrote, “Next came Concha's
Mexican band in uniforms of spotless
white and black caps. This band, always
so popular in El Paso, surpassed itself
on this occasion in the beautiful music
rendered.” The parade was followed
by festivities in Washington Park, in its
current location near the zoo in what
then was El Paso’s far east side. Races,
picnics, ball games and dancing filled
the day, and Concha’s Band provided
the music. According to Esteban
Vasquez in a Password 2012 article,
“[Washington] Park was an oasis where
individuals could… relax among many
trees and flora, or peacefully row a boat
in a lake surrounded by trees.”
Streetcars ran multiple times an hour
from downtown to the park.
In December of that year, an article
ran in the El Paso Herald stating that a
musicians’ union was set up with 41
members, including all city musicians,
except for Concha’s Band. Concha
and manager Frank Alderete said they
were “both in favor of the move.”
21
Late in December, newspaper
articles reported union members didn’t
want Concha’s Band to march in the
January midwinter carnival parade
because they weren’t in a union.
Wilson’s Band in particular was upset.
The carnival was a multi-day event with
mining competitions and visitors and
bands from Arizona, New Mexico, El
Paso and Juarez. The accompanying
ball was the social event of the season.
Alderete responded, "The reason we
did not go into the other union is
because we were never asked to come
in until after every other musician in El
Paso and Juarez had been asked to join,
and we naturally felt a little sore over
the treatment and organized a union of
our own.” He said their union had
about 35 members and all but one lived
and spent money in El Paso. Their
regular rate was $50, and they did not
undercut other bands. They took less
for a donation to a group without
enough money or for an influential
person that would benefit the city.
That union was the Sociedad Mutualista
Filarmónica, which was one of many
Mexican societies that also provided
leadership and death benefits to
families, per Mario García in the book
Desert Immigrants.
After the back and forth of
newspaper articles, the carnival was a
success, even though snow and sleet
came on one day. The bands all came
out and rallied the attendees to brave
the cold. The sun came out later in the
day because it is El Paso! The El Paso
Herald labeled it “quite a coincidence”
when Wilson’s Union Band and
Concha’s Band played in plazas near
each other because the bands had not
been “very friendly of late.”
Concha’s Band commonly
accompanied dignitaries and
delegations to and from the train
station and played at conventions in
other states to help promote the city.
In September 1903, El Paso leaders
went to the National Irrigation
Conference in Ogden, Utah, and
brought Concha’s Band to help
persuade the association that El Paso
should host the following year. The
$1,100 for the band’s salaries was paid
largely by the Mexican Consul and
businessman Felix Martinez. With the
headline “Concha Band Strong Card,”
the El Paso Times reported that 5,000
people came out to watch the band
play in Ogden.
The Knights Templar of San
Francisco learned of Concha’s Band
because of their Utah performance and
booked them for a conclave in
September 1904. The band toured for a
month through California. The El Paso
Herald then suggested that the citizens
provide new uniforms for the band and
a banner advertising the irrigation
conference in El Paso to publicize the
city further.
In November 1904, the National
Irrigation Conference was held
successfully in El Paso, and Concha’s
Band opened the proceedings, playing
the Star-Spangled Banner. The band made
a similar trip in 1914 to advertise El
Paso to the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s
Convention to secure hosting
privileges.
It appears as though the band was
not supplied new uniforms to go to San
Francisco because the following year
they were fundraising for them. In July
1905, the Herald reported that Concha’s
Band was “just about the busiest
organization in El Paso this summer.”
They played twice-weekly concerts in
the plaza, three nights a week at
Washington Park and at single-night
events. Alderete was ordering “natty
new suits” for the musicians. Even
with all their success, the newspaper
reported in June 1906 that the city
council had no money in the budget for
them or the Diaz Band. During these
years, Concha’s Band started
accompanying motion pictures at the
Crawford Theater downtown and
playing at political rallies, ball games
and traveling to play in Mesilla Park,
Las Cruces and Cloudcroft.
1909 brought new experiences for
Concha and the City. The Choral
Society planned a spring festival with
four invited soloists and expected to
hire the Chicago Symphony, but they
could not be secured. A local orchestra
was assembled from the ranks of
Concha’s Band and led by Professor J.
B. Kendig to rave reviews from the El
Paso Herald over four days of coverage.
The opening day headline was “El Paso
Symphony Orchestra is a Hit,” and the
article read: “Every doubt as to the
ability of the local orchestra was
dispelled with the rendering of the
opening selection. The 40 Mexicans
under the leadership of Prof. Kendig
seemed to realize the responsibility
placed on them for the success of the
festival…. The playing of the local
musicians was a surprise even to the
members of the Choral Society, and
they applauded the efforts of the
musicians as loudly as the audience.”
All the members of the Society were
listed by name at the end of the very
long article.
On the third day, the self-funded
Choral Society capitalized on the
expansive coverage of the two-day
festival and appealed to have
permanent funding and reduce its
deficit. On the fourth day an article
entitled “Musicians Contributed Much
to the Success of the Big Production”
listed all the members of Concha’s
22
Band. The article began: “The
members of Concha's Band, who
participated in the music festival as
members of the Symphony Orchestra,
worked hard to help make the music
festival a success. They appreciate the
fact that the festival promoters desired
to make it an all-home institution and
express a willingness to lend their aid.
The same men will play free on this
afternoon in the plaza for the benefit
of the Y. W. C. A. work, and they have
always been ready to do their share for
El Paso.”
The articles mentioned that the
orchestra was such a “pleasing
surprise” that it would be “a shame if
El Paso does not keep it together.”
Perhaps not coincidentally, the El Paso
Symphony Orchestra was established
two years later. The Symphony
celebrates its 90th anniversary this year
(see the article on the Symphony in this
issue of Borderlands).
In October 1909, U.S. President
William Howard Taft met with
Mexican President Porfirio Diaz in El
Paso and Juárez in an historic first. In a
1958 Password article, Charlotte
Crawford described it as a "veritable
pageant of military splendor, social
brilliance, courtly formality, official
protocol and patriotic fervor." The
headline for the El Paso Times on
October 16th read, “The Eyes of the
World Are Focused on El Paso
Today.” Concha’s Band led the third
brigade of civic organizations in the
parades. When interviewed for a 2012
El Paso Inc. article, his granddaughter
Alicia Concha said the band played the
American and Mexican national
anthems, as well as two of Concha’s
compositions, “On the Shores of the
Rio Grande” and “Through El Paso.”
He did not visit Juárez during the
festivities.
Concha did not step foot on
Mexican soil until he took his band to
the Francisco Madero Camp opposite
the smelter before the Battle of Juárez
on April 16, 1911. For two and a half
hours, the band serenaded the troops
and the other leaders, such as Pancho
Villa, Pasqual Orozco and Colonel
Garibaldi. The event was only
scheduled for an hour, but the
thousands of Mexicans and Americans
in attendance kept asking for encores.
According to the El Paso Times, the
“footbridge which spans the Rio
Grande opposite the smelter groaned
under the weight of the great crowds
passing from the American side.” Per
historian David Romo, this musical
tribute to the insurrectionists was the
first time Concha had set foot in
Mexico for 15 years. “He’d been afraid
of being arrested as a deserter.”
Just as he supported the civic life of
his birth country, Concha was involved
in the civic life of his adopted
community and his church. In April
1905, the newspapers reported
“prominent Mexican citizens” signed
an open letter to Mayor Morehead to
fortify the levee or “fix the ditch”
before the first and second wards of
the city were flooded. This was an
ongoing problem until the erection of
the Elephant Butte Dam later in the
20th century. Concha signed on behalf
of the Sociedad Mutualista Filarmónica. In
1910, he joined other citizens and made
a speech before City Council for a
second time to protest the foul-
smelling stock pens in those wards.
Mario Garcia wrote that Concha
was hired to assemble a girls’ orchestra
soon after St. Ignatius school opened in
1905; the group played a concert in
1908. Over the years he set up many
children’s bands, orchestras, and choirs
and became the church musical
director. The newspaper coverage then
focused largely on Concha’s musical
activities at St Ignatius.
With the growth of the
congregation, the existing church was
built in 1913. It was the first church in
the city to have central heating, stated
the El Paso Museum of History’s
DIGIE.org. Garcia wrote: “St.
Ignatius contained 650 Mexican
students in 1917 and represented the
largest parochial school in El Paso….
It contained eleven classrooms plus an
auditorium and represented one of El
Paso’s most modern schools.”
Parochial students often came from
slightly better-off Mexican families,
who were refugees from the war in
Mexico and could afford to pay the
tuition. In March 1919, a musical
program directed by Concha
inaugurated the new 650-seat school
auditorium in the building designed by
Mexican architect M. L. Cardona.
The mass for the feast of Santa
Cecilia, the patron saint of music, was a
beloved annual occurrence at St.
Ignatius and the other Catholic
parishes of the city. Another well-
known musician, Rayo Reyes (see
article on Rayo Reyes in this issue of
Borderlands), directed the orchestra for
one performance. Miss Mateus directed
the choir and Concha was the overall
music director. The choir swelled from
24 voices in 1917 to 60 singers in just
two years.
In December 1920, the El Paso
Herald announced that “El Paso has a
boys’ choir of 50, of whom 15 are girls,
as somebody expressed it, and next
month at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic
Cathedral the choir is going to give its
initial concert, with accompaniment of
pipe organ and an orchestra of 25.”
The concert took place in mid-January,
and the newspaper wrote, “The effect
was magnificent and equal to the best
choir work El Paso knows. This is all
the more remarkable in that the choir
has only been together for a few weeks,
and the music was entirely unfamiliar
to the orchestra at the start.” The choir
was composed of Spanish-speaking
adults and children and directed by
Concha with the help of Miss Mateus
St. Ignatius Church (Photo by Rachel Murphree)
23
and the orchestra conducted by Reyes.
DIGIE.org has a photo from 1913
of the St. Ignatius Catholic Church
Girls’ String Band. Garcia said a
similar group appeared in local concerts
by 1908. In April 1923, the El Paso
Herald wrote an article about the debut
concert of the stringed orchestra where
Concha’s composition Remembrance, a
Mexican serenade, was played. The
women’s chorus accompanied the
orchestra, and “both the orchestra and
the chorus are composed of working
girls, who find time after work to
practice…they often remain at practice
until 12 p.m.,” according to the Rev.
Fr. Carmen Tranchese, priest of that
parish.
Concha’s granddaughter Alicia said
about her grandfather and great uncle
Melitón: “They would go around the
neighborhood, taking boys off the
streets of South El Paso to join the
church's Boys Club and teach them to
play an instrument.” Often these skills
led the boys to employment and
improved their lives. In 1912, a boys’
group from Sacred Heart Parish moved
to St. Ignatius because they were too
noisy at their home parish. It was the
beginning of the Boys Band that
became nationally famous. An August
1923 article on the concert stated that
the band of boys seven to 16 years old
began four months earlier. Concha had
to start out teaching the boys the
fundamentals of music but they made
quick strides.
In 1925, the Boys Band traveled to
Miami, Arizona, for a six-day trip
where the band was the feature of the
celebration of the 115th anniversary of
Mexico’s independence. In a “Miami
Memories” 1975 article, the Arizona
Silver Belt reprinted the article from the
time describing the 48-member band as
“one of the best along the frontier.”
In June 1926, the band had its most
extensive tour and national exposure.
The boys played at the Eucharist
Conference in Chicago, Illinois, with an
expected attendance of over one
million Catholics. It was the first time
in its 28-year-old history that the
conference was held in the United
States. The local papers reported that
the 50-member band would lead the
Latin section in the opening. The
Brooklyn, New York, Tablet reported
that in Chicago they would “meet the
Spanish cardinal and his party and
escort them from the train to the
Cathedral.” On their return journey,
the band expected to play concerts in
Kansas City, Topeka and Amarillo to
help fund the over $5000 trip; the band
had such publicity, they had to refuse
requests to perform. The Chamber of
Commerce gave the boys spending
money for the trip. What an exciting
and life-changing experience! On their
return, they played at Washington Park
to aid the Milk Fund, which fed
undernourished children. The El Paso
Herald article on the event included
praise for their success in Chicago,
saying it was due to the “size of the
boys composing the organization and
the high grade of the music they
rendered.”
Local newspapers also showed
details of Concha’s work and home
life. In 1903 he was first issued a
permit to build an adobe residence for
$1,000 at Virginia and 5th streets (now
Father Rahm). In 1910, he purchased
the land for $950, and in 1911, he was
granted a permit to build a five-room
brick residence at that corner estimated
to cost $1,700. He moved into the
residence with his family in 1913. The
El Paso Inc. 2012 article stated, “In the
1890s, South Virginia Street was in the
heart of El Paso's downtown
residential district, a wooded area at the
time.” In 2011 the Texas Historical
Commission installed an historical
marker at his residence at 621 S.
Virginia.
In November 1922, the papers
reported that after a decades-long
association, shoemakers and musicians
Concha and Rokahr formed a
Trinidad Concha with his grandchildren (Photo courtesy of El Paso, Inc.)
partnership. Rokahr was well known
through the southwest as a bootmaker
with many patents to his name. Concha
retired four years later, ending the
partnership.
In December 1927, the El Paso
Times published a lengthy article with
photos entitled, “How a Retired El
Paso Businessman Spends His Well-
Earned Leisure Time.” The article
begins, “Since he’s retired from active
business, Trinidad Concha only works
18 hours a day!” Speaking of the early
days, Concha said, “El Paso was like a
big family and when a couple got
married, the town didn’t wait for
invitations. The band marched down
and played, stopping long enough for
the ceremony if they felt like it. There
was more fun in those days.” Since
retirement, he was devoting his days to
the musical program at St. Ignatius,
which at the time had a senior band, a
junior band, an orchestra, a choir and a
children’s chorus.
24
Sadly, several years later, sorrow
came to the Concha family, beginning
with the death of his brother Melitón
in 1929 and his wife, Jovita, in 1931. In
April 1933, Concha passed away, less
than a year after his famous Boys Band
played a concert celebrating their 10th
anniversary. The couple had eight
children, 18 grandchildren and six great
-grandchildren, some of whom still
reside in the area. Prominent musician
McGinty Band member “Capitan”
Francisco Escontrías passed away a
month later, and his connection with
Concha was mentioned in his obituary.
It was the passing of an era.
Reporter and future newspaper
editor H.D. Slater wrote in
remembrance in the April 1933 El Paso
Times: “The death of Trinidad Concha
marks the end of more than 40 years of
devoted service to the cause of good
music in El Paso, more especially, good
music in church, and to worthy
entertainment.” The El Paso Inc. article
stated, “Whether one calls Trinidad
Concha the musical cobbler or
professor, it's clear he became one of
the most influential and respected
Mexican-American performers in El
Paso at the turn of the century and a
valuable member of the community.”
We are so fortunate that Don Trinidad
Concha found his way to El Paso!
 Rayo and Reva
The Musical
Legacy
of the
Reyes Duo
By Dalia Hajir

A
rmy bands, guerrillas, and battle music.
Place yourself in the Mexican
Revolution, where a dark-eyed, young
and handsome musician in uniform
commands the stirring volumes of military themes,
uplifting the rebel troops who fight to bring their
country into better days. That musician is Rayo
Reyes: A man of his compatriots, his family, and,
more than a role model, a paternal figure for El
Paso's musical youth.
Reyes, one of the first musicians to be a part of
El Paso’s history, promoted music as an
invigorating force for the soul. Far back in 1887, he
was born as Rayo Rejino Reyes in Parral,
Chihuahua. Studying in Mexico and the U.S., he
graduated from the Conservatorio Nacional de
Música, still the most important educational center
of music in México. He did so with a unique study
of the violin, polishing his life-long profession in
this instrument until he became recognized in
México and the U.S. as a “top-notcher” violinist,
according to the defunct Tucson Citizen newspaper.
Yet, the notes Reyes made came in unlimited colors.
The El Paso Herald Post pleasingly announced in
1927 that among the Reyes family were players
Photo from newspapers.com
with the highest number of musical instruments
from El Paso, Reyes heading the list with no less

25
 dancing, making them a
dynamic duo who received
ovations every time the
public delightedly attended
their performances.
Curiously, the very
music that Reyes played
during the meeting of
President Díaz later
energized the spirits of the
Mexican Revolution. This
series of armed conflicts
boomed on November 10,
1910, and American
newspapers kept their eyes
on it until the Revolution
concluded in 1920. During
those 10 years, Mexicans
Rayo Reyes College of Mines Band (Photo courtesy of the University of Texas and Americans bit their
at El Paso Library, Special Collections, Stout Feldman Collection) nails at the tension (and
hidden excitement), even in
than 37. Nearly any instrument placed into his hands, those days when deadly silence swept the air and
he brought to life with ease. people knew that a new battle was soon to begin.
Reyes was also an outstanding bandleader. The All of this began because Díaz just wouldn't let go
Fort Worth Record-Telegram states that he had been a of the presidency.
"professional band man since he was a mere lad in It is still debated today whether Díaz should be
short trousers." For several years, he oversaw all the regarded as a national hero or a merciless tyrant, and
bands in Mexico. The number of bands he directed though that is a topic for another time, many sources
throughout his life went beyond a dozen. One of those, describe his presidency as a dictatorship, including an
on October 17, 1909, performed during the meeting of article in History Today, “The Ousting of Porfirio
U.S. President William Howard Taft and Mexican Diaz.” Francisco (Pancho) Villa, one of the
President Porfirio Díaz, as the Herald reports. The Revolution’s leading figures, warred avidly to bring
Library of Congress said that this historical event was down Díaz’ presidency. This bandit leader, who at
“the first meeting of a Mexican and U.S. President some point forced the governments of Mexico and the
ever, up to that time,” and the city of El Paso, Texas, U.S. to team up to find Villa’s whereabouts, was
held the honor of organizing it. dubbed the Lion of the North, though he was granted
Reyes married a woman in Trinidad, Colorado. In many nicknames. He commanded the armed faction
April 1910, the couple had a daughter named Reva División del Norte (Division of the North) and
Reyes, who they encouraged with care and love to governed Chihuahua for some time. But aside from his
follow the path of music. And as the saying goes, the adventurous campaigns through northern Mexico,
apple doesn't fall far from the tree, for little Reva's today it is little known that Villa was a huge music
career as a performer demonstrated prodigious lover. "General Villa was fond of music," Reyes
potential for music almost as early as she took her first reminisced in a later interview. "He seemed to get
steps. “Dancing and dramatics were as natural to her more pleasure at a band concert than any other form of
as sleeping,” states the Herald, “and in them she found amusement." In the book Pachuco: Out of El Segundo
her recreation, her joy, and her spiritual outlet.” Later, Barrio, by El Pasoan Jaime F. Torres, we get a deeper
Reyes often played music to accompany his daughter's look into this story. "Villa used to spare no reasonable
26
efforts to obtain the best musicians available to play
for his army bands," so it was of no surprise that Villa
selected Reyes as the official military band leader for
the División Del Norte when, in 1913, he learned
about the musician’s outstanding reputation. Reyes
soon became Villa’s favorite musician. For these
things Reyes was "held in high esteem in northern
México and the U.S. Southwest," writes Torres. The
band was made of 110 musicians from the best of
Mexico, all directed by Reyes, all rallying the troops
of Villa under a rain of bullets!
But it wasn't just Reyes. Little Reva also did her
part for the benefit of the Revolution, musically.
Supposedly at the age of three, still needing her
father’s support in walking, she accompanied him and
sang folk songs as they roamed the hills with Villa's
army. "Reva's dancing captured the fancy of the bandit
chieftain," per the one-time El Paso Evening Post.
From 1913 to 1915, while Villa was “campaigning
most actively,” the tiny dancer made her first
performances in Villa’s private car, Villa becoming
27
Reyes' close friend and Reva's godfather. Reyes
enjoyed working for Villa, and Villa himself placed
immense trust in Reyes. One time Reyes was asked to
carry a message from Juarez to Washington from Villa
to President Woodrow Wilson. On another occasion,
Reyes took over a million dollars’ worth of gold, in
today's money, from Juarez to the Remington Arms
Company in New York to pay for ammunition for the
Villa Forces.
However, in 1915, during one of the battles in
which Villa was defeated, Reyes and his subordinates
were forced to flee from the field. Only 82 of the
band’s musicians made it to safety. One can only
“College of Mines” by Rayo Reyes written in 1928
imagine the stifling frustration Reyes must have felt.
He was forced to leave 25 of his men, all of whom
were executed, with whom he had shared battles, such
as the Battles of El Sauz and Aguascalientes, “in an
endeavor to turn defeat into victory for his leader,”
stated the Fort Worth Record-Telegram. Others
executed included six of the Reyes family, brothers
and cousins. A column in the Fort Worth Record-

Rayo Reyes (Photo from newspapers.com)
Telegram, written on March 14, 1917, explores this
nerve-wracking escape. "One [of the prisoners] was
mistaken for Rayo himself and hanged from a tree. A
huge placard was pinned to his clothes, which bore the
legend ‘Rayo Reyes, leader of the Villa band, hung
herewith.’” This caused rejoicing in the camp of the
enemy. Reyes had escaped and in the garb of a woman
made his way to the border. Finally, after enduring
what could be called one of the most frightening
moments of his life, Reyes took refuge in El Paso and
named the city his lifelong home.
Though Reyes left the revolution behind five years
before the conflict ended, he kept marching forward
with confidence, many accomplishments waiting
ahead. In addition to the time he spent working for
Villa, Reyes was devoted to teaching children in El
Paso. He gave free music lessons in the backyard of
his South Ochoa home, near to what is now downtown
El Paso. "It takes time, money and energy to train my
boys to become musicians, but I do it gladly because I
know that music stimulates the spirit," Professor
Reyes, as he was frequently called, said. "And without
stimulation of the spirit, it is impossible for men and
women to achieve great things," which is a testament
28
to the attention that Reyes gave to his music and to his
band members. He supplied each of his students with
an instrument whenever possible because money was
not always available. No mountain was too high for
Reyes. After one year of careful training and
discipline, he formed one of his most well-known
groups, the Reyes Boys' Band.
The Reyes Boys’ Band was comprised of 24
orphaned boys, the oldest, 14 years of age, and the
youngest, not yet eight. In June 1910, half a year
before the Mexican Revolution, the band gave its first
concert at Cleveland Square, now fronting the El Paso
Museum of History. The performance these young
musicians gave was nothing less than memorable. The
Herald says the kids were grouped in a semicircle
under the big arch of the Cleveland Square bandstand.
They were barely visible by the scattered crowd
because they were so tiny, "but when Prof. Reyes
brought his baton down for the first overture, the
music which floated out from the big concrete
sounding board was as sweet as that of any of the
professional bands which have appeared in El Paso."
Even more, once the public recovered from the
surprise, the Square filled with such wild cheering that
the band was forced to "play almost every selection in
their repertoire." Praise was heard from all parts of the
city, even days after the performance was over.
This first appearance paved the way for the Boys’
success, but it didn’t come without obstacles. A few
months later, the “miniature musicians” gave another
concert at Cleveland Square to raise funds for their
new uniforms of gold and blue. Though the Herald
described it as a people-packed artistic success,
financially it was a “vacuum.” The raised amount was
only sufficient to uniform the smallest of the
drummers, as they could only get $10 out of the
needed $250. During a week-long fair in November
1910, they performed in grey sweaters, auto caps and
white trousers. Even so, that didn’t stop them from the
crowding admirers.
Unstoppable and energetic, Reyes shaped
musicians for over two decades. More than just
helping them, he gave these kids purpose. By 1922,
the Herald says he organized four orchestras among
Spanish-speaking boys and girls, most of which were
very poor. August of the same year witnessed the first
concert of the new generation of the Reyes Boys’
Band, for the previous members had all grown up. Paso. An article titled “Marching Miners in History”
"Several of them returned to El Paso during the records that, in 1927, he established the College of
Golden Jubilee as members of the Mexico City Band Mines Band with 15 members, who got their first
and others hold posts as soloists in United States instruments secured by the College Women’s
military bands," Reyes delightedly announced to the Auxiliary Association. In 1928, he composed the
College of Mines March, which earned an excellent
El Paso Times during a 1923 interview. It is endearing
column in the El Paso Times where anyone could read
how he brimmed with pride whenever his students
the music sheets. Scripted under it, the newspaper
grew to become recognized musicians. This became
read: "This lively march shows the spirit of El Paso of
the case with remarkable individuals such as Don
that era, as heard by El Paso's key musical figures," an
Tosti, also a renowned violinist and composer of the
excellent chance for any avid music fan to "hear" a bit
famous song "Pachuco Boogie" (see article on Don
of Reyes' work.
Tosti in this issue of Borderlands), and Genaro Nuñez,
But music was not Reyes’ only contribution to the
director of the Estado de Mayor Band in Mexico City,
a master of the clarinet. borderland. Wanting to improve the life of Mexicans
in El Paso, in January 1930, he started a Mexican
Many young enthusiasts voluntarily came to
voter’s league. He began with 75 members, hoping to
Reyes’ door wanting to be a part of what he did.
reach 600 members in a short time. “The Mexican has
"Professor Reyes has never found it necessary to go
been ignored too long,” he stated. “When we need a
out into the city to gather recruits for his band,” wrote
new park, a new sewer, new sidewalks, a new school,
the El Paso Times. “Instead, little boys and big boys
etc., we want to be able to go before the city council
come to him, asking for instruction and anxious for
as a unit and make our demands. We think more
the privilege of becoming members of his band,"
attention will be paid to us if we can say: ‘Six hundred
proving that Reyes’ music was spreading like wildfire
voters petition for this thing.’”
throughout El Paso. Besides teaching his “boys,” he
This was not the first time he had issues with his
also organized bands at San Jacinto, Aoy and Bowie
schools, earning him warm praise from the schools for
his work.
In 1925, Reyes organized the Rayo Reyes’ Girl
Band with 39 members, who ranged in age from four
to 16, equally hopeful the band would attract as much
attention as the Boys’ Band, he told the El Paso
Times. In October of the following year, he also
gathered the "cream" of El Paso musicians into a
symphony orchestra, a first for El Paso. Under his
direction, they gave a presentation at a local radio
program in the first of a series of symphony concerts.
As the Herald indicated, Reyes eagerly said that he
wanted to show the people that “El Paso has some fine
musicians,” and his efforts demonstrated nothing less,
because the newspaper indicated this was “one of the
most delightful programs ever heard from this
station.” The Little Symphony Orchestra, as it became
known, afterward constantly performed for the radio
and promised to arrange several public appearances in
the future.
Reyes also became the first musical director for the
College of Mines, now the University of Texas at El Reva Reyes (Photo courtesy of the University of Texas at El
Paso Library, Special Collections, Stout Feldman Collection)

29
Reva Reyes (Photo courtesy of the University of Texas at El Paso Library, Special Collections, Stout Feldman Collection)

30
citizenship, however. Far back in 1913, he took out
his first citizenship papers, but "afterward spent
some time in Mexico and South America, and his
first application became invalid by the local district
court,” states the Herald. (This may refer to the years
he spent working for Villa from 1913 to 1915). To
this, Reyes said, "I wish to be an American citizen,
not for business reasons, but because I like this
country better than any other I've been in." El Paso
was fortunate he selected the city as his hometown.
Moreover, Reyes seemed to have an inner conflict
between his life as a musician and his love for El
Paso. According to the El Paso Evening Post, he
announced in 1930 that he would have to leave El
Paso because he couldn't make an income as a
musician. His boys, who "learned to love him and to
respect his judgment in other things besides music,"
broke down in tears and cried after hearing this.
Upon his departure, Reyes dedicated his last
appearance at Cleveland Square to all his friends in
the city, grown men he taught as kids, and groups of
people who scarcely missed his concerts. The El
Paso Times stated that "for 30 years, Reyes has
conducted bands here, taught hundreds of boys to
play, given away thousands of dollars' worth of
instruments and uniforms so that El Paso youths
might take an interest in music. Reyes also devoted
many hours of his time teaching young people to
play, so that this city might have musical
organizations of which it might be proud." But even
without making a living in El Paso, he kept calling
El Paso home. And it was true: The El Paso Evening
Post reported that Reyes joined a New York
orchestra as a violinist in 1930. He then returned in
January 1932 to resume free classes with his boys,
who must have been glowing with happiness to see
him back.
In late 1932, Reyes occupied fourth chair in the
first violin section of the New York Philharmonic
Orchestra, the oldest philharmonic orchestra in the
U.S. and one of the country's leading musical
institutions. He then brought his music to national
and international ears in 1933 when he participated
in the World’s Fair in Chicago, the second world’s
fair Chicago had organized. This monumental event
was also known as the Century of Progress
Exposition, symbolizing "hope for Chicago's and
31
America's future in the midst of the Great
Depression," according to the Encyclopedia of
Chicago. By the time it closed in 1934, an
overwhelming 40 million people had visited, making
it a good opportunity for Reyes to make his music
widely known.
Afterward, Reyes performed and taught in El
Paso for the next year or two, but illness forced him
to stay in bed after what the Herald describes as "a
year's battle with a jumpy heart." From five-year-
olds, who tinged the triangle, to 10-year-old flutists,
his students were often seen at the door asking about
their leader. Betty Luther, a writer for the Herald,
once paid Reyes a visit. “I walked down to see Mr.
Rayo R. Reyes at his home, 315 S. Ochoa St., and
found him very ill,” she related. “But his face lighted
up when I mentioned his daughter Reva.”
By this point, little Reva Reyes had become a
woman and an accomplished musician, a swift
dancer and a lovely singer, who owned the radio, the
stage and the screen. One of her most essential
presentations, "The Patsy," a comedy, was her adiós
to El Paso before she left for New York in 1928,
taking with her the good wishes and affection of El
Pasoans. After that, she spent a year studying dance
under the best teachers in America, relates The El
Paso Times: First, “a course of several months with
Albertina Rasch. Then with Fokine, master of the
Russian Ballet method; with Angel Cansino, the
leading teacher of Spanish and Gypsy dancing; and
with Martha Graham, the Modernist in the field of
creative expression.” And if that was not enough,
Reva also specialized in all the oriental dances and
took courses in Greek Classic, Interpretative, and
“Silent” dancing. She danced in private recitals with
Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn at the school of their
creation, the Denishawn School of Dancing and
Related Arts, renowned for helping many dancers
perfect their abilities. In 1932, she played "Conchita"
in Hot-cha, a famous Broadway show by Florenz
Ziegfeld. Later that same year, according to the West
Texas Historical Association, she moved to Paris
under contract with the famous Folies Bergere, a
cabaret music hall in Paris, becoming the highest-
paid foreign performer. In 1933, she was praised by
Monte Carlo Life just a couple of months after being
hired in the Casino de Monte Carlo, a gambling and
entertainment complex located in the Principality of
Monaco, France. With one word, “Personality,” they
expressed her “phenomenal success.”
What Reyes felt towards his daughter Reva went
beyond pride. Even through her extensive schedule,
she prioritized her studies and graduated with honors
from Loretto College and Academy. Her father
instilled in her the mastery of the violin and taught
her how to play other instruments, but she learned
the piano from other noted teachers. Like her father,
she taught dancing in schools while giving private
lessons in her studio. Several newspaper headlines
regarded her as “El Paso's Own Reva Reyes,” and
describe her as a beacon of joy who always sought to
help those in need by using her artistic abilities,
never letting her fame compete with her altruism.
The Herald stated that “there are no complete
records of Reva Reyes’ countless contributions to
human welfare and happiness; her entertainment for
soldiers, for the sick in hospitals, for lonely visitors,
for convention crowds, for official dinner and
luncheon guests of the city and the army, for schools
and welfare organizations and social clubs, for the
lodges, above all, the charity and all relief agencies.”
Together, Reva and her father gave so many benefit
concerts, there was barely a day when either of them
didn’t hit the local news.
Later during a 1935 interview with Luther, Reyes
recalled asking his sister-in-law to bring pictures of
Reva and she brought an envelope bearing a Paris
postmark. Then, Reyes closed his eyes. "No. She
does not know I am ill,” he said hoarsely. “Those
things are not good to write." Reva was possibly still
hired by the Casino de Monte Carlo at the time. Very
far away, Reyes probably did not want to worry her
in Europe.
Unfortunately, a month later, Reyes died of
Bright's disease, according to his death certificate, a
kidney disease now described as acute or chronic
nephritis. It is frequently accompanied by heart
disease, which may be what Reyes fought so
vigorously against before he was bedridden.
"The call went out to his 'boys,' now men, and…
they flocked to his simple home at 315 South Ochoa
St., carrying their instruments,” reported the El Paso
Times a day after Reyes’ death. “They led a three-
block-long funeral procession, playing the funeral
32
march that was played for Czar Alexander III of
Russia, to the Church of the Sacred Heart, and then
to Evergreen Cemetery where they played a farewell
to the man who probably taught more youngsters
band music than any other in the Southwest." The
word went to Paris and his daughter Reva, who must
have been grief-stricken, and she sent a cablegram of
condolences back to El Paso.
Over in Europe, Reva continued working as a
singer and dancer for the next four years. The Herald
informed that during the First World War, she raised
funds for relief of orphans of the Allies and
entertained the American soldiers on the border at
the age of five. As an adult during the Second World
War, she went to France and performed for the
Allied troops on the Western Front. As Reva and her
mother returned in 1939 from Rheims, France, the
military car in which they traveled crashed, and they
sustained severe injuries. Reva's mother could not
walk again, while Reva's doctors had given the
dancer "one chance in ten” of ever walking again,
writes the New York Daily News. With perseverance,
Reva toiled and fought to regain movement and
achieved that one chance in ten. She did not dance
anymore, but with her voice intact, she revitalized
her career as a singer and continued bringing laughs
and tears to her audiences, grateful she was there to
shine in the spotlight. Unfortunately, complications
from her injuries led to another accident. Most
regrettably, Reva lost her life at the age of 48, after a
rupture to the base of her skull, as is printed in her
death certificate.
Reyes and Reva are now two of the brightest stars
over El Paso's night sky -- ones that encourage many
stars to shine on their own. They both died young but
triumphant. Beyond their outstanding performances
and marvelous sounds, what we can learn from them
not only concerns music, but it is about living to be
happy and living to share the happiness.
Knowing they gave their all for the people of El
Paso, together they wander peacefully and musically
throughout El Paso’s streets, their resilience, vitality
and spirit forever harmonizing and dancing in the
desert air. Viva Rayo and Reva!

Campesino by Mario Perez
Mario Perez
I am a first-generation Mexican-American college-going
artist. I live on a farm and have always been around large
machinery. It influences my art and my life. I am also
influenced by the urban mechanical landscape of Juárez,
where I spent all my time outside of school as a kid. The first
thing I ever did when I had a pencil and paper was draw a
pterodactyl. I've been hooked since. I create intricate
linoleum prints, a skill I picked up during a printmaking class
at EPCC.
Brontë Procell
Brontë Procell is an artist born and raised in the desert
Southwest who, through photography, explores themes that
are personal to her. She is currently working towards her
BFA in Studio Art at New Mexico State University with a
focus in photography. She enjoys exploring other mediums
and crafts, such as metals, sewing and drawing. Writing has
always been an important part of her life as an outlet for life
and creativity, having been published since the age of four.
33
El Campesino
By Brontë Procell
People love a good rags-to-riches story. What they
fail to realize is what goes up must come down. So, it
stands to reason that if you never rise, you never
fall. Lázaro, heavily weathered and sun damaged, was
entirely aware and accepting that there were no riches in
his story.
He carried what little he had on his shoulders, his
family, his work. It was all that mattered to him. He
worked hard in the fields for little money, tending to his
sheep, and harvesting corn to sell at the local market and
sunflowers to produce oil and seeds. That is not to say
he would not welcome some riches, because it would
always be nice to buy new tires for his tractor or afford a
nice pair of boots. It had been years since he had bought
a saddle for his horse, who, in many ways, was his best
friend. But as always, as long as his crops brought in
enough to put more than maíz on the table, everyone
was happy.
Lázaro, a widower several years now, lived with his
sickly mother, Doña Esperanza, whom he kept covered
in a shroud ready for her burial. Doña Esperanza, gaunt
and frail, very close to death, prayed to el Sagrado
Corazón every night for her son, for, like any other man,
Lázaro had his demons. He carried his mighty pistola for
protection, he said, but he lived in a community of peace
and kindness.
Of course, there is more to happiness than good
food, something Lázaro discovered early in life. With
very little money to go around for frivolities and
entertainment, Lázaro found he could spark enough
enjoyment through his humble relationship with
music. Lázaro’s grandfather gifted him a tiny guitar early
on when Lázaro began to feel down on his lifestyle and
social position. But as he learned to pick his way through
troubles, Lázaro realized he was no less than anybody
else. Not only did he find joy and validation through his
carefree strumming, but he incited joy in others. And
with joy, he could even be superior to the rich who will
inevitably fall.
Surrounded by happiness, Lázaro sat down to his
corn tortillas and smiled as the strings of his guitar
resonated with his voice.
 The Life and Times of Lucy Scarbrough:
Breaking Barriers
Lucy Scarbrough (Photo courtesy of the Scarbrough Family)
I
n the 1990’s, except for El Paso
Symphony enthusiasts, the El
Paso community at large
seemingly had little interest in
classical music. Many assumed a
concert where classical music from
Beethoven or Frederic Chopin would
be performed would fail to generate
audiences. However, a determined
woman, impassioned by Chopin’s
music, would bring an entire
community together to enjoy the lyrical
tenderness of his pieces. Not only did
she touch the heart of a community,
but she left a legacy that inspires many
youth to find their purpose in life.
Here you will read the story of such a
woman who left a mark on El Paso’s
cultural history, and who, since
childhood, found that light that would
lead her to her dreams.
In 1927, Lucy Ardans was born in
Encino, New Mexico, the youngest of
10 children. Music played an essential
part in her childhood. With her mother
as her first instructor and the person
who constantly encouraged her, Lucy
played piano daily. One day at age 11,
she caught sound for the first time of
the one who would become her main
inspiration, Frédéric Chopin, a genius
Polish musician. He was a composer of
marvelous and expressive piano pieces
that, with every note, made Lucy fall in
love with his music more and more. It
seems she could not get enough of
Chopin’s music, studying it until she
dismantled it. Later in her life, Lucy
confessed that it was Chopin’s music
that finally convinced her to become a
pianist herself. Lucy was to become the
very inspiration that Chopin’s music
34
By Daniela Esquivel
instilled in her. For Lucy, Chopin was
the Bob Dylan of her life.
At the age of 16, Lucy began her
lifelong journey to become a successful
pianist, studying under well-known
musicians such as the American pianist
and teacher Silvio Scionti and Russian
pianist Maurice Lichtman, who were
significant music influences for her.
After graduating from high school, she
was accepted at the American
Conservatory of Music in Chicago
(ACM), a private school where many
prestigious and pronounced artists
taught master classes on different
instruments. The school graduated
students, such as Leo Sowerby and
George Perle, who later received the
prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Music. As
a prominent music school student, she
earned the Conservatory’s top prize,
the John R. Hattstaedt Award for
outstanding musicianship.
Lucy also performed as a soloist for
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and
the Evanston Symphony Orchestra.
Upon graduating and earning her
degrees from the ACM, she taught at
the Chicago Musical College, where she
continued to study piano and hone her
craft with the renowned Rudolph
Ganz, distinguished for being the first
concert pianist in the United States to
feature the work of Maurice Ravel.
Moreover, she participated as a judge
in competitions, such as the famous
Chopin Competition in Miami, and was
one of the three judges for the United
States Chopin Competition.
Years later, Lucy would meet the
man who would become her lifelong
partner, Paul Scarbrough. The two
would soon marry in Santa Rosa, New
Mexico, and the person we know as
Lucy Scarbrough was born.
Throughout their many years together,
Paul encouraged her to always give her
best to everything she did. He was
there for Scarbrough at every event,
helping set up seating and stage, but
mainly for moral support.
The Scarbroughs soon settled in
Albuquerque, New Mexico, where
Scarbrough taught at St. Pius X High
School, founded the Albuquerque
Interparochial Choir and served as the
Music Director of the Albuquerque
Light Opera Company. She also served
alongside her husband in the
Albuquerque Music Club. In 1963, they Lucy Scarbrough (Photo courtesy of the Scarbrough Family)
both received a double ribbon merit
award for the musical The Albuquerque
Story, produced by the Albuquerque found many opportunities. Ginger program that currently thrives with
Music Club. Scarbrough continued, “Whoever came numerous students who learn, perform,
In the 1970s, Scarbrough and her in and started working with her, they and carry on Scarbrough’s spirit. As a
family made one final move to the became her family.” music professor, Scarbrough was all
culturally rich city of El Paso, Texas. In In 1973, Scarbrough made her first about excellence. She was a dedicated
a personal interview, Ginger appearance at El Paso Community instructor who appreciated and
Scarbrough, the eldest of Scarbrough’s College (EPCC) as a pianist performer treasured all different styles of music,
children, remarked that her mother during its first commencement embracing ambiguity when teaching
discovered El Paso during her parents’ ceremony. She would go on to teach at her students, never having a specific
honeymoon. Ginger Scarbrough the college for 49 years. EPCC was a method to make them learn. Students
reminisced that for her mother, “El significant part of the Scarbrough reflected on what they learned,
Paso had a special culture that you musical legacy. Scarbrough instilling in them a
could not find in other places.” Having found a home at EPCC, “collaborative effort.” Ginger
Scarbrough felt at home in El Paso, a Scarbrough founded the College’s Scarbrough said that for her mother,
place where the people always music department, which she started “Learning is a collaborative effort
considered her as family, where she from “scratch” and developed into a between student and teacher.”

35
Scarbrough encouraged her students to four years later the Arts Festival However, misfortune at times leads
engage with each other and her as they remains an integral part of the College. to fortune, serendipity, as they say. In
improved their craft. She spent time It has expanded from one day to 1995, Scarbrough would come full
searching for methods and dynamics several months, showcasing and circle with Frédéric Chopin, her
with which she could help her students celebrating the music, dance, drama, childhood inspiration, as the failure
musically mature. She not only literature, and lectures from EPCC and with the El Paso Opera Company led
encouraged her students, but she also community members. to her magnum opus, The El Paso
helped them develop confidence and Scarbrough sat on the Founding Chopin Music Festival, for which she
poise, seeing in them the bigger picture Board of the El Paso Opera company, received international recognition. The
of life. which, as few people know, was called festival enjoyed 25 years of success up
“She really knew how to teach. She Opera a La Carte, because, initially, to Scarbrough’s passing in 2020 and is
developed a very secure classroom complete operas were not performed, expected to continue well beyond the
environment, where they would feel only selections from operas, much like pandemic. The festival commemorates
confident getting up and teaching each dining out when different items are the music of Frédéric François Chopin,
other,” said Ginger Scarbrough. She selected off the menu. Scarbrough’s the 19th-century Polish composer and
made them understand music theory full intent was to make the “a la carte” virtuoso pianist best known for his
and made it easy for them to test into project successful, but, unfortunately, many solo pieces for piano. Credited
the highest music theory classes at the the situation became “bad,” said with developing the modern approach
university because she knew how to Ginger Scarbrough. She did not to the piano, Chopin’s works are for
teach. Everyone wondered how these achieve her goal, and soon thereafter, the listener and for the performer
youths could achieve such high scores, Scarbrough was no longer associated combined. Scarbrough told USA Today
but right behind their knowledge stood with The El Paso Opera Company. she was inspired to establish the
Scarbrough.
“People reach out to me and relate
how my mom made them feel when
they met her,” commented Ginger
Scarbrough. Outside of the classroom,
Scarbrough gave good advice and
listened to those who needed it. She
was a very motivational person and
always kept a positive attitude. Her
encouragement went beyond students;
she touched all around her: family,
friends, colleagues and the entire
community. She would often say, “My
advice to people is if you want it, go
for it, but you are going to have to
work.” For Scarbrough, the community
played a vital role in her life. It was the
people who allowed her to challenge
herself and to share her love and
passion for music, establishing the El
Paso Civic Orchestra, which she
conducted for 30 years.
She was a woman who believed that
music and the arts bring people
together. As the EPCC Music Program
Director, Scarbrough founded several
music festivals and created events for
the community. In 1977, she launched
the EPCC Arts Festival, a one-night
event at the time that served as cultural
enrichment for the El Paso
community. She put together the Ballet
Folklorico, the drama department, her Lucy Scarbrough (Photo courtesy of the Scarbrough Family)
orchestra, her chorus, and the art
department to celebrate the arts. Forty-

36
festival because of the great influence
Chopin’s music has had worldwide.
“Chopin was one of the greatest world
ambassadors,” Scarbrough said. “His
music is truly a universal language of
beauty that knows no barriers of nation
or culture.” Ginger Scarbrough told
ABC-7 that 37,000 people have
enjoyed the festival since its inception.
“It took everyone working hard to
take that dream and make it happen,”
said Ginger Scarbrough. The music
festival stemmed from Scarbrough’s
Lucy Scarbrough (Photo courtesy of the Scarbrough Family)
idea to share her love for Chopin’s
music and offer it for free. Scarbrough
“could have charged a lot of money for
the tickets,” said Ginger Scarbrough,
“but it was important to her
[Scarbrough] that everybody, from
every walk of life, from every economic
standpoint, could go.” With many
people in the committee fearing the
project would fail, Scarbrough met
adversity head-on and took the risk.
While the festival is EPCC sponsored,
Scarbrough engaged directly with the
community. Nobody participated more
than Scarbrough in the events that she
created. Through her determination,
dedication, and her unbridled love for
Chopin, the festival succeeded and
flourished. The diversity of her
audiences surprised her, but she
completely loved that her music
brought people together who appeared
to have nothing in common.
As a musician, Scarbrough devoted
her time to be as perfect as she could.
In an interview, she mentioned that
Chopin’s music fit her hand. Ginger
Scarbrough related that her mother
spent hours, even days, practicing with
her score in hand, directing the
orchestra to perfection. Scarbrough
dedicated a lot of time learning and
memorizing compositions, never
stopping practice until she felt she had
given it her best. She had a sense of
perfectionism and was very critical in
evaluating a performance. She
practiced six to eight hours daily to
perfect a performance.
Most people knew her as a pianist,
but she was also a vocal instructor, and
quite the singer herself, with a “lyrical
opera voice,” said Ginger Scarbrough.
This allowed her to judge vocals or
instrumentation that enabled students
to improve. After three semesters in
her chorus, they were ready to sing in a
concert.
Such determination led her to
receive honorable awards and
acknowledgments for her excellence as
a director, professor and musician. In
1991, she received the Minnie Stevens
Piper award for excellence in teaching
by the Minnie Stevens Piper
37
Foundation of San Antonio. And in
1996, Scarbrough was inducted into the
Women’s Hall of Fame at a ceremony
by the United States Commission of
Women. In 2014, she received the
Hispanic Heritage Award, which was
very important to her. She was also
bestowed with the EPCC Arts award
for being the founder and director of
the EPCC Arts Festival.
Most notably, in 2019, the Ministry
of Culture and National Heritage of the
Republic of Poland awarded her
the Meritorious for Polish
Culture medal in honor of her
achievements in promoting the music
of Frédéric Chopin to American
audiences. It is the highest award any
musician could receive for Chopin’s
classical music. Ginger Scarbrough
disclosed that it took three years of
going to the Polish government to get
it done. Scarbrough, with her Chopin
work, brought Polish people together
in El Paso, and for this reason alone,
she deserved the honorable
recognition. No one knew more about
Chopin. She embodied the belief,
“Chopin knows no barriers of nation
and culture,” which is precisely what
she promoted with her music, music
festivals, students and family.
Most would think that the
Meritorious for Polish Culture medal
was Scarbrough’s most significant
accomplishment. However, one stands
higher, her children. What is most
admirable about Scarbrough is that she
never left her family behind. Some
would imagine that such a busy pianist,
instructor and director would hardly
have time for her family, but this was
not the case. She included her family in
her work, calling her children and
asking for their opinion about a
composition, about what feeling it
evokes. Ginger Scarbrough shared that
“she [Scarbrough] liked getting us
involved in her projects so she could
brag on what we did.” Ginger
Scarbrough also remembered how her
father, Paul Scarbrough, would set up
the chairs for the Chopin Music
Festival, and how she, along with her
siblings, watched their mother practice
on and on. Scarbrough maintained a
very close relationship with her

Lucy Scarbrough (Photo courtesy of the Scarbrough Family)
children until her very last day and
continues to be a central part of their
lives.
Faced with many obstacles and
struggles throughout her life,
Scarbrough quickly learned that
adversity makes us stronger. She
believed that if one wants something,
she must go for it despite what others
may say, just knowing it will always
require hard work. She maintained a
gentle and inspirational affection
towards everyone who surrounded her.
Having traveled a hard road in life, she
arrived where she wanted to be: a
loving wife, a wonderful mom, a gifted
pianist, a caring humanitarian and an
inspiring human being in all she did.
I asked Ginger Scarbrough what
comes to her mind when she thinks
about her mother. She touchingly said,
“inspiration, encouragement and
positivity.” Scarbrough towered as a
visionary woman who encouraged
people to express art in their own way.
She embraced all kinds of music and
treasured their unique style. She
believed the way to achieve something
is through “personal communication,”
for when we want something, we must
directly engage with our audience. She
used music as a method of
communication, through which she
would transmit her love, devotion and
admiration for Chopin’s music. She
utilized music to give people a goal, to
38
provide students an opportunity to
build confidence and believe they can
achieve anything if they work for it.
She taught to “reject rejection” and
pursue one’s goals, regardless of
setback and adversity.
Ginger Scarbrough reflected that
her father predeceased her mother by
ten years. During the final days of her
mother’s life, when she would call her,
Scarbrough told her how much she
missed Paul. She used to say that the
piano was her friend when he was
gone. Ginger Scarbrough also shared
that Scarbrough had her children sing a
“good-bye” letter of sorts on her last
day of life, a song she had written for a
musical she was writing on Billy the
Kid. The song is called “Hasta La
Vista” and is about the romantic side
of Billy the Kid and the woman he is
rumored to have loved. After several
emotional attempts from each sibling,
Scarbrough sang it herself, with that
expressive lyrical voice she possessed.
It is heartbreaking to say good-bye to a
mother who always taught her kids true
love, passion, and dedication.
However, even on her last day,
Scarbrough was still very much the
vocal instructor to her kids as she had
been to her students.
Dr. Lucy Scarbrough passed away
on June 13, 2020, leaving saddened
hearts but also a legacy of
accomplishments that prevail today and
will far into the future. She remains a
role model, not only for her students
but for anyone who attends the
festivals she created. It takes a whole
lot of courage to dare to challenge
ourselves and never limit our dreams.
For Scarbrough, impossibility did not
exist. At the age of 92, she still had a
new musical planned that would have
undoubtedly prospered. Music forever
ingrained in her heart since a very
young age filled her life. Her family,
friends, and all those who had the
honor of being touched by such a
wonderful woman remember her never
-ending happiness. Lucy Scarbrough
left a mark on El Paso Community
College and earned a place no one can
ever fill. Dr. Lucy Scarbrough, a legend
of El Paso’s music history, an icon of
passion and dedication.
 Healing
the El Paso
Landscape,
Note by Note
By Karla Estrada

Zuill Bailey,
Felipa Solis
and Pro Musica
(Photos Courtesy of El Paso, Inc.)

39
E
very person is unique in
one way or another,
possessing a skill intended
for the betterment of day-to
-day living. While some may naturally
possess a particular talent, others work
hard at it through practice and
dedication. For Zuill Bailey, there is no
doubt musical prowess with the cello
came to him naturally. Still, he is no
stranger to hard work and the
countless hours it takes to master an
instrument and use it as a healing
agent, especially during challenging
times, times of struggle and
uncertainty. It is his ability to play the
cello -- beautifully, wonderfully,
powerfully -- that leaves audiences in
awe and brings communities together.
Bailey possesses that inner desire and
natural compulsion to unite a city,
especially during trying times, through
the elegance of music, medicinal at
times, charitable at others.
Bailey grew up in a family of
musicians where both of his parents
had some musical background,
encouraging him to play music when
he was four. His parents took him to
symphony concerts, where he later
recalled in a 2002 interview, “It was at
these concerts that I fell in love with
the cello.” Bailey would grow up to be
an accomplished cellist, traveling and
performing worldwide and winning
multiple awards, including three
Grammys for his performance of
“Tales of Hemingway,” described by
multiple Grammy award-winning
composer Michael Daugherty as “a
dramatic cello concerto, evoking the
turbulent life, adventures and
literature of author Ernest
Hemingway.”
In 2001, Bailey found another
devotion that would drastically change
his life, the city of El Paso. The
wonderful borderland would become
his sanctuary, a place where he feels
safe in the community. Bailey would
soon work with El Paso Pro Musica
(EPPM) and the University of Texas at
El Paso (UTEP), not only teaching and
performing music but helping students
and audiences of all walks of life live by
a musical code, sheet music of sorts,
that induces a state of calmness and
tranquility among listeners. Although
Bailey is a successful musician, his
work in and around the El Paso
community allows him to serve the city
through charitable work, while
establishing a pillar of musical
excellence in El Paso and influencing
many young musicians.
Bailey joined the UTEP music
faculty in 2004 and teaches musicians
as the director of Center of Arts and
Entrepreneurship. He guides students
by teaching them how to be great
musicians, invest their talent for the
good of a community and manage
themselves as musicians, not only
financially, but perhaps more
importantly, charitably. Bailey’s
dedication to expanding students’
knowledge about music and teaching
them to be compassionate performers
is one of the most critical works he has
done. His influence as a professor,
musician and performer teaches
students of all ages to practice music
and practice being kind to others.
These types of lessons shape the next
generation to be better people and
multiply goodness, joy, hope, and most
importantly, to spread humanity across
the world.
Bailey’s collaborative work with
EPPM Executive Director Felipa Solis
serves the greater El Paso community
through charitable events, area school
visits, hospital performances and
musical experiences, connecting
audiences through shared emotions
and mutual respect.
Solis, too, comes from a
background rooted in music and dance.
Her experience with KTSM 9 News
and her journalistic skills became assets
for her work with EPPM, combining
her musical interests with community
work. A close friend of Bailey’s, she
stated that Bailey’s job of teaching
others has impacted people’s lives for
the better. Both genuinely believe
music can be the medicine that brings
happiness and ease to any person.
Bailey has been part of EPPM since
2001 as the Artistic Director.
A non-profit organization, EPPM
seeks to provide music for the
community and to teach its audiences
about music through events, charitable
40
work and by bringing musical minds
together. Since Covid-19 became
widespread in 2020, EPPM has made
music more accessible by posting
performances on a dedicated page on
their EPPM website called “Making
Music Matter,” where musicians
perform pieces and encourage people
to relax and enjoy the music. Bailey can
be seen on this site, playing such works
as “Arts Alive No.1” and “Bach Suite
for Solo Cello No.1 Prelude,”
undoubtedly worth watching.
Bailey and Solis are quick to point
out how, even most notably in the
worst of times, indeed these pandemic
times, music can soothe, and they note
that music evokes emotion whenever it
is played. A YouTube video shows
Bailey performing at the Hospitals of
Providence Children’s Hospital for
patients, doctors and nurses. In the
video, nurses are at ease and patients
relax as they absorb Bailey’s
performance. A young patient even
states that Bailey’s performance was
“really good” and that they greatly
appreciated his music.
I had the golden opportunity to sit
down to an enriching chat with Zuill
Bailey and Felipa Solis. I found them to
be expressive souls, united in the fight
against oppression brought about not
only by the devasting presence of
Covid 19 but by the everyday struggles
and stresses caused by the pressures of
life. If I learned anything from our talk,
it is that “art” is in the “heart.”
Thank you both for taking time out
of your day to join me. You have
done so much for the El Paso
community. I just want to say thank
you for your contributions.
Ms. Solis, what is your background,
and how did you get involved with
Pro Musica?
Felipa Solis: My background is
journalism. I worked for Channel 9,
NBC, and I did all sorts of things with
television and broadcasting for over 30
years. The reason I got involved in Pro
Musica is I grew up in a musical,
dancing family. My father was a
choreographer, and so that's how I got
involved because I grew up in this. I
was always in a community, always

Zuill Bailey (Photo courtesy of El Paso, Inc.)
involved in where the arts were. So,
when this happened, I left Channel 9,
my husband passed away, and this was
a really interesting opportunity to kind
of come full circle to utilize my
broadcasting and media skills, and at
the same time understand the
components of performance, of
presentations, because I grew up
dancing and doing concerts and things
like that, so I knew about it firsthand.
What is it like working with
professionals like Zuill Bailey and
Pro Musica?
Felipa Solis: When you are a kid, and
you are running around the house, and
you have got great people all around
you who make wonderful music and
are creative artists, dancers, you think
that that's the way the world is. My dad
would be constantly playing Pablo
Casals in the background, and we
always had to sit and listen to the Bach
Cello Suites because that's what we did.
Having that as a kid, realizing what you
have been given as a gift, it becomes a
greater gift as you get older, and those
same gifts are given to you yet again.
It has been quite some time, but
when you are in a room with Zuill
Bailey, he lights it up because of his
artistry. And when you are with the
people who he brings to full circle, it is
absolutely so brilliant to be able to have
the opportunity to have relationships,
friendships, conversations with people
like this. My dad used to say something
41
in Spanish, and I'll try to translate it:
“The word ‘art’ is part of the word
‘heart,’” and so with that said, when
you meet people who are great artists,
they automatically have huge hearts.
It's just how I grew up. So being at this
point in my life and knowing that my
dad was really always right, it kind of
brings it all together.
Mr. Bailey, El Paso is fortunate to
claim you as one of our own. How
is it that you came to live in El Paso
and call El Paso home?
Zuill Bailey: Passion is never a job.
Passion, inspiration is never a job. This
activity that we do, our organization, it
provides endorphins and hope for all
of us. I came from a musical family as
well. Mine happened to be educators in
instrumental performance and piano
and winds and strings and things. I also
don't know any different. And my
sister, like her [Solis’] brother, played
instruments as well. We both reference
that. I grew up in Washington, D.C.,
Northern Virginia. I went to the same
school for college as my sister, among
others, a music school in Baltimore,
Maryland, called Peabody Conservatory
of Music. I was told that I had so much
energy and so many ideas that if I
could go to New York City and make
anything happen in New York City,
that that would set my world on fire.
You know that Frank Sinatra song, if
you can make it in New York, you can
make it anywhere. I didn't want to
leave. I was there for eight years.
I visited El Paso, Texas, but I didn't
know what was to come. That was in
2001. So many things happened during
that summer of 2001 that altered my
entire future: one being Pro Musica,
one being September 11, 2001. It put a
cloud over what I had assumed was
going to be my foreseeable future and
made me not want to go back. I felt,
for the first time, a safety in a
community that I was not going to feel
going back to New York City. I
immediately felt a family-like
community in El Paso like I had never
felt anywhere else. And this year marks
the year that I've lived in one place the
longest, and that's El Paso, Texas.
Everything tilted. This is the year that
now I've outlived my entire childhood
in Virginia, of 18 years, and, of course,
any other place I lived, so El Paso is
truly home. And to have seen our
organization’s effects on this
community has been astounding. And
it proves many things: the grass is
greener where you water it; consistency
is key; education is primary, and, you
know, the trust. Everything we do is
with a pure heart -- "heart," as she was
saying, "art."
And time is not only flying by, but
even during this pandemic, we are
doing what we have always done, but
just in a slightly different way. We have
always gone to hospitals. We have
always gone to people who needed it,
the nourishment to make music matter.
Zuill Bailey (Photo courtesy of El Paso, Inc.)
But now we are popping up where
people are getting tested. We are
popping up where people are getting
food. We are popping up at gatherings
in neighborhoods and at gatherings
that are safe because we can. We are
innovative and flexible. And when this
passes, all the things we have learned
during this virtual time we will
continue to implement, because we are
now able to reach tens of thousands
more people than we could in any
given season when we were reaching
thousands, because of the internet. So
that's also a gift.
How has helping and performing in
El Paso impacted your life and the
city when you perform?
42
Zuill Bailey: Well, I think that just the
sounds of music can be very soothing.
Think about it, there are very few, if
any, on one hand, movies that have no
music in them. And music, it's a flow
that creates, again, distraction from or
in addition, and emotion to what's
happening in a given moment. To be
able to be that tuning fork, as our
organization is, to activate positivity in
a time that maybe doesn't provide it
itself, whether it be a food bank --
clearly, there could be many emotions
going on when one goes to the food
bank or a hospital -- it's difficult.
The quick answer, it's very difficult,
because it's easy to get very emotional
to see how music impacts people and
how it shakes them and reminds them
that they are alive and reminds them
that the feeling that they are feeling, the
emotional feeling, just basically means
they are human, and we are going to all
get through this together. It's a gift for
our musicians and me and Felipa to be
at these places, and we know it because
we see it. We know the people we are
playing for. When we go to these
places, they are our friends. They are
our neighbors. They are not just
random people.
Ms. Solis, what was it like meeting
Itzhak Perlman?
Felipa Solis: When you have an
opportunity, like I had, to meet certain
people who you look up to as heroes,
it's just overwhelming, this year, more
than ever, because I absolutely got to
sit and break bread with the late great
cellist Lynn Harrell. And he was just
such a larger-than-life person. I was
almost kind of nervous at the thought
of meeting and dealing with Itzhak
Perlman on a one-to-one basis because
I'm like, “Oh, my gosh, this is Itzhak
Perlman.” My dad was right. Because
when you have the word "heart" and
"art" -- we hit it off so well. He [Itzhak
Perlman] would say the funniest little
jokes. I would laugh. If he needed
something, we got it. If he didn't, he
appreciated it. What a thrill it was to
see a person, granted, as famous as he
is, and all of the people he has met all
over the world and all of the patrons of
the arts. The people who he wanted to
meet the most and who he was so
touched by when he was here were the
kids who live in the Segundo Barrio
who are a part of the Tocando
Program with the El Paso Symphony
Orchestra, and they go to Hart
Elementary and Guillen Middle School.
These are kids who live in the projects,
to go backstage at The Plaza Theater
and meet Itzhak Perlman, that was
even the greater gift, watching them
watch him and him watching them.
And he later told me, “Wow, you were
beaming from ear to ear,” because I
was. It was so wonderful. It's because
they make themselves and they attune
themselves to the real world.
And, yes, he is a really famous man,
but he also had to go through
tremendous obstacles in his life to get
to where he is. At the time when he
was a young man playing violin, he told
a story that there were big impresarios
who just didn't want to touch this kid
on crutches. And at The Ed Sullivan
Show, Ed Sullivan said, “We are going
to give this young man time to walk on
stage so that he can get to the stage and
get to where he needs to be to perform
with the orchestra.” And he performed
Mendelssohn, and he was a sensation
at the age of 13. But it took a lot for
him to get from point A to point B.
And just knowing that about him, and
how open he was, and what an
incredibly large heart he has, it was the
thrill of 2020, quite the year of the
pandemic, but I look back and think,
“Thank you, Zuill, for letting me have
an opportunity to spend time and
talking with Itzhak Perlman.” That was
beyond a gift.
Ms. Solis, what is unique
about Pro Musica, and how has it
been important in your life?
Felipa Solis: I think the most unique
thing about it, it's an organization that
brings the finest musicians in the world
to perform in concert. But all of the
people who are in Zuill's world, if you
will, are not only educators, but they
are powerful figures, and they
understand the importance of, “Yes,
I'm going to appear in concert, but I
also have a secondary responsibility as
an artist to reach out to a community.”
And I think that's been what has been
so very rewarding, is to watch that, is
to watch the fact that, “Yes, we go and
perform on stage, and this is beautiful
and wonderful.” And none of us can
live without this right now, and that's
why El Paso Pro Musica is presenting
concerts virtually. But to see that, to
see the generosity of spirit in so many
of the artists who have been here, and
even when the pandemic hit, who
basically said, “How can I help you?
I'm just going to send you a video. I'm
going to record a video in my living
room and give it to you so that people
in hospitals can see it,” and at the
Alzheimer's Association and all the
various people we work with. And I
think that's been the most rewarding
43
part, is to see that.
And the gratitude isn't applause, but
the gratitude is just how you change
things. You have been touched over
the years by people like Zuill, who have
just, really humbly, walked into your
school with a cello on his back. I think
that that would be the greatest gift, is
that if it touches one person, if one
person says, “He can make a
difference, I want to make a difference,
too,” or “She can make a difference, I
want to make a difference, too.” That's
it. That's all we have got.
Mr. Bailey, why did you join Pro
Musica, and how has the experience
been working with Pro Musica?
Zuill Bailey: In a nutshell, I spent the
first decades trying to master the cello,
and the cello was simply the torch. I
realized when I met Pro Musica, that
opened the door to me trying to master
making a difference in a community. It
just opened -- it became about
community, and it became something
bigger than one instrument. It came
about taking responsibility for one
place versus being a visitor all the time,
which is what I was.
I've used this phrase a lot, but it is
the alpha and the omega. El Paso is the
beginning and the end for me. I don't
see an end date to me ever leaving El
Paso. And the community accepted
me, and I accepted the responsibility of
what they hoped for. And, again, next
year is my 20th anniversary. It's
unbelievable to me. And I like the
phrase that I was asked to sculpt the
cultural landscape of this region very
much because sculpting is one step at a
time. But the cultural landscape -- like
how does it look? And you are always
working and tending to it, and then
after a while, you go, “Wow, things
have really grown a lot.” And very
rarely do we have in life an ability to be
in one place working for the same
thing for 20-plus years. Being able to
be a part of it for this long is
something that I, quite frankly, don't
ever want to stop.
It's wonderful that you have so
much love for El Paso, because I
don't think I have ever met

Felipa Solis and Zuiill Bailey (Photo courtesy of El Paso, Inc.)
someone who has so much
profound love for this city.
Zuill Bailey: But you know how you
get that love, though? You have to
have perspective. I've been very lucky
to have seen the world. I know what's
out there, and I know what I'm not
missing. Most people's imaginations,
they think that the neighbor is happier
than they are, or up the street, the
house is bigger, or the weather is
better. It's not. It's all here (pointing to
his heart). It's all right here. It
happened pretty quickly, but every time
I would get to Dallas or Phoenix or
Chicago, I got this great feeling getting
on that flight because the next stop was
home, El Paso. And what I also loved
is that I knew so many people on the
airplane because they are all going
home. Really, I would always just sit
beside people and tell them, “Where
did you go? Can't wait to get back.” So,
yes, I think a lot of those people who
44
would like leave, we will see. And
then they will come back and
visit, and they will be, “Oh, the
sunsets are so gorgeous here. The
weather is so amazing here,” or “I
now know why going down to my
favorite restaurant and seeing all
my friends there meant a lot to
me.”
Mr. Bailey, El Paso Pro Musica
has helped the community by
teaching people music. What is
it like to be able to influence
and teach people music?
Zuill Bailey: It's a great question.
Look, it's way beyond music for
us. My hope is that I teach them
to feel and to appreciate, to
express themselves and to
communicate and to feel safe. It
just happens to be, in our case,
through music, or in Felipa's
family's case, through dance. It
sets us free. When I walk into a
place to play for people, it's really
not about the cello. It's about this
thing that the cello opens up to
make us view ourselves
differently. It just happens to be a
cello in my case. Sometimes it's a
violin. Sometimes it's a piano.
Sometimes it's a work of art. But
that's why culture and the arts are
so important to humanity,
because they are kind of a mirror
for what's inside of us. Our job
with El Paso Pro Musica is to
remind them not to forget, just to
feel. And to really feel, you have
to feel safe. And familiarity breeds
safety. So that's why I love when I
walk into a school where I see the
same teachers, where I see
students who have grown up a
couple of years. It’s, “You have gotten
so much bigger.” They look at me like,
“You have gotten so much older.”
Familiarity is really, really nice. I don't
view El Paso Pro Musica as what I did
20 years ago. I think the responsibility
is so much more, and it has to do with
our community and bringing us
together.
Ms. Solis, Pro Musica has certainly
impacted El Paso in great ways as
the organization brings in many
wonderful performances for the
community. How do you think Pro
Musica impacts local musicians
that reside in El Paso, and how does
one become part of a great
organization such as Pro Musica?
Felipa Solis: A lot of it has to do with
how people are so inspired. And a
wonderful aspect of El Paso Pro
Musica is our relationship with UTEP
and what Zuill created called the
UTEP Center for Arts
Entrepreneurship, which guides
students and molds them into careers
in the arts in the 21st century. I think
it's been such a wonderful tool in
allowing students at UTEP to have an
opportunity to see what it's like behind
the scenes, in front of the house, the
back of the house, and even having
their own opportunities even during
the pandemic of, “You need to
perform in front of people,” whether
they go to a farmer's market or they go
to a coffee shop. It's allowing them to
understand the importance of engaging
the community.
When you look at someone like
Zuill Bailey, this has been an incredible
life investment made by him. He has
made the art of his cello and
performance a priority to such a degree
that it's changed the world, which is
why he has got a Grammy on his
mantlepiece. But this is what's been so
important for young people to see who
are actually interested in the world of
music. He always says, “Practice makes
permanent, not perfect,” because you
are dedicating yourself to something
that is larger than anything, and that's
art. What's been very satisfying and
gratifying and a good learning tool is
seeing students who, whether they are
in high school in master classes or at
the college level, really seeing firsthand
what it means to engage in a life of
music. Whatever aspect it is of the
music universe, where do you best fit?
And it's wonderful to have that kind of
influence of inspiration by Zuill and by
the artists that we bring in who are not
only educators but performers, and
who have seen all sides of it. And to
have that as the place to go back to and
as their kind of research point and
learning point, I think is a tremendous
advantage. I'm hoping that a lot of
young people decide that El Paso is a
great place to live and to study here
because the very best teacher in the
world is here.
Mr. Bailey, you are part of the
music faculty at UTEP. What is it
like to work with up-and-coming
musicians, and what advice would
you give to the students who are
working and practicing their music?
Zuill Bailey: I adore teaching at
UTEP and working at UTEP. I adore
it more each year. I really try my best to
be as honest and real and supportive as
I can. I try to tell them the truth about
what's out there. This goes back to the
Center for Arts Entrepreneurship. I
help them understand the process, how
to practice, what they are practicing
for, how to also have a life that will
give them the soul and humanity that
will translate in their playing, how to,
again, tell stories about how this
instrument that they are trying to
master will just simply be a door
opener for the rest of their lives and
not to think of it as just that. I teach
mostly graduate students at this point,
so they are in a very different phase. I
really can give them access to tools that
will be applicable to what's next with
Felipa and the Center for Arts
Entrepreneurship, so they don't have
to be scared, so they don't have to go,
“Why did someone not teach me that?
Why did someone not tell me that?”
When I was in school, they didn't
teach us that. They just said, “Here is
your diploma. Move up.” And, you
know, it's horrifying what we did not
know. I speak to them very
supportively. But that's wonderful for
me, because they are part of my
musical family now and forever,
because we learn from each other at
that age. And it's a very special time for
UTEP and what's happening with the
school and the campus and this new
Arts Entrepreneurship Center that I
don't see anywhere else, meaning I
think it's very unique what UTEP is
doing, in addition to being with El
Paso Pro Musica. They get to have all
of these stories and these lessons, but
then they are applied, and then the
45
people who come in as our guest
performers can back that up, and they
can ask questions and take it one step
further and/or follow them around, or
apprenticeships or mentorships.
What exactly is the Arts
Entrepreneurship Center at UTEP?
What are you teaching the students?
Zuill Bailey: Great question.
“Entrepreneurship” means, basically,
the business of music. The business, to
me, isn't like trying to make money. It's
trying to function outside of the bubble
of school. We are giving them tips on
how to represent themselves when they
perform; how to make themselves an
entity which can enter society and
function fully, from being paid to
understanding insurance, to
understanding how to deal with
presenters. None of it, really, has to do
with playing your instrument. It has to
do with presenting yourself and making
yourself something that will function,
and then create a world which can
function, that could very likely pay your
bills and things like that. But people sit
in the practice room, in most music
schools, and they practice, practice,
practice, practice, but they don't know
how to do anything else. So,
entrepreneurship is not necessarily the
business of an instrument. It's the
business of them, on how to make
themselves a well-rounded functioning
human being that can thrive in society
in a healthy way.
Your Grammy was for Best
Classical Instrumental Solo for your
recording of composer Michael
Daugherty's cello concerto Tales of
Hemingway. What is it about this
concerto that attracted you, and
what is it about the four
Hemingway stories interpreted in
the concerto that drew you to it?
Zuill Bailey: It was a thrill when the
Grammy Award-winning Composer
Michael Daugherty approached me
about writing a Cello Concerto for me
to perform around the world. The
process was absolutely wonderful, as
we worked together to create a perfect
sound where the works of Ernest
Hemingway served as the inspiration.
From his home in Michigan to the
Running of the Bulls in Spain to the
emotion of the Spanish Civil War, all
of Hemingway's beautiful words are
resonant throughout this cello
concerto. It was a thrill to perform the
work for the first time with the
Nashville Symphony. The Recording
won three Grammy Awards, with one
that resides right here in El Paso.
What does it mean to you
personally winning a Grammy, and
what does it mean to the city of El
Paso for you to win a Grammy?
Zuill Bailey: I love that for that
moment the world's spotlight was
shining on El Paso, Texas, and that I
represented El Paso, Texas, when I
was up there getting my award. The
award itself is very special because it's
way beyond the world of classical
music. It's a global musical award. It
made me stop and look around and be
grateful. The award is just a statue, but
the feeling is the hard work behind it.
Every time I see it, it reminds me of
all the hard work and the community
in which I live. I couldn't wait to come
back to El Paso and to walk in front
of our audiences and jump up and
down with them.
Ms. Solis, music is an important
part of people's lives, both
culturally and socially. How much
do you value music, and why?
Felipa Solis: To this day, nothing is
more exciting than being backstage.
When you are backstage, and if there's
a symphony and they are tuning up, or
a musician is tuning up, and I always
visualize myself, that's when you are
practicing your pirouettes and your
last-minute stuff and getting your grip
on the floor. And there's something
with chamber music. We can have one
cellist, we can have a quartet, whatever
it is. There's that moment backstage,
it's just such an adrenaline rush.
There's a spirit and a feeling to it that
when someone is tuning up, or there's
rosin on the floor, there's something
that happens. It means everything to
me because it always has. And it's
always been so ingrained in me that I
can't imagine a world without it.
Music is medicine. When Mr.
Bailey goes into the neonatal intensive
care unit and there are newborn
babies, you see the oxygen levels and
the heart rates just stabilize because he
is playing soothing, calming music.
And the doctors and the nurses go
crazy because no one is crying,
everybody is calm. It's unbelievable. I
have seen how patients have reacted
to it in infusion, during chemotherapy,
and how the mood changes in
children's oncology, senior citizen
homes, our program with the
Alzheimer's Association. We have
been working with hospice. One of
the hospices had one of Mr. Bailey's
videos of Bach and they played it for a
patient who did not have long. She
was told [beforehand], and she insisted
on getting herself ready for the
concert. She is not with us anymore,
unfortunately, but imagine touching a
life like that. Music has to be in my
world. And that happened to a woman
who was not old, whose moments in
life were limited. That gave her the
will to do something special. And we
have seen it in senior patients.
We have a program called the
Young Artists Development Series.
Mr. Bailey also attended the Peabody
Institute of Johns Hopkins University,
a wonderful, incredible music school,
and we have a wonderful relationship
with them. And there was a brass
group that came and played all of the
songs of the Army, the Navy, the Air
Force, all of their mantra songs, if you
will. And there were gentlemen in the
room who were suffering from
Alzheimer's and had clearly fought in
either Korea or World War II, and
they stood up and saluted. They got
out of their wheelchairs because it just
brought such a wonderful warm place.
Music is an association with life. Life
is music. A life with no music would
be like a house with no windows. It
would just be a box, and it wouldn't be
a pretty one.
Mr. Bailey, what can you tell us
about any projects you may be
working on?
Zuill Bailey: All the things that I'm
working on right now with El Paso
46
Pro Musica are how to plan
accordingly for our next chapter,
which has to do with this new virtual
reality, with reaching educationally
through the computer, coming up
with a curriculum for that, really
working with our students at UTEP to
focus on this technology and how to
make it their own for presenting
themselves. We are getting out in the
community for live concerts, social
distanced, and also just programming
next season in a very different way.
And it's going to be very exciting.
There's a lot going on. If you had
asked me that 20 years ago, I would
have said, “Oh, I'm just booking the
season.” If you would have asked me
15 years ago, and I would have said,
“I'm booking the season, but we are
doing some residencies where they
stay a few days longer.” And then, ten
years, ago I would have said, “We are
booking the season and there's
definitely residencies involved, but
now we are going into hospitals once a
month.” We keep adding diversity and
depth to our organization.
Now we are affiliated with UTEP.
Now we have interns and mentorships
and apprenticeships. We are affiliated
with Johns Hopkins. We are working
with a lot of institutions. Now that we
are so close with technology, it's
thinking outside of the box with
Felipa to determine how we can fly in
that direction, too. The projects, in
one quick answer, are how to make El
Paso even greater than it already is for
next season.
Thank you so much for your time
and for letting me learn about you
and your work with the El Paso
community. This really brought me
to think of life and music. This has
certainly been a learning
experience. Thank you.
Zuill Bailey: Have a great day. Thank
you very much.
Felipa Solis: Thank you.

Bohuslav Rattay conducting EPSO (Photo courtesy of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra)
M
any aspects play into the
creation and
involvement of a city’s
entertainment sector. In
El Paso, there are many sites, events,
people, institutions, landmarks and
histories that not only add to but
enrich the town as a whole. One of the
most prominent and cherished
organizations is the El Paso Symphony
Orchestra (EPSO). It has played a vital
role in many city ventures and has
been highly integral in educating the
community musically since its official
formation in 1931. It continues to do
so today, celebrating 90 years as the
“oldest continuously running orchestra
in the state of Texas,” said Ruth Ellen
Jacobson, Executive Director of
EPSO.
According to Gina Moeri of the El
Paso Times, El Paso’s very first attempt
at creating an orchestra was a tedious
endeavor, after orchestras in other
Texas cities were being founded. The
origins of EPSO can be traced back to
1893, according to an article in the
The Heart of El Paso:
1968 El Paso Herald Post, when
Fredrich R. Koch organized what was
first known as the El Paso Symphony
Orchestra. The first concert of this
early orchestra, said the Post, “was
played in the courthouse before a large
crowd who came to hear ‘the greatest
musical treat originating with local
talent.’” The Post further stated that
“the players never reached symphonic
proportions and was disbanded in
1905.” The orchestra “rose and fell”
numerous times, primarily due to lack
of public support and budgetary
reasons, at one time receiving only
three dollars to organize a concert.
Peter Gustat, former director of
EPSO and a member of the American
Bandmasters Association, tried a
second time to establish a concrete
foundation for El Paso’s orchestra.
Along with his contributions to create
the orchestra, he started directing
weekly concerts which, in turn,
aroused more attention and caused
their numbers to swell to 45 which
was highly significant; it allowed them
47
The El Paso
Symphony
Orchestra
By Kennedy Varela
to be officially called an orchestra.
The first bona fide El Paso Symphony
Orchestra was presented to the town
in 1919, after over eight attempts to be
established.
The Texas State Historical
Association’s Handbook of Texas states
that the orchestra succeeded and
thrives because of two significant
moments: the creation of the
Symphony Society in 1929 and the
arrival of conductor Hine Arthur
Brown, a music teacher trained at
Juilliard. He first went to what is now
New Mexico State University in Las
Cruces to teach violin. According to
the Handbook, after contacting the El
Paso Symphony Society, Brown
“secured contributions, musicians and
instruments and rented the Scottish
Rite Auditorium for the first successful
concert on January 26, 1931,”
conducted by Brown himself. He
interviewed much of the El Paso and
surrounding communities' artists in
hopes of revamping the symphony’s
brand. He acquired musicians from the
closed-down McGinty Club. As
reported in a 1995 El Paso Times
article, “At the time of Brown’s
arrival, it was near the end of the
Great Depression, which only fueled
him greater to reinvent EPSO’s
brand with local discouraged
musicians who were on the brink of
abandoning their passions for a more
stable career.” Shortly thereafter, the
El Paso Symphony Association
became a non-profit, tax-exempt
corporation “that handled the
business of the orchestra.” (See
Borderlands articles on Brown and the
McGinty Club in Volume 13).
Brown is credited with much of
the symphony’s early success. The
EPSO’s “History” webpage noted
that Brown’s first show both
mesmerized spectators and proved to
the locals its potential to boost the
city’s image. He provided the
symphony with further opportunities
to perform for much larger crowds,
elevated their musical skills and made
sure each performance surpassed the
previous. According to the Handbook
of Texas, “Brown worked for the
symphony for over 21 years,
remaining its conductor until 1951.
He left a lasting impact through his
compelling energy on both the
musicians whose careers he had
saved and the audiences he
captivated.”
Dating back to its inception,
EPSO has had the honor of having
some of the most skilled and
distinguished conductors. After
Brown stepped down in 1951,
Orlando Barrera (1951 to 1969), a
talented conductor and violinist most
recognized for his challenging pieces,
gained public support and increased
the orchestra’s budget. Around the
orchestra’s 41st consecutive season,
William Kirsch (1969 to 1974)
completed his first EPSO concert
and led the orchestra for the next few
seasons.
In March of 1975, EPSO assigned
one of its most iconic conductors to
date, Abraham Chavez Jr. (1975 to
1992), to lead and direct the
symphony. Maestro Chavez, a UTEP
professor, advocated for better pay
for the musicians and was historically
known for his musical involvement
with El Paso’s youth. He initially
joined the orchestra at the age of 13
as a violist, just four years older than
the famed Don Tosti (see the article
on Tosti in this issue of Borderlands).
Maestro Chavez was fundamental in
creating the best-funded, non-profit
organization in the entire city of El
Paso.
Gurer Aykal (1992 to 2004)
succeeded Maestro Chavez in 1992.
Doug Pullen of the El Paso Times
wrote, “Aykal was a highly-respected
leader who changed the sound of the
EPSO symphony by improving the
versatility of the brass sections,
reworking the woodwind section, and
teaching the string players to bow
more effectively.” He brought that
musical thrill and enjoyment back to
the community by doing so, allowing
for further opportunities for the
orchestra, such as recording albums,
backing up famous artists such as
Juan Gabriel (see the article on Juan
Gabriel in this issue of Borderlands)
and touring alongside his other
ensemble in Germany and Turkey.
Following Maestro Aykal was the
symphony’s first and only female
Maestro, Sarah Ioannides (2005 to
2011), who was particularly
responsible for expanding the city's
youth orchestra. The New York Times
described her as a conductor with
“unquestionable strength and
authority” and as a conductor with
“magic,” winning praise from
audiences and critics internationally.
Andres Moran (2011 to 2013),
then General Manager for the El
Paso Symphony Youth Orchestra,
briefly followed as EPSO’s Resident
Conductor and Music Director. He
set the stage for the symphony’s
current Maestro, Czech-American
conductor Bohuslav Rattay.
Maestro Rattay has been highly
influential among the El Paso musical
community. Best known as Bo in
some circles, a 2013 El Paso Times
article characterized him as having “a
broad level of musical experience,
48
ranging from studying at Prague,
Rice, and John Hopkins University,
to eventually conducting and leading
other prominent symphonies in Lake
Charles, Midland, and even Indiana.”
This made it easy for orchestral
donors and board members of the
community to enthusiastically choose
Maestro Rattay to be the current
conductor. Maestro Rattay was
selected because of his commitment
to teaching, connecting and charming
local audiences through his inimitable
musical style. He attracts old and new
generations by integrating modern
and traditional musical genres, which
alone is a challenging quest. Maestro
Rattay continues impacting the
community through teaching,
promoting and enhancing his one-of-
a-kind program.
Today EPSO currently performs
for the city at the heart of the
downtown area in the Plaza Theatre
but has performed at other renowned
locations around town, such as the
historical Liberty Hall, the Scottish
Rite Auditorium, and the Abraham
Chavez Theatre. A typical year for
EPSO centers around a six-program,
twelve-concert season, with the
philharmonic orchestra performing a
combination of classical music and
pop, playing music from the Beatles,
ABBA, the Broadway musical Wicked,
the movie Coco, the revered Mexican
singer Selena and plenty more. The
variety of selections attracts a diverse
audience.
According to the EPSO website,
97% of its current members are also
educators in the community. Some of
the members are either a part of the
public school system in El Paso
school districts, professors at UTEP
or EPCC, or musical tutors providing
personal instruction. Many of these
educators have steady careers within
the field of education but utilize the
symphony to further pursue their
love of music, influencing others
through their craft.
EPSO concentrates on the
inclusion of the community
regardless of age, background or
musical preference. There is a little
 recognition from
Cover of book by Neal M. Weaver (File photo) several prominent
arts departments.”
The EPYSO
organization consists
of four orchestras:
the El Paso Youth
Orchestra, the El
Paso Youth
Symphony, the El
Paso Youth String
Ensemble, and the El
Paso Youth String
Harmonic. The
faculty consists of
highly experienced
musicians who have
music degrees, many
of them belonging to
the education sector
either in El Paso or
neighboring cities,
like Clint, Deming,
Alamogordo and
Juarez. Both the
EPSO and EPYSO
organizations
provide students
within the city
exceptional
opportunities to
excel. Their goals
coincide with
EPISD’s plan for
excellence, which
allows EPYSO to
rehearse and use the
school district’s
facilities free of
charge.
The adversity that
EPSO has had to
Abraham Chavez (Photo courtesy of the University of Texas at El Paso Library, Special Collections) overcome in the last
90 years has been
influential in creating
bit for everyone. EPSO is constantly Another significant part of the the foundation that represents the
striving to expand its program in organization is the city’s El Paso organization today. EPSO prides
hopes of influencing the diverse Symphony Youth Orchestras itself in continuing to elevate and
population of the city. It also prides (EPYSO), founded in 2005 and inspire others through the many
itself in having some of the best consisting of eight ensembles with aspects of its talented program. The
programs focused on children who around 300 members in total. El Paso Symphony Orchestra
typically don’t receive this type of Benjamin Loeb of the El Paso Times program, in its entirety, is significant
support, aiding in building reported in his 2008 article, in educating the community and
teamwork skills and self-confidence. “EPYSO is the only youth enhancing the culture of El Paso.
(See the article on Tocando in this orchestral program in the region to We look forward to the next 90
issue of Borderlands). have received both honors and years.

49
 El Paso’s Youth: A Musical Revolution
Tocando students with Itzhak Perlman (Photo courtesy of El Paso Symphony Orchestra)
A
s cliche as it sounds, it is true
that life is unfair. People are
not immune to heartbreak,
anger or disappointment.
Whatever the situation may be, all hope
is not lost, as a remedy exists to
alleviate difficult circumstances, music.
José Antonio Abreu, a Venezuelan
economist and composer, knew the
importance music plays in bringing
Tocando Students (Photo courtesy of El Paso Symphony Orchestra)
hope and joy to people who may be
underprivileged. As explained in a
TED video, in 1975, Abreu created “El
Sistema” (The System) to help
“Venezuelan kids take part in classical
music.” Abreu used music to enable
“kids from impoverished
circumstances achieve their full
potential and learn values that favor
their growth.” Abreu is just one of a
50
By Karla Estrada
few who have dedicated their lives to
exposing such wonders of musical
imagination. Abreu’s idea crossed
borders, with other cities and countries
creating similar programs, El Paso
being one of them.
Ruth Ellen Jacobson, executive
director of the El Paso Symphony
Orchestra (EPSO), in 2013, founded
the Tocando Music Project, aimed at
empowering children faced with
challenging socioeconomic conditions
in El Paso and the surrounding area,
transforming their lives through the
beauty of music. Tocando’s approach
towards music and children mirrors
Abreu’s El Sistema. As Tocando’s
website describes, “Tocando is an after
-school program that provides music
learning and performing opportunities
to elementary and middle school
students in El Segundo Barrio.” Hart
Elementary School is the first and
longest-running school to provide
children a safe environment to explore
musical creativity, encouraging them to
do better academically. The program’s
devotion and involvement at Hart
Elementary have spread to other
elementary and middle schools
throughout the city, such as Guillen
Middle School, and as far out as
Tornillo, Texas.
It is worthwhile and quite telling to
know the significance of the name
“Tocando.” The word “tocar” is
Spanish for “touch” or “play.” Once
resident conductor for the El Paso
Symphony Orchestra, Andy Moran
stated in a YouTube video, “The words
‘tocando’ and ‘tocar’ [mean], first ‘to
play,’ like to play an instrument. The
second is ‘to touch,’ and so when the
symphony was developing this
Tocando Students rehearsing at Christmas (Photo courtesy of
El Paso Symphony Orchestra)
program, these two definitions came
together -- to touch people’s lives
through music, and that’s what
Tocando does.” The word is simple yet
meaningful because El Paso has a rich
Mexican culture, and the two meanings
of “tocar” play a role in reminding
people what the program is about.
The Manhattan Institute in New
York noticed Tocando’s impact on the
El Paso community, honoring it among
five recipients with the 2020 Civil
Society Award. On October 29, 2020,
the Manhattan Institute posted a virtual
award ceremony celebrating the five
recipients, each with a $25,000 prize.
The event is an admirable milestone,
recognizing the city for putting its
community first. KTSM 9 News stated,
“Winners were selected from nearly
200 nominations from 37 states and
107 cities around the country.” The
Civil Society Award has been an
important recognition for El Paso and
the program. It symbolizes how the
city used musical creativity and
compassion to move the community
forward. Although Tocando is not the
only program in El Paso to dedicate
itself to teaching children the
fundamentals of music, the program
has been a supportive source for
disadvantaged children, helping them
become more knowledgeable and
disciplined while strengthening their
hearts through music.
When children touch an instrument
for the first time, one can see the
fascination and curiosity grow in their
eyes, a feeling that could last a lifetime.
Tocando values small moments like
this. For example, Agustín, an El
Pasoan who was part of the six-to-10
age group in Tocando, saw his musical
ability and personal life improve since
he joined the program. In a YouTube
video posted by EPSO, Agustín plays
the violin, swaying back and forth to
the rhythm of the music. His eyes are
noticeably fixated on the sheet music
and hypnotized by the notes in front of
him. Remarkably, Agustín was once
described as a “very difficult kid” by
Karen Peters, El Sistema Program
Coordinator at the El Paso Symphony
Youth Orchestra. Peters stated that
51
Agustín experienced “a lot of
difficulties emotionally. He would go
out to recess and he would get upset
about something, and he would just
shut down entirely.” Agustín’s parents
also described him as “shy” and not
being “friendly.” The extent of his
change surprised his parents as he
continued with the program. Agustín’s
father stated that “his dedication to this
class, it’s been very surprising to me. I
wasn’t expecting that much from him...
If you ask me, he keeps getting better
[and] it’s been very beneficial for him.”
Peters also noticed Agustín’s
improvements, proudly describing him
as a leader and a teacher for other
students who “doesn’t shut down
emotionally.” Tocando provided more
than just music lessons to entertain
Agustín. It taught him to be a
confident role model for others, a life
skill he will carry throughout his life.
Agustín not only benefited from his
teachers, who guided him through his
musical journey, but he served as a
mentor to other children who had
similar backgrounds. Tocando changed
Agustín’s life and the lives of other
children as well, guiding them musically
and personally, and continues to do so
today.
Tocando’s influence is spreading all
over the city, as more children are
experiencing increased engagement and
growth in self-esteem. In an El Paso Inc.
news story “Touching Lives with El
Paso Symphony Orchestra’s Tocando,”
the program is noted as more than just
a music school but as an essential part
of the community’s growth. Carol
Viescas, the article’s author, introduced
two students who have drastically
changed their troublesome habits
because of Tocando. Viescas wrote
about Marlene, describing her as a
timid kid who “didn’t say more than a
few words,” and about Yair,
characterized as a troubled kid who
“confronted classmates on the
playground.” Marlene’s father, Jesus
Lorenzo Suistaita, stated, “Before
Tocando, when we asked Marlene
‘How was your day?’ she’d say [it was],
‘Oh, all right.’ Now she gets home after
practice [and] she has a great attitude
and tells us everything she did.”
Because Marlene believed in herself,
her grades improved, and she is “more
confident and outgoing.” Learning how
to play music is a wonderful
experience, but more importantly,
though, is witnessing how the
children’s eyes shine brighter when
they finally acquire confidence in
themselves and feel like what they are
doing is worth continuing on that path
of growth and improvement.
Like Marlene, Yair experienced
personal problems. Jessie O’Hara,
Tocando Program Director in Tornillo,
stated, “I told him, ‘I need you to
understand, in the rest of your life, you
are responsible for caring for yourself.
But when you come to the classrooms,
it’s my job. My job is to look after you.
Your job is to learn. If someone is a
problem, come to me.’” This
encouragement led to Yair winning the
Most Improved Award, changing his
attitude and perspective within himself.
Tocando faculty teach more than
rhythms and beats. They are mentors
and influencers who guide children to
explore creativity, problem-solve, and
develop leadership and teamwork,
critical life skills.
Peters stated that “What you won’t
hear is what’s behind the scenes. Not
only have these children learned to play
music together in an orchestra, but
they have also learned to support each
other as friends and build a community
that emphasizes communication, unity
and expression of beauty.” The
environment that Tocando creates
stimulates students to step out of their
comfort zone, learn from one another
and get them involved outside of their
bubble. It simultaneously creates a
ripple effect of positivity and
encouragement to do better. For
example, in 2015, Tocando took 16
second-year students to California,
Tocando logo (Photo courtesy of El Paso Symphony Orchestra)
selected to participate in the prestigious
Arrowbear Music Camp, all of them
becoming “camp scholars,” stated
Cindy Graff Cohen, columnist for El
Paso Inc. Although young, these
children are moving up the ladder of
success, pushing themselves to do
better and believing every challenge is
worth the fight.
While Tocando has proven itself a
success, dedicating its resources to
teaching children, the program
exemplifies that education can be used
as entertainment to break from
stressful or negative environments the
children may personally face. For
instance, Tocando invited Grammy
Award winner Zuill Bailey (see article
on Zuill Bailey in this issue of
Borderlands) to Guillen Middle school to
show and teach kids the cello and
musical techniques. As seen in a video
posted on Tocando’s Facebook page,
Bailey mesmerizes the class with his
musical ability. The children “ooh” and
“ahh” at Bailey’s performance. He
resonates with the kids, asking them if
they know the anatomical parts of the
cello, demonstrating how to create
music. The class, highly engaged by
Bailey’s lessons, enjoy his teachings,
clapping, tapping, and occasionally
dancing throughout the video. The kids
smile from ear to ear and laugh,
expressing their joy of learning
something new.
Tocando provides musical concerts
that the kids may participate in,
performing in front of their parents
and loved ones. In a 2016 showcase
event, Tocando partnered with the El
Paso Symphony Youth Orchestra
(EPSYO) to perform in front of “2,000
other El Pasoans sitting in the packed
Plaza Theatre,” said Graff Cohen in
her El Paso Inc. article “Sounds of the
Future.” The number of people who
52
showed up to the kids’ performance
displays their support and appreciation
for those who participated in helping
student performers and teachers. At
that very moment when the performers
walked on stage and settled in their
seats, nothing mattered but them and
their music. They became bigger than
any famous musical artist, rock stars
for their loved ones to see. In
performances like this, parents and
loved ones are equally awed by how
talented their children have become.
Maybe words are not enough to
describe how proud audiences are of
the kids but standing ovations show
gratitude for the program and the
performers.
Indeed, Tocando touches lives, but
it is not alone in its mission of making
music accessible to children citywide.
Other programs and schools, such as
the El Paso Symphony Youth
Orchestra, El Paso Society for
Musicians of the Future, El Paso Music
Learning Corner, and the El Paso
Conservatory of Music are some that
have dedicated their time and resources
to teaching children music, paving the
way to making them, as Tocando does,
successful musically and personally.
Each program maintains its unique
style of educating and showcasing
entertainment for the youth.
The El Paso Symphony Youth
Orchestra has four orchestras that
perform each year for the city. From
entry-level musicians to more advanced
performers, the orchestras consist of El
Paso Youth String Philharmonic
(EPYSP), El Paso Youth String
Ensemble (EPYSE), El Paso Youth
Symphony (EPYS), and El Paso Youth
Orchestra (EPYO). On EPSYO’s
website one can find the audition
requirements youth musicians must
meet before auditioning and being
selected and placed in the appropriate
orchestra. EPSYO allows students to
work together and perform in front of
live audiences. Practices vary for each
orchestra; however, it’s worth joining
the program as kids get to meet new
people every year and make new
friends.
EPSYO’s involvement with the
youth has benefited its students beyond
 Tocando Students rehearsing (Photo courtesy of El Paso Symphony Orchestra)
musical teachings. EPSO’s website
states, “In our 12-year history, 100% of
our high school seniors have graduated
and gone to attend college, often on
scholarships secured through EPSYO’s
events.” It’s no surprise that EPSYO
has a high success rate with its
students, as they are constantly
surrounded by mentors who value their
growth and encourage them to reach
beyond their comfort zone. Dave
Acosta, author of “Concerts Unite
Young El Paso, Juarez Musicians,” in
the El Paso Times, introduced a concert
that EPSYO and the Mexico Youth
Philharmonic Orchestra planned to
perform together. James Welch, a
director for EPSYO and ensemble’s
conductor, stated, “We wanted (the
pieces being performed) to reflect the
diversity of the groups being brought
together.” These concerts help kids to
see the value of working together to
create something meaningful. It
motivates them to learn from one
another through each new musical
experience. Welch further said that
“students receive several hours of
instruction each week and participate in
four performances each year, including
the Side by Side concert with the El
Paso Symphony Orchestra.”
Side by Side is an annual concert
partnered by EPSYO and EPSO where
the orchestras play and practice side by
side with each other. To illustrate,
EPYSP rehearses and performs with
EPYSE, while EPYSE does the same
with EPYS and so on. A lower and the
next higher leveled orchestra practice
and perform together until EPYO and
EPSO hit the stage for a wowing end
to the night, with the highest-level
students playing side by side with the
professional musicians in EPSO. This
is an excellent opportunity for students
to learn from other musicians who are
at the next higher skillset than they are.
They have someone to look up to,
especially someone who plays the same
instrument and has a bit more
experience.
Similarly, the El Paso Society for
Musicians of the Future (EPSMF)
offers various opportunities youth can
participate in, such as the Ambassador
Leadership Program, Annual Concerts,
Competitions for Young Musicians,
Instruments for Young Lives, and the
Original Music/New Ideas (OM/NI)
program. Each program, engaging and
rewarding, has its own mission in
helping every child succeed. The
Ambassador Leadership Program
teaches leadership skills to become the
voice of the program. Students can
post their music and ideas on EPSMF’s
social media platforms, such as
Facebook or YouTube. For example,
in a YouTube video John Esparza, one
53
of the Ambassador leaders at EPSMF,
virtually reached out to his community
and explained his thoughts about
classical music in the modern world.
This type of awareness provides
musicians a chance to connect with
their community and learn to be
examples for others. Students who
participate as ambassadors also have
the opportunity to help by performing
in front of charities and organizations,
like the Alzheimer’s Foundation, Child
Crisis Center of El Paso, Carolina
Recreational Center and others.
Competitions are available for
musicians of all ages eight to 18 for a
chance to win cash prizes. Winners
selected at these events, no matter the
instruments played, can perform in
EPSMF’s annual concerts.
Equally, the Instruments for Young
Lives and OM/NI programs challenge
students to become the best versions
of themselves. Yearly, Instruments for
Young Lives awards new instruments
to three musicians, ages eight to 18,
who have proven to the community
they are dedicated musically and
academically. The OM/NI program
provides a chance for young musicians
(ages nine to 25) to be as creative as
possible, conducting and performing
original music in El Paso theatres.
Selected winners also have a chance to
win cash prizes and record their
original music for all audiences to
enjoy. What fun for all involved!
The El Paso Conservatory of
Music (EPCM), another classical
music school, offers students various
programs to participate in as well.
According to the EPCM website,
musicians can choose where to get
their lessons, from private lessons to
group lessons, such as summer
programs. EPCM has other programs
that explore deeper beyond
instrumental lessons, as in the Music
Skills Group Classes, where students
learn and develop “oral, written, and
theoretical music concepts.” EPCM
doesn’t shy away from anyone,
offering adult classes to teach music
fundamentals while building a
community where all musicians
belong. Exciting news for music
lovers of all ages.
Children who prefer a one-to-one
environment can join the El Paso
Music Learning Corner (EPMLC). It
is all about the performance.
EPMLC’s website states, “the best
way for a parent to understand if their
investment in lessons is really worth it
is to have their child participate in a
recital. In June and December, many
of our students choose to perform in
our biannual recitals.” Students of any
age, including the elderly, can sign up
to learn various musical instruments,
furthering the community’s musical
creativity. The music school is based
on month-to-month lessons instead
of year-long or semester-long lessons,
so students learn at a slower pace if
needed.
Of course, not every musician
plays an instrument. Singing programs
and schools are available for any
interested youth. Sound Stage 9 (SS9),
for example, helps youths participate
and practice vocalization. SS9’s
webpage outlines a variety of “music
programs, including online classes, to
accommodate students with various
skill levels and different ages.” This
music school is eclectic, as it branches
out to different genres of music.
From classical to pop, students are
exposed to a variety of genres. Just
like the other programs, SS9 offers
opportunities for students to perform
in front of live audiences. Although
SS9 dedicates itself to teaching vocals,
they provide piano, guitar, bass, drum,
ukulele, and violin lessons.
As impressive as these programs
are, children don’t have to sign up for
specific programs or music schools to
become successful musicians or learn
other life skills that the other
programs provide. Elementary,
middle, and high school orchestras
and bands are available for kids to
participate in, an option that is easier
for parents. Some independent school
districts partner with EPSYO or
Tocando to help kids challenge
themselves in competitions and
orchestra events, giving students a
chance to compete and meet students
from their community to perform and
play together. Similar contests, such as
choir and band classes, are available in
every school district. There are
dedicated music teachers in every
school who help direct a path for
success in every student they teach.
For example, Diana Gilliland taught
string orchestra at El Paso High
School and Wiggs Middle school for
over thirty years. She created a
summer orchestra program for
students of all ages. According to
Texas Orchestra Directors
Association, Gilliland had “superior
ratings” for competitions she led
when conducting her orchestra. She
even partnered with EPSYO to let her
students expand their musical abilities,
create friendships, and encouraged
middle and high school students to
join music programs.
Music, essential in people’s lives, is
a therapeutic and entertaining source
of enjoyment. No matter where
people get their musical lessons,
music has improved children’s mental
state, academic studies and more.
John Rampton, the author of the El
Paso Inc. article “The Benefits of
Playing Music Help Your Brain More
than Any Other Activity,” stated,
“Science has shown that musical
training can change the brain structure
and function for the better. It can also
improve long-term memory and lead
to better brain development for those
who start at a young age.” Rampton
54
also argued that music “strengthens
bonds with others, strengthens
memory and reading skills,” and most
importantly, “reduces stress and
depression,” and “makes you happy.”
In another study produced by Johns
Hopkins Medicine, researchers found
that music provides a “total brain
workout” that reduces “blood
pressure and pain, as well improves
sleep quality, mood, [and] mental
alertness.” It appears Abreu had it
right all along with El Sistema.
Tocando, EPSYO, and other
music programs are benefiting every
student who walks through their
doors. If music programs help our
youth, what happens later when they
grow up and don’t continue with
music professionally? Disha
Ganjegunte, a former EPSYO student
and Girl Scout, took her experiences
and lessons from these programs and
put them into action. In a 2021 op-ed
for the El Paso Herald Post, she stated
that “through my participation in
OST (Out of School) programs, I was
motivated to continue my education
at Texas Tech University and dedicate
time to my community by becoming a
Girl Scout volunteer and an
ambassador with the UMC Volunteer
Corps program. The lessons I learned
both in the Girl Scouts and El Paso
Symphony – to stay organized, to be
courageous, and to stay motivated –
have helped me excel in my studies.”
Every program, music teacher, and
volunteer who goes into the
classrooms every day to teach our
youth are the very reason why the
children of our beautiful Sun City are
happy and proud of themselves. The
various music programs around our
city give children and families hope
for their future, keeping our children
healthy and happy.
A musical revolution is occurring
in El Paso, teaching more than just
music. It’s bringing children together
to enjoy each other’s company,
listening and learning from one
another. In a way, every note
produced by a child or youth in El
Paso gets them one measure closer to
a disciplined, responsible and united
adulthood.
 Jam 1 from song Nature by John Ibarra
John Ibarra:
Fusing Art and Music
I
am a 29-year-old printmaker/graphic designer native
to El Paso, Texas, who graduated from the University
of Texas at El Paso in Spring 2020. I consider myself
an abstract expressionist who enjoys using the
different processes found within printmaking, including relief
printing, lithography, etchings and screen-printing. Although
my favorite medium is woodcuts and relief printing, I
sometimes choose to combine some of the different
processes. A lot of my inspiration and influences derive from
street art, graffiti, skateboarding culture and music. Growing
up a musician and skateboarder, I love how both are very
momentous, free, creative and explorative. I believe this is
how I stumbled upon one of my biggest strengths,
improvisation and experimentation. I also enjoy that I can be
both reflective while being abstract, very energetic and
usually highly subconscious. There is also an emotional
intensity that I feel I grasp from this style of artwork.
Learning how to go with the flow and being automatic
when I begin my process, making abstract and
55
Jam 2 from song Citizen of the Universe by John Ibarra
expressionistic marks through my carving, is a fun
combination to play with. Everything influences and affects
the next outcome just as in music or skateboarding. Maybe I
intend to carve one particular way or want a more intentional
mark, and while carving, I make what I might consider a
‘mistake.’ That mistake cannot be fixed once carved, so I
find a way to solve that by reacting to it and making it
intentional. Not all my artwork is created in this manner, for
example, if I am making something extremely intentional and
planned out, but I love that experimental side of relief
printing. You go in wanting to do one thing, but find the
outcome changing a bit, or even a lot. That’s also why I love
using wood for relief printing, because, depending on what
type of wood it is and how it is processed, I am going to
react differently to the carving, and it usually dictates a
texture of its own. It is like going from one environment to
another, such as in skateboarding or changing a band
member in a band, that all causes the art and creativity
coming out of it to change. I think this is why I started free
carving in relation to music because I knew the carving could
be free, experimental and momentous, while the music is
usually chosen. Depending on what music I play, it always
guides my carving differently and I love that. I feel the music,
get into the groove and just carve away.
 By Sheena Viramontes

Rosa’s Cantina (Photo courtesy of Rick Pawlenty, who traveled from Minnesota to visit Rosa’s Cantina)

H
ow many featured articles can there be about
Rosa’s Cantina and Marty Robbins’ song “El
Paso”? The answer, one more. Simply put,
the cantina, Marty Robbins and the song are
too good, too juicy, if you will, to not add one more article
to the list.
There are times, especially in the desert southwest,
where the nights are clear and the air is dry, that the stars
align and the right country star is at the right cantina, and
there is that certain mystical something floating in the air,
that, combined, make for the writing of a darned good
story and an even better song.
Next to the Rio Grande, where the badlands of Texas,
New Mexico, and the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, all
meet, sits a quaint little building with a whole lot of history
called Rosa’s Cantina, Rosa’s for short, as many of the El
Paso locals call it. The cantina, made famous as the setting
of the ear-bugging Robbins song “El Paso,” in which a
lovestruck gunslinger is shot to his death for falling in love
with the “wicked” Felina, brandishes that old western
motif of a horse tied up to a front post and the swinging
doors of a cantina ominously inviting you in. Today, the
historic Rosa’s remains in the exact modest location, the Marty Robbins (Photo courtesy of Cliff/Wikimedia Commons)

56
old rock building on Doniphan Drive in West El Paso,
facing what used to be the main road between El Paso,
Texas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, that eventually
became Interstates I-10 and I-25. Rosa’s operates now
as an international tourist attraction, bringing in patrons
from all over the world: Japan, China, Russia, Spain,
Brazil and others. As other articles tell it, rumor has it
that a Robbins fan once rode a horse 2,000 miles from
Canada to El Paso in search of the famous cantina.
Truth or myth, the aura of Rosa’s as legendary is the
stuff of good stories.
Roberto (Beto) Zubia and his wife, Anita, founded
Rosa’s in 1957 when they purchased the Los Tigres bar.
Current owner Oscar Lopez said Los Tigres opened in
the early 1940s, post-prohibition, and, in 1957, Zubia
renamed it Rosa’s Cantina, allegedly after a waitress who
was possibly embroiled in a torrid affair. Ooh, spicey!
Clint Lanier of Bucket List Bars said that during that
time the cantina resided in an area called “Smeltertown,”
after the ASARCO (American Smelting and Refining
Company) plant on which much of the community
relied for its livelihood. Many workers stopped by after
quitting time for a meal and drink or to wind down after Marty Robbins, Country Western Classics
a long day of work at the plant. Rosa’s served only lunch
during that time and operated solely as a bar in the interviewer Marshall Hail. Robbins said of the saloon, “I’ve
evening. At lunchtime, patrons savored Anita Zubia’s never been able to find Rosa’s place myself. People are
delicious traditional Mexican dishes of red enchiladas, chile always asking me if it is a real bar in Juarez or El Paso.”
rellenos, tapatias and more. Mmmm! The mere thought of Later in the interview, Robbins recounted that he drove
her platters can drive any western gunslinger to fall in into El Paso on the Carlsbad highway at night with the
love . . . with her cooking, that is. shimmering lights of El Paso and Juarez splattered ahead
As many articles recite the incident, in 1959, country- of him. "That view inspired me," Robbins said. "The
western singer Marty Robbins is said to have passed words came to me right then – a song about El Paso. I
through El Paso on his way to Nashville, Tennessee, and worked on it later, but it was too long. Columbia wouldn't
stopped at Rosa’s, where he found inspiration for his now- record it. I worked it over again and again," Robbins
famous song “El Paso.” Accounts differ on which related. "I worked on that song for three years, off and on.
direction Robbins traveled. Some have him going from El But instead of making it shorter, it got longer. I couldn't
Paso to Nashville, while others say he traveled from tell the story in less than four minutes and 37 seconds.
Nashville to El Paso. One story contends that Robbins Finally, I gave up," Robbins said. "I couldn't make the song
headed toward the twinkling lights of El Paso and Juárez any shorter. So, Columbia went ahead and recorded it –
and pulled over at the saloon to stretch his legs and grab a four minutes and 37 seconds long [an exceptionally long
bite. Perhaps a whiff still lingering in the air of Anita song for the time period]. Well, it sold pretty well." And it
Zubia’s enchiladas drew him in. Who knows? With the sold pretty well indeed. At the time of the 1960 interview,
cantina closed, Robbins surveyed the area, the story claims, the ballad had sold 3,500,000 records. Wow! Whatever the
then hopped back in his car (I was tempted to write real story is, we can all safely presume that Robbins’
“horse” here, but I will stick with “car.”) and headed fleeting visit to Rosa’s gave birth to at least the opening
toward Phoenix, his hometown. Some have him heading line of “El Paso”: Out in the West Texas town of El Paso. Now
home at Christmastime. As the story goes, by the time I’m going to be singing it all day.
Robbins reached Phoenix, he had completed the ballad. Columbia recorded “El Paso” in 1959. To put it into
Zubia frequently fielded one question in particular: Did perspective, in 1959, a chartered plane transporting Buddy
Robbins really eat at Rosa’s, reported Helen Williams of Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper crashed in foggy
the El Paso Times. Zubia said he never met Robbins, so he conditions near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all musicians and
wasn’t sure. “Some guys tell me he was drinking across the pilot Roger Peterson, the tragedy later to be called "The
way at the racetrack and saw our sign and said he was Day the Music Died," popularized in Don McLean's 1972
going to write a song,” said Zubia. “Some say he was flying song "American Pie"; A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine
over in an airplane. I guess we’ll never know.” Hansberry, opened on Broadway in New York City; Gigi
However, in a January 15, 1960, interview, Robbins told won the Oscar for best picture; Miles Davis released his
what seems to be the closest version of the story to influential jazz album Kind of Blue; and MGM’s widescreen,

57
multimillion-dollar, Technicolor version of Ben-Hur,
starring Charlton Heston, was released and became the
studio's biggest hit up to that time. The ballad does run
four minutes and 37 seconds, and journalist Tom
Adkinson recalled that radio stations complained the song
ran too long for radio play. Some YouTube videos show
Robbins performing his song at two minutes and 13
seconds, while others show him in his later years
performing the entire four minutes and 37 seconds. You
have got to listen to the more extended, original version. It
tells the complete story of that lovestruck gunslinger and
the notorious Felina. We have to know how the story ends,
right?
The song became a major hit in 1960, reaching number
one on both the country and pop music charts. It won a
Grammy for Best Country and Western Recording in 1961.
And for all of the deadheads out there, The Grateful
Dead’s take on "El Paso” rendered the ballad’s most
famous cover, performing it from 1969 through July 5,
1995, three days before their final show. On the live album
Ladies and Gentlemen...The Grateful Dead, they introduce it as
their "most requested number." Nice!
Interesting to note, “El Paso” contains a lilting rhythm,
a sort of drone that you can’t help but sing out loud, an
earworm in thousands of heads when the words “El Paso”
are sung.
I know. It’s been in my head since the beginning of this
article. It tells the fictional story of a gunfighter catching a
“wild young cowboy” drinking with the enchanted Felina
and shooting him dead, only to run out the back door. It is
the quintessential gunslinger ballad, a tale of love gone
awry. Maybe we can relate. Zubia kept a jukebox in the
dining room of Rosa’s, and the Robbins song played at
least 25 times per week on that jukebox. Go, Marty!
When passing by Rosa’s today, it may be hard to believe
that it is known worldwide with the weathered,
whitewashed paint on its stone walls and unpaved parking
lot. Journalist Ramon Renteria said that former State
Senator Eliot Shapleigh described Rosa's as an El Paso
neighborhood spot with a long legacy. "Rosa's is such a
unique place. On any given night, you'll find a lawyer, a
jockey from the racetrack, a worker back from the fields
and a teacher sitting at the same table." That’s El Paso for
you, united and inviting.
In 2007, years after Beto and Anita Zubia passed away,
their family sold the cantina to Adolfo Telles and his
daughter Patricia Telles. The Telles based their decision to
buy the bar mainly on its historic appeal. Patricia Telles
stated that she had no desire to purchase any other bar and
wanted to be a part of its history. In an interview, Patricia
mentions that it amazes her that so many native El Pasoans
have never heard of the Robbins song or Rosa’s. What?
Yet every day tourists stop by from all over the world to
check it out and sign the guest book. Although the place
needed to be updated, they did not want to take away the
historical ambiance that kept the “regulars” coming back.
They did, however, update the lighting, change some
58
decor, added live music and merchandise. Who doesn’t
want merchandise? Every Friday and Saturday evening (pre
and post Covid-19), you will find local DJs and live bands
entertaining the guests, along with karaoke and dancing on
the spacious dance floor. The bands range from old rock,
country, Tejano, cumbia, and mariachi, basically anything
you can dance to. “A lot of bands that I hire to play at
Rosa’s get hired to play at other bars after they hear them
here, and then they never come back,” Patricia Telles said
with a smirk, “probably because they pay more.” Aw. But
to say I played at Rosa’s Cantina is worth more than a few
extra bucks. Just thinking out loud here.
Prime TheRockshow, a well-known local band
specializing in private events, festivals, weddings, themed
events and music venues throughout El Paso, frequently
performs at Rosa’s. The band entertains crowds with a
variety of music from the ‘70s and ‘80s, classic rock, retro,
and Latin music. Danny Carrasco, guitar player,
keyboardist and vocalist for the band, said that Prime
TheRockshow plays at Rosa’s once every two months or
so. His favorite thing about performing there is the
enthusiastic and responsive audience. Can’t beat that!
A patron of Rosa’s and big fan of Prime TheRockshow,
Yvette Diaz, moved to El Paso in late 2015. Yvette and her
husband, Raul, enjoy checking out different bars and
restaurants and try to catch local bands at least once a
week. Yevette, familiar with the Robbins song before
moving to El Paso, made it a goal to find Rosa’s. She now
frequents the cantina and brings new friends with her each
time. “It's the atmosphere of the bar and the diversity of
people that I enjoy most,” said Yevette, “and of course the
music.” Don’t forget the food and drinks!
Along with the history and live music that keeps Rosa’s
an essential part of El Paso’s music scene, in 2018, Leon
Bridges, an American soul singer and songwriter from Fort
Worth, Texas, filmed his official video for the song
“Beyond” inside of the building. Throughout the video,
Bridges and his date enjoy drinks at one of the red and
white checkered tables and dance while the band plays in
the background. They also share a moment outside of the
front doors where you can almost see the entire original
“Rosa’s Cantina” sign.
Without Rosa’s claim to Robbins’ “El Paso,” the
cantina would likely be just another rundown, family-
owned bar and restaurant on Doniphan Drive. What began
as a simple watering hole where smelters would hang out at
quitting time to sit back and enjoy a drink and a meal,
Rosa’s is now a lively joint, rich with history, worldwide
name recognition, live local music and the beloved
jukebox. Oscar Lopez, the current owner of Rosa's
Cantina, reminds visitors that Rosa's still rides the wave
that the Robbins' song unleashed.
If you happen to stop by Rosa’s Cantina to check it out,
please do not forget to sign the guestbook. Out in the
West Texas town of El Paso/I fell in love with a Mexican
girl….

It's been so long since I've seen the young maiden
Marty
Marty
Robbins
Robbins’
“El Paso” 45 cover
“El Paso” 45 cover in 1959
Tonight nothing's worse than this pain in my heart
Out in the West Texas town of El Paso
I fell in love with a Mexican girl
Nighttime would find me in Rosa's Cantina
Music would play and Felina would whirl
Blacker than night were the eyes of Felina
Wicked and evil while casting a spell
My love was deep for this Mexican maiden
I was in love, but in vain I could tell
One night a wild young cowboy came in
Wild as the West Texas wind
Dashing and daring, a drink he was sharing
With wicked Felina, the girl that I loved
So in anger I
Challenged his right for the love of this maiden
Down went his hand for the gun that he wore
My challenge was answered in less than a heartbeat
The handsome young stranger lay dead on the floor
Just for a moment I stood there in silence
Shocked by the foul evil deed I had done
Many thoughts raced through my mind as I stood there
I had but one chance and that was to run
59
Out through the back door of Rosa's I ran
Out where the horses were tied
I caught a good one, it looked like it could run
Up on its back and away I did ride
Just as fast as I
Could from the West Texas town of El Paso
Out to the badlands of New Mexico
Back in El Paso my life would be worthless
Everything's gone, in life nothing is left
My love is stronger than my fear of death
I saddled up and away I did go
Riding alone in the dark
Maybe tomorrow a bullet may find me
And at last here I
am on the hill overlooking El Paso
I can see Rosa's Cantina below
My love is strong and it pushes me onward
Down off the hill to Felina I go
Off to my right I see five mounted cowboys
Off to my left ride a dozen or more
Shouting and shooting, I can't let them catch me
I have to make it to Rosa's back door
Something is dreadfully wrong, for I feel
A deep burning pain in my side
Though I am trying to stay in the saddle
I'm getting weary, unable to ride
But my love for
Felina is strong and I rise where I've fallen
Though I am weary, I can't stop to rest
I see the white puff of smoke from the rifle
I feel the bullet go deep in my chest
From out of nowhere Felina has found me
Kissing my cheek as she kneels by my side
Cradled by two loving arms that I'll die for
One little kiss, then Felina good-bye

Zoomer Roberts (Photo courtesy of Zoomer Roberts)
Zooming
Through
Adversity
By Andrew Cabrera
L
ife throws curveballs to
everyone now and then.
Some are small, others are
big. Sometimes people get
knocked down by them, but others, like
Ray Roberts, a local country and folk
singer, songwriter and harmonica
player, faced them head on, refusing to
give up. Roberts may be known for his
music, but the story behind his music
and
Beatles came on Ed
Sullivan, and that
sealed the deal right
there.”
During his first
paid job in 1969 as
bass player for a
bluegrass group called
The Shadetree Boys,
frontman banjo player
and comedian Henry
Beebe introduced the
band members. When
he got to Roberts,
Beebe said, “This is
our bass player. His
name is—” Turning
toward Roberts, he
puzzlingly asked him,
“What the hell is your
name?” Before
Roberts had a chance
to respond, Beebe
turned back to the
crowd and said, “This
is our new bass player.
We call him Zoomer.”
And the name stuck!
Ray Roberts would
forever be Zoomer.
When I ask why
folk and country
music specifically
appealed to him,
Zoomer thinks for a
moment and then says country music
the man himself are nothing short of
inspiring.
“had a sincerity to it that appealed to
me.” He then elaborates: “I liked the
During a stimulating conversation
with me, he fondly talks about the early
years of his musical career, the
sounds of the old country music. I
liked the rhythms. I liked the fiddle. I
threatening obstacle that confronted
him and his views on contemporary
liked the steel guitar. I liked the nasal
harmony singing. It seemed like the
most natural thing in the world. I
music. Turning 70 this year, he appears found it very appealing.” In short, he
calm and gentle, content with the many
exclaims, after searching for the right
decades he devoted to country and folk words, “It sounded good.” Who can
music, and expresses a vivid awareness argue with that?
of the music industry and how it has As Zoomer continued his music
evolved. career, as is true with almost anything,
Roberts became interested in music the people he met and the things he
when he was about 11 years old after saw influenced him, and he reflected
hearing a Hank Williams record on the them in his music. Zoomer notes that
radio which he describes as “the most there is a reason music is different
haunting thing I had ever heard.” After today than in the 1950s, and that is
pausing for a second, he says, “That because people have changed music.
kind of started the seed.” After another He says, “We have all heard Elvis. We
pause, he adds, “Two years later, the have all heard Dylan. We have all heard
60
rap. It influences the way you address
things. You can change a note here,
you can change a chord there, and you
write a song, and you address it
differently, metrically, than you would
have earlier.” Stopping for a moment
to think, he carefully chooses his words
and continues: “Your resonation of
music matures. It ripens till you feel
confident about it, you feel good about
it.” Zoomer changed as much as his
music and became more confident in
creating music he enjoys instead of
simply doing covers of whoever was
popular on the radio. At the very least,
when he did a cover song, he put his
twist on it.
During the early part of his career,
Zoomer played various stringed
instruments: guitars, steel guitars,
basses and mandolins. He particularly
enjoyed the guitar, and nothing can
define a musician’s career better than
being praised by your idol, mentor and
all-around inspiration for your own
guitar playing.
As Zoomer tells the story, his friend
Sharon Cobb arranged for Zoomer and
his wife to fly to Nashville to the
Grand Ole Opry to meet Country
Music Hall of Famer and Zoomer’s
hero since childhood, Hank Snow. He
identifies this meeting as the most
defining moment of his career. Snow
was a Canadian-American country
music artist with a career spanning over
50 years, with 140 albums and 85
singles on the country charts. Zoomer
gave him a tape of his guitar playing.
Snow later sent Zoomer an email,
which was later followed by a letter,
praising Zoomer, telling him how great
the tape sounded and how well he
played. Zoomer affectionately ended
the story with, “It doesn’t get any
better than that!” Zoomer and Snow
remained close friends and continued
to correspond for the next ten years,
up until the time Snow passed away.
Sadly, though, Zoomer’s guitar
playing came to a halt when he was
diagnosed with neuropathy, a disease
or dysfunction of one or more
peripheral nerves, causing numbness
and muscle weakness. Symptoms can
range from tingling or numbness in a
certain body part to more serious
effects, such as burning pain or even
paralysis. For Zoomer, it meant losing
most of the use of his arms and hands.
In 1988 Zoomer was told he had Lou
Gehrig’s disease, also known as ALS, a
progressive neurodegenerative
condition affecting nerve cells in the
spine and brain that can eventually lead
to the loss of movement and breathing,
and that he had only three years to live.
Thankfully that proved to be a
misdiagnosis because he is still alive
today!
Looking adversity in the eye,
Zoomer was not about to let
neuropathy, or anything else, stop him
from performing music. He left the
guitar and took up the harmonica: “I
resorted to the harmonica because I
could hold it and lift it to my mouth,
and playing something is always better
than playing nothing…and that saved
my sanity, switching to the harmonica.”
Through the harmonica, Zoomer
continued to express himself, putting
his unique twist on it just like
everything else in his career. “While
most musicians play the blues on the
harmonica, I was trying something
more melodic on it.”
Zoomer laments that he still prefers
string instruments over the harmonica
and misses the days when he could play
them. As he puts it, “You miss
anything that has been that much of a
part of your life.” After playing guitar
for most of his life, when it got to the
point that he couldn’t “It was culture
shock… it felt like I was burying my
sweetheart... but you soldier on.”
Zoomer quotes the wise words of
Carl Perkins, a 1950s singer-songwriter
best known for “Blue Suede Shoes,”
“Matchbox” and “Everybody’s Trying
to Be My Baby”: “It’s not what you
lose, it’s what you got left and what you
do with it.” That is precisely what
Zoomer did. He soldiered on, pushing
forward with his music, continuing his
brand of country and folk. As he puts
it, the reason he was motivated to play
music was not because of any one
person, but because, to put it simply,
“It is what I do. It’s what I know. It’s
what I love. It is the only thing in the
world that makes any sense to me. It’s
how I think.”
61
Zoomer is quite hopeful about
contemporary music. He stresses that
more local musicians are reaching
greater heights. “In the ‘50s,” he says,
“we had The Bobby Fuller Four, but it
has gotten bigger than that,”
referencing Khalid. He listens to
today’s music with great interest. While
he admits the country music genre is
not as big in El Paso as it once was,
which he cites to a change in
demographics, “music is music,” and
El Paso’s music is definitely “growing
and improving.” That optimism does
not stop Zoomer from being a bit
surprised by what people listen to
today. He shared a humorous anecdote
about watching the Grammys and
seeing Cardi B. perform “WAP” before
quickly turning to his wife and
exclaiming, “They didn’t do that in the
old days!”
In short, from Hank Snow to
Khalid, music has definitely changed.
And, to all aspiring singers and
songwriters out there today, Zoomer
offers some words of advice: “Learn
your craft and take care of your
health.” Wise words from someone
who honed his craft and overcame
hardship.
Zoomer’s life is a tale, not just
about music necessarily, but about
overcoming obstacles and remaining
determined. It is a tale of one person
finding his niche in life and bulldozing
through adversity. Today Zoomer is
retired from live performances and is
remembered as a pioneer in the music
scene. He plays with El Paso guitarist
and Star City Studio owner Buddy
Winston, with whom he has played, on
and off, since the mid-1970s. During
the pandemic, Zoomer engaged in
what he calls “one-man recordings,”
which can be found on the Zoomer
Roberts YouTube channel and are well
worth the listen.
All in all, Zoomer Roberts is an
inspiration to us all to find that one
thing we love, whether it be music, or
anything else, that one thing that
motivates us, and work to master it
despite any curveballs life may
pitch.
Juan Gabriel Hollywood Star (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Juan Gabriel:
The Latin Enigma
By Marco Renderos

62
 Juan Gabriel performs at the Pepsi Center on September 2014 (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

T
he whimsical spirit of Juan Gabriel has touched the lives of so many from the Latin community to the LGBTQ+
community, the Latin pop music industry, and those who call El Paso or Ciudad Juárez home. From his heart-
wrenching lyrics to his mesmerizing stage persona, Gabriel carefully sculpted his music into a work of art,
passionately taking pride in his artistry throughout his career. The intense adoration for our border city of Juárez,
which he called home, only adds to the list of interests to which the famous musician remained unapologetically devoted. It is
in Juárez that his creative heart found its beat and there it remains.
Gabriel was born on January 6, 1950, in the Mexican city of Michoacán, the youngest child among nine. It may come as a
surprise that his birth name is Alberto Aguilera Valadez. Despite being born in the city of Michoacán, Aguilera was ultimately
raised in Juárez because his mother worked as a maid there in a mansion. Unable to support him, she sent him to an
orphanage at the age of five. Juan Contreras, a music director at the orphanage, became one of the first to musically mentor
Aguilera, which ultimately led to the enhancement of Aguilera’s undying love for music. His appreciation for music grew
while at the orphanage, perhaps an act of fate.
Like a dove set free from a cage, Aguilera left the orphanage eight years later when his professional musical beginnings
took flight on the streets of Juárez. By the age of 13, writing music came naturally to him, with melodies and lyrics racing

63
through his mind. He took songwriting seriously, eternally applying his talents as an outlet for artistic self-expression.
Aguilera first performed in front of audiences at the El Noa Noa nightclub in Juárez. The club, established in 1964,
neighbored the Santa Fe Street border entry to El Paso. A 16-year-old Aguilera sang to a crowd of people for the very first
time under his first stage name, Adan Luna. Mercedes Alvarez, a Noa Noa patron and friend of Aguilera, is said to have
introduced the singer to the nightclub’s stage. The club risked letting Aguilera step foot into the nightclub, for he was still a
minor at the time of his performances. Regardless, Aguilera earned five dollars a day performing at El Noa Noa, his stage
home for the next year and a half. This was Aguilera’s first taste of earning a paycheck for entertaining, a practice he would
follow for the rest of his life.
After performing in front of club audiences in Juárez during his adolescent years, Aguilera relocated to Mexico City
shortly thereafter. It was there that he booked a performance that would change his life. One day, an actress named Claudia
Islas allegedly invited Aguilera to showcase a performance at her house, then accused him of theft upon noticing missing
jewelry. Despite Aguilera’s claims of innocence, the courts sentenced him in 1969 to three years in prison at the infamous
Lecumberri Palace, once a prison in the northeast of Mexico City, now housing the General National Archive. Referenced in
pop culture as The Black Palace of Lecumberri, it served as a prison from 1900 to 1976. The prison, well-known for its
hostile environment, often placed inmates in dangerous situations. Aguilera, unfortunately, fell victim to violent treatment.
He spent a year and a half in confinement, facing abuse and mistreatment from within the prison walls. Aguilera, always
endearing, utilized his talents singing for the guards, who, in turn, developed a soft spot for him and kept him safe from the
abuse he had experienced. Thanks to fellow musician Enriqueta Jiménez (also known as La Prieta Linda) and General Andrés
Puentes Vargas, Aguilera was soon emancipated from prison. They helped argue no solid proof existed of Aguilera having
committed the alleged robbery. Jimenez became Aguilera’s lifelong friend and helped him work his way back into the music
industry. This story sounds like something right out of a fairytale, but, then again, Aguilera’s life naturally carried a magical
quality despite his trials and tribulations.
In 1971, now 21, Aguilera scored his first record deal with RCA Records, deciding to officially take the stage name of Juan
Gabriel. The name “Juan” stemmed from his orphanage’s music director, Juan Contreras, and “Gabriel” rooting from the
singer’s late father, Gabriel Aguilera. With his new name, the newly-signed contract led to the release of Gabriel’s debut
studio album, El Alma Joven, that same year. The record spawned Gabriel’s first hit single “No Tengo Dinero.” The success
of the singer’s debut album set the course for what would be a fruitful, long and legendary musical career.
Throughout his musical career, Gabriel often married the concepts of romance and heartbreak in his songwriting. A
prolific artist, he wrote over 1,800 songs. In the 1984 single “Querida,” the singer basks in his loneliness, yearning for the
return of a lost lover while feeling the effects of heartbreak.
Querida, no me ha sanado bien la herida
Te extraño y lloro todavía
Mira mi soledad
Que no me sienta nada bien, oh, ven ya
The lyrical content of “No Tengo Dinero” captures the romantic side of Gabriel’s musicality as he professes the value his
love holds despite not having a lifestyle that is rich in material.
No tengo dinero ni nada que dar
Lo único que tengo es amor para amar
Si así tú me quieres te puedo querer
Pero si no puedes, ni modo, ¿qué hacer?
In the iconic ballad “Amor Eterno,” Gabriel sings mournfully about the grief of a lost loved one. This song in particular
held a strong sentimental value to the singer, for its lyrics were penned with the death of his mother in mind, who passed
away during the early stages of Gabriel’s professional music career. The song slowly became a staple for Latin music listeners
who grieve the loss of someone special, often being played at funerals and memorial services. In the wake of the devastating
Walmart August 3, 2019, mass shooting in El Paso, “Amor Eterno” found a place in the hearts of a grieving community.
Mariachi bands performed the song across the city in honor of the victims, families and all affected by the senseless tragedy.
Amor eterno e inolvidable
Tarde o temprano estaré contigo
Para seguir amándonos

64
 Gabriel’s lyrics have always sent messages of healing
and comfort to the public, earning him the honor of
receiving the American Society of Composers, Authors
and Publishers Songwriter of The Year Award in 1995.
The love for Juárez that Gabriel carried in his soul
never failed to shine through in his songwriting and
personal life. Several songs in the singer’s catalog
document his appreciation for the city that helped him
find his voice. In “El Noa Noa,” Gabriel pays tribute
to the Juárez nightclub where he began his career. He
tributes his early musical mentor, Juan Contreras, with
the song “Eternamente Agradecido,” where Gabriel
expresses his gratitude for the man who pointed him
toward his musical destiny while at the orphanage. “La
Frontera,” an exciting cultural song, pays tribute to the
El Paso/Juárez border. The music video for this song
was shot in several places throughout El Paso and
Juárez, including the Chamizal National Memorial Park
and the Santa Fe Street International Bridge that serves
as a gateway between the U.S and Mexico. “Juárez Es
El Numero Uno” is an appreciation anthem for Juárez
itself, while “Arriba Juárez” is a true proclamation of
the land Gabriel calls his hometown. His love for our
sister city Juárez remained as eternal as his love for art
and music.
To say that Gabriel’s impact remained only within
his musical abilities would be false. There is a reason
he was nicknamed Juanga and El Divo Juárez. Gabriel
electrified audiences with his flamboyant onstage
persona, which became a staple of his performances.
On stage, the singer wore hints of eye makeup and
vibrantly colorful stage outfits that shone as bright as a
strobe emitting flashes of brilliant light. His
performances maintained an over-the-top spectacular
energy compared to other artists who gave low-key
Juan Gabriel (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
stage performances.
This persona stirred fans to question his sexuality, however, Gabriel refrained from giving a clear answer on his sexual
orientation. Never having married, he rejected the idea of marriage on occasion. The father of six children, two who were
made public after his passing, only added to the public’s confusion and speculation. It did not work against Gabriel like some
might have thought. Quite the contrary, it took him to greater heights of appreciation from Latin music listeners. Despite
never having clarified his sexual orientation, members of the Latin LGBTQ+ have taken refuge in his deeply emotional lyrics
and flamboyancy. The vulnerability within Gabriel’s music sets him apart from his male peers. He was a male artist who
showcased emotions that men were afraid of expressing for fear of being seen as “weak.” His appeal to the LGBTQ+
community only grew as he maintained an admirable character as the kind of artist who stood unapologetically vivacious in a
Latin culture where hypermasculinity is deemed the default.
In the late summer of 2016, Gabriel reached the final chorus of his glorious life at 66. On August 28, 2016, Gabriel passed
away in his Santa Monica home from a heart attack. On the day of his passing, he was scheduled to perform a sold-out show
at the Don Haskins Center. The singer was survived by his six children, a troop of dedicated friends and a swarm of fiercely
loyal fans.
The Gabriel lagacy showcases hard work, dedication and a burning adoration for music. These three factors helped him
reach high levels of success in a legendary musical career. Although Gabriel is no longer with us, we can still find his tender
voice sifting through speakers in many households throughout El Paso, Juárez and the world, for that matter. The enigmatic
Latin superstar experienced a glorious musical career, and he will live on through his endearing lyrics expressed throughout
his catalog.
Worry not, for when it’s time to dance or when hearts break, the unforgettable Juan Gabriel will forever be there to
lyrically express the very emotions you feel. Amor eterno e inolvidable.

65
 Vikki Carr

A Lyrical Lifestyle

Through the Decades

“Hello everyone. I’m Vikki Carr.

Hola Amigos, yo soy Vikki Carr. Yo sé que muchos

de nosotros…

I know that a lot of us are at home alone. And it’s

been a rough grind for all of us…

I want to sing a song for you that will hopefully lift

your spirits….”

A
longside Aaron Prado, who plays a
delicate score on the piano, the crisp
and powerful voice of Vikki Carr fills the
hearts of listeners with comfort and
hope. She sings of “times when we don’t know”
and promises us that hardships shall soon be over.
If the gentle caress of a mother could be heard, it’s
the sound of Carr’s voice soaring in conjunction
with the captivating notes of a grand piano. She
sings “The Prayer” in a YouTube video posted on
October 14, 2020, encouraging listeners to join in,
regardless of their location. She tells viewers that
voices in unison have the power to inspire, give
hope, and reminds us that we’re all facing a united
struggle and that we will make it through if we
only believe.

By Ashley Flores

Vikki Carr (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

66

Vikki Carr (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
It isn’t uncommon for this delightful
voice to evoke hope in listeners; Vikki
Carr often uses her gift to help others.
That is the beauty of her musical talent,
that it is not a selfish one, that she
shares it with others, rather than
keeping it all to herself. That is a value
taught to the youngsters of many El
Paso families, including Carr’s, who
welcomed her into the world on a
golden summer day on July 19, 1941.
Born Florencia Bisenta de Casillas-
Martinez Cardona, and later changing
her name to Vikki Carr, she was the
eldest of seven children. She emerged
into the border town city of El Paso, a
city that celebrates and generates a
surplus of Latin music. She sang in a
variety of musical genres and was
always enamored by the artistry of
theater, but she achieved her greatest
success singing in Spanish, one of the
most, if not the most, romantic
languages of the world. By 1961, Carr
had signed a contract with Liberty
Records.
67
At the age of four, Carr discovered
her energetic yet moving singing talent
performing “Adeste Fidelis” in Latin,
no less, at a Christmas program. She
had the opportunity to fill lead roles in
high school productions, such as
Connecticut Yankee, Girl Crazy and
Anything Goes. Carr landed the leading
role in the latter two musicals,
originally starring Ethel Merman, a
vocal prodigy and actress known for
her commanding and influential voice
on Broadway. Replicating Merman’s
distinctive voice is a testament to any
vocalist’s ability, especially at the high
school level. For Carr, it was yet
another indication she was made for
show business, a business like no other,
as Merman would agree.
In high school, Carr began singing
with local bands during the weekends.
She gained exposure and later received
that elusive opportunity to audition for
a soloist’s spotlight with the Pepe
Callahan Mexican-Irish band. She
unsurprisingly broke into singing as a
solo star after her debut with the
Chuck Leonard Quartet in Reno, then
on to Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and
Hawaii. During this time, Liberty
Records heard her charming voice and
asked her to sign a record contract. She
accepted the offer. It was 1961 and
Carr was barely into her early twenties.
Launching her career early in life meant
she was able to perform with legendary
entertainers of the likes of jazz legend
Tony Bennett, actor-comedians Jackie
Gleason and Danny Kaye, jazz pianist
and bandleader Count Basie, and singer
Tom Jones, who all enjoyed long
successful careers and were especially
popular in the 1960s.
Many well-known artists, such as
the renowned jazz and swing singer
Frank Sinatra, praised Carr’s talent. He
once said of Carr, “[she] possesses my
kind of voice.” Bing Crosby and Ella
Fitzgerald, two well-known American
musical sensations, said Carr was one
of their top three favorite singers of all
time. As an aspiring vocalist, to be
known by legends of the likes of
Sinatra and Crosby is one thing, to be
loved by them, to be one of their top
three favorite artists, is another. The
list of stars complimenting Carr goes
beyond Sinatra and Crosby. Dean
Martin called Carr “the best girl singer
in the business.” Elvis Presley -- yes,
you read that right, Elvis Presley –
recognized her at many of his
appearances, which she attended. He
stated that Carr was one of his
favorite singers because she “sang
from the gut.” The purpose behind
Carr’s music was to inspire, celebrate
and unify.
And here she was, a young woman
from the border town of El Paso,
bringing worlds together and
representing her love for her heritage.
Carr once stated, “Music is universal
and can touch everybody on every
level.”
In 1967, Carr attained international
stardom, touring England, Australia,
Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador, and
Panama. She sold out many
international concerts in Germany,
Spain, France, England, Australia,
Japan and Holland. While in England,
Carr was featured in two “BBC-TV
Vikki Carr Show Specials.” She
released a song titled “It Must Be
Him,” which addressed a universal
situation that many people can relate
to. The song hit No. 2 in England and
reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot
100 in the United States.
Carr’s music and dynamism
spanned the terms of five United
States Presidents, performing for
Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald
Reagan, George Bush and Bill
Clinton. She was invited to the White
House in 1970 to sing at a dinner in
honor of the Venezuelan president
Rafael Caldera. Carr also performed at
the inauguration of the Kennedy
Music Center in Washington, D.C.
She ended up becoming the darling of
the White House and would regularly
perform at State dinners. If
performing for five US Presidents is
not enough, she also sang for Queen
Elizabeth II at a Royal Command
Performance in London, England.
Along with releasing more than 60
best-selling records, Carr worked with
several radio stations and always
maintained her love for theater,
starring in productions of South Pacific,
The Unsinkable Molly Brown, I’m Getting
My Act Together and Taking It on the
Road. She appeared regularly on
popular 1960s TV variety shows
hosted by the greats Bing Crosby,
Dean Martin, Perry Como, Ed
Sullivan and Carol Burnett. Carr was
also a frequent guest on the highly
successful The Tonight Show, with
Johnny Carson, making more than 30
guest appearances and even hosting it
in 1973, performing hits like “With
Pen in Hand” and “It Must Be Him.”
PBS taped Vikki Carr: Memories,
Memorias, in 1999, in which she sang
bilingual songs from the 1940s and
1950s.
Being no stranger to the Grammys,
having been nominated several times
during her legendary career, Carr took
home the Grammy in 1986 for Best
Mexican-American Performance for
“Simplemente Mujer.” One of Carr’s
greatest releases was Cosas Del Amor,
winning a Grammy in 1992 for Best
Latin Pop Album. And, in 1995, she
again took home the Grammy for
Best Mexican-American Performance
for her single “Recuerdo a Javier Solis.”
Another one of Carr’s greatest hits
was “Hay Otro En Tu Lugar,” which
was released in 1988 and was part of
the album Esos Hombres, one of her
most celebrated releases. Other highly
regarded albums include Anatomy of
Love (1965), Color Her Great (1963)
and The Way of Today (1966). Her
Spanish albums became Gold and
Platinum-certified in Mexico.
Carr is known to sing in various
musical genres, including pop, jazz
and country, really any music sheet
placed before her. However, her
greatest successes came when she
sang in Spanish. In 2008, Carr
received the Lifetime Achievement
Award at the Latin Grammys, where
she performed alongside Olga
Tañon and Jenni Rivera, two other
highly-regarded Latin performers.
Carr has been not only a
distinguished artist but also a revered
humanitarian, having founded the
Vikki Carr Scholarship Foundation
in 1971, dedicated to promoting the
talents and achievement of Hispanic
students “and to personally return
the support and encouragement [I]
68
received from others during [my]
musical career,” She remains centered
“in helping Hispanic youth become
leaders in our society,” she said in her
website. Carr devotes much of her
time to many charities like St. Jude’s
Hospital and the United Way.
Never relinquishing her El Paso
roots, Carr returned to her sunny
hometown to headline a benefit
concert for the August 3 El Paso
shooting victims. She joined local Sun
City artists for the CommUNITY en
Acción El Paso Strong benefit
concert. Proceeds for the event were
donated to the El Paso Del Norte
Community Foundation’s El Paso
Victims Relief Fund. Carr even carved
out time to serenade El Paso shooting
victims at the hospital, giving them,
hopefully, a little bit of light during El
Paso’s darkest time.
Her talent and caring heart earned
her one of the highest honors for any
American artist. In 1981, Vikki Carr’s
name was cemented in Hollywood,
both literally and figuratively, when
she received a star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame. Not only has she been
cemented on the streets of
Hollywood, but she has also been
cemented in the hearts of listeners
across the world. Thank you, Vikki
Carr.
Vikki Carr (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
 Campesino
By Brontë Procell
People love a good rags-to-riches story. What they fail to realize is what goes up must come down. So, it stands to
reason that if you never rise, you never fall. Lázaro, heavily weathered and sun damaged, was entirely aware and accepting
that there were no riches in his story.
He carried what little he had on his shoulders, his family, his work. It was all that mattered to him. He worked hard
in the fields for little money, tending to his sheep, and harvesting corn to sell at the local market and sunflowers to produce
oil and seeds. That is not to say he would not welcome some riches, because it would always be nice to buy new tires for his
tractor or afford a nice pair of boots. It had been years since he had bought a saddle for his horse, who, in many ways, was
his best friend. But as always, as long as his crops brought in enough to put more than maíz on the table, everyone was
happy.
Lázaro, a widower several years now, lived with his sickly mother, Doña Esperanza, whom he kept covered in a
shroud ready for her burial. Doña Esperanza, gaunt and frail, very close to death, prayed to el Sagrado Corazón every night
for her son, for, like any other man, Lázaro had his demons. He carried his mighty pistola for protection, he said, but he lived
in a community of peace and kindness.
Of course, there is more to happiness than good

food, something Lázaro discovered early in life. With very little money to go around for frivolities and entertainment, Lázaro
found he could spark enough enjoyment through his humble relationship with music. Lázaro’s grandfather gifted him a tiny
guitar early on when Lázaro began to feel down on his lifestyle and social position. But as he learned to pick his way through
troubles, Lázaro realized he was no less than anybody else. Not only did he find joy and validation through his carefree
strumming, but he incited joy in others. And with joy, he could even be superior to the rich who will inevitably fall.
Surrounded by happiness, Lázaro sat down to his corn tortillas and smiled as the strings of his guitar resonated with
his voice.

Trio Panama by Robert Dozal

Robert Dozal is a multi-media, award-winning artist whose portraits and landscapes range from realistic to expressionistic in
style. A graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso, Robert retired from teaching with Ysleta Independent School District
and is now a full-time artist and the owner of Dozal Fine Art Gallery in San Elizario. He specializes in oil, watercolor, acrylics,
pastel, and charcoal, and he has also garnered national recognition for his skills in drawing and painting. B
http://robertdozalartwork.weebly.com

Living in the Flatted Fifth
By Tony Procell
Living in the flatted fifth
Belly full of lead
Bid goodnight to my sweet Irene
Texas father, I am lemon blind
Going to the crossroad
Hellhounds please trail behind
The preacher’s Son
I’m down at Parchman Farm
Then to good ole Chicago
Living in the flatted fifth
I hop the lightening rod
Down the grassroots of the Delta
It hurts in Mississippi
Till I get my wings from Noah’s dove
Freight train, freight train going so fast
The muddy water drips its purple wine
Says the Hoochie Coochie man
The stones they come a rolling
Living in the flatted fifth
The highway holds the key
Got to deal the slow hand
In the presence of the Lord
The three Kings come to me
Alive at the Regal
The thrill is never gone
Teardrops roll back up my street
Sky please stop the crying
The poem, “Living in the Flatted Fifth,” the
“blue note,” traces the blues, not from its
birth, but from the general time period we first
witnessed it. The poem covers about 100 years
of the blues, from the turn of the 20th century
to the mid 1990’s. A blues connoisseur will
catch the many allusions to blues greats, from
Lead Belly to Stevie Ray Vaughan. Sprinkled
throughout are references to iconic blues
songs that have been staples among the blues,
folk, and even rock community. Current
carriers of he torch are Gary Clark Jr., Joe
Bonamassa, Samantha Fish, Keb Mo, Chris
Buck, among a score of others, with Eric
Clapton still plugging away. I hope you are
inspired to pop up W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis
Blues,” a Memphis Minnie tune, or a B.B.
King classic, and get emotionally swept away.

69
 Club 101
And a Bevy of Iconic Nightspots
Photo courtesy of Joe Dorgan
A
s evening emerges, people
across the city leave their
day jobs and flock to
darkened rooms streaked
by blinding bursts of neon light and
filled with soul-searching melodies,
some to dance, others to chill to the
groove of the tunes. They leave behind
the day’s monotony and distract
themselves in the nightclub world of
thumping bass, fluttering rhythms,
bursting colorful lights and glitzy
mirror balls. El Paso has a history of
iconic nightclubs that people
remember fondly.
It was in the one-time musical
havens, such as Club 101, Tricky Falls,
The Old Plantation, and The Treetop
Lounge, where many people found
personal solace and liberation.
Whether in the beats of electronic
dance music, the rhythmic strumming
of acoustic guitars, the searing of
electric guitar leads or the pulse of
mesmerizing discotheques, the
By Marco Renderos
nightlife culture in El Paso has created
a diverse social musical scene which
fits our diverse border city.
The lines of social class blurred and
the definition of “cool” transformed
when Club 101’s doors opened during
the last week of 1989. Owner Joe
Dorgan, a local entrepreneur opened it
and managed The Lost Iguana,
Campus Queen, and The Mesa Inn
Lounge. He describes himself on his
website as “marketing and social media
director, promoter, podcast host, DJ,
amplifier, disruptor, and pot-stirrer."
As Brad Cooper of The El Paso Times
wrote, Club 101 originated in an old,
abandoned warehouse type of building
as a venue for alternative and
underground acts, later catering to a
more diverse crowd. It was the place to
be, to experience an unfolding musical
and cultural shift in El Paso. In their
best eccentric ensembles, young adults
packed Club 101, often sporting
visually distinct colors or abstract
70
hairstyles. You could find its patrons
decked out in green hair, flannel shirts
and ripped jeans, described Dave
Acosta of The El Paso Times. What was
considered weird or uncool in the
outside world was celebrated within
the club’s walls. It felt less like going
out for the night to a typical bar and
more like going to an avant-garde
experience where you could let loose
of your inhibitions. It marked a period
of new beginnings and modernity in
the nightlife scene. As a city that can
often fall behind on state and national
trends, El Paso boosted its cool factor
with the onset of this nighttime
hangout. The haunt attracted a wide
range of adults, a range so vast that
you could have run into your local tax
accountant or that friendly grocery
store clerk who always makes sure not
to smash your bread. No one was
excluded from the party.
Club 101 might have been thought
of as a traveling club, always searching
for that elusive place to call home. It
parked its musical experience at several
locations, but one that particularly
stands out is the historic Newberry’s
Department Store building on 201 N.
Stanton Street. Remarkably known as
one of El Paso’s most popular five-and
-dime stores during its heyday in the
1950s, it might be best remembered
today for its flavorful banana splits and
delicious ice cream sundaes. Its last
incarnation was in the Union
Entertainment district.
Prior establishments paved the way
for the revolution caused by Club 101.
Founded in 1889, the McGinty Club
was one of the first and most
prominent clubs in the early life of the
city. Conrey Bryson of The Handbook of
Texas Online reported what started as a
fun-making club exclusively for men
gradually transformed into a spot for
members to enjoy musical acts. Cleofas
Calleros of The El Paso Times wrote that
musical talent consisted of multiple
acts, each serving its unique purpose.
Acts included the A Concert Band,
Brass Band, Drum and Fife Corp, and
Typical Orchestra, among others.
Despite the hype surrounding The
McGinty Club during its prime, it only
lasted 13 years, losing its popularity to
a gradual decline in interest. (See our
article in Volume 30 of Borderlands).
The “World Famous” Kentucky
Club, founded in Ciudad Juarez two
years into prohibition in the 1920s,
remains a popular Juarez Avenue
nighttime destination. It is rumored
that the Kentucky Club, best known
for its margaritas, served famous
celebrities, such as John Wayne, Steve
McQueen, Marilyn Monroe, Frank
Sinatra, Bob Dylan, and even President
Ronald Reagan. The bar’s primary
trademark is its tantalizing alcohol
selection paired with an attractive,
lively atmosphere. Although there was
no designated dance floor, this does
not stop patrons from dancing the
night away to the bar’s jukebox.
Several decades later, on New Year’s
Eve in 1975, The Musician’s Bar (also
known as Jam Sessions) opened its
doors to bright-eyed aspiring musicians
working to reach their full potential.
The concept emerged as local jazz
saxophonist Art Lewis (see article on
Art Lewis in this issue of Borderlands)
set out to create a place where
musicians of all genres could explore
and showcase their musical skills.
Originally located in downtown El
Paso, by the 1990s, The Musician’s Bar
found a new home on Dyer Street.
However, this version of the bar did
not conform to the typical bar setup.
No alcoholic beverages or food were
served, placing the attention on the
musicians. Cooper of The El Paso Times
reported that The Musician’s Bar stood
as one of the only African-American-
owned bars in El Paso during its time
at the Dyer Street location. This factor
only added to the bar’s revolutionary
legacy. Lewis kept an open mind when
it came to music genres, which helped
the bar remain successful for several
years, allowing for a heightened sense
of diversity within the bar’s social and
creative atmosphere.
El Paso had something for hard
rockers too. The El Paso Times
described the Treetop Lounge as El
Paso’s “veteran rock ‘n’ roll club” that
“attracts numerous regional and local
acts. The clientele is young and
reckless, the entertainment among the
best.” They brought in big acts like Pat
Travers, Head East, Leon Russel, Todd
Rundgren, Iron Butterfly, Rare Earth
and Ronnie Montrose, among scores of
others—huge names in classic rock.
The heart-pounding bass lines, high-
voltage rhythms, hammering drums
and high-pitched vocals kept rockers at
the edge of their seats. Most stood up
much like they do in massive concert
venues.
The diversity that flourished within
the Sun City’s music and nightlife scene
expanded with The Old Plantation,
which made its mark in El Paso in the
1970s as one of the most prominent
LGBTQ+ nightclubs. The OP, as it
was called, boasted a spacious dance
floor and specialized in hosting drag
shows with mesmerizing drag
entertainers. The OP succeeded in
becoming a sanctuary for LGBTQ+
members to find comfort in a good
and fun-loving place to hang out, and
there was something for every
everyone, regardless of sexual
71
orientation. In an El Paso Times review
entitled “Old Plantation Fertile
Ground for Fun, Laughter,” Monica
Anne Krausse described the nightclub
as having deliciously crafted alcoholic
potions and reverberating disco
melodies, writing that it was hard not
to have a good time at the OP.
Heterosexual patrons frequented the
club toward the late 1980s for a taste of
the disco and dance the venue served.
Although its doors closed to its loyal
patrons, the OP paved the way for
other LGBTQ+ clubs, such as Touch,
Briar Patch, EPIC and the Tool Box,
all operating today.
A more recent venue, Tricky Falls,
had a short-lived, seven-year story but
with an enticing legacy of its own. The
live music nightspot opened its doors
to the public on September 18, 2011, in
the historic theater building designed
by Henry C. Trost (originally the
Alhambra Theater), established in
1914. Located on South El Paso Street,
the building held as many as 1,500
patrons. While it is not uncommon for
touring bands to stop in El Paso for a
night’s rest, Gabe Gonzalez, co-owner
of Tricky Falls, noted in the Downtown
El Paso website that Tricky Falls
offered a pitstop for musical acts to
perform rather than just staying in a
hotel for a night of rest and slumber.
The venue highlighted popular names,
such as Green Day, Snoop Dogg and
El Paso’s adopted son, Khalid (see
article on Khalid in this issue of
Borderlands). Tricky Falls officially shut
down in late 2018 due to an unrenewed
lease, but its loyal patrons still
remember the good times there.
These clubs join others living only
in memories, and some that are still
bringing live music to the city. Gone
are The Phoenix, a high energy disco-
rock dance club; the relaxed hip-hop
and R&B infused Club 54; Saso’s &
Scorpio’s, for the metalheads of the
‘80s; and El Noa Noa, where pre-fame
Juan Gabriel (see article on Juan
Gabriel in this issue of Borderlands) first
performed to live audiences in Juarez.
Kings X Bar, hosting live blues and
rock, and Aceitunas Beer Garden,
serving customers with a cool array of
entertaining live music and tempting
beverages, remain open for current
nighttime seekers of good live music.
Out of them all, Club 101 was
unique. It showcased alternative acts,
such as Anything Box, a then up-and-
coming No Doubt, the Deftones, and
Nine Inch Nails, to name a few. The
live shows created an attraction from
music fans all over El Paso and
surrounding areas due to the freshness
of the acts. Acosta of The El Paso Times
talked about how the club’s music
selection was versatile, ranging from
alternative, hip-hop, rock to electronic
music. Moments and styles like these
indeed attracted people to the venue,
maximizing the diversity and culture of
El Paso’s nightclubs.
Music aside, the contagiously
vibrant energy from the patrons is what
truly breathed life into Club 101. The
energetic and faithful Club 101
followers are what turned the club into
the high-energy fiasco it was known
and loved for. It provided a home for
nocturnal free-spirited souls of the Sun
City to dance the night away, rock out
to roaring music, or chill to the sounds
with a friend and a drink. Sadly, the
club closed its doors in 2015 for
reasons unknown, but undeniably this
epochal establishment created a
vitalizing magic that is hard to replicate
and bears a nighttime legacy that will
be felt for years.
No matter what will come after
Club 101, the traces of rhythmically
stomping feet will eternally remain
imprinted within each location the
nightclub called home.

PT and the Cruisers:

An Unforgettable Band
A Cruise Down
Memory Lane
By Stephanie Castillo
Country Cruisin Album 2017

Music gives a soul to

A
rt -- be it literature, music, dance, visual arts,
photography, drama or film -- is an integral and
defining part of an artist’s life. It may begin as a
the universe, wings to hobby, but very quickly it erupts into an aspect
of their lives that defines their way of living as a people and
as individuals. Some artists seek success; some, fame; some,
the mind, flight to the both. It is natural to think that having fame translates to
being successful, but success lives and breathes all on its

imagination, and life own without the aid of fame. That describes PT and Cruis-
ers, who may not have reached the heights of a Jefferson
Airplane, a Velvet Underground, or a Big Brother and the

to everything. Holding Company, but who have achieved a success that

can only be attributed to the band’s unity and sheer love of
music.
– Plato
72
 PT and the Cruisers, a ‘60s and
‘70s El Paso pop-rock band made up
of spirited band members, achieved
success while struggling to thrive in
underpaying jobs while maintaining a
love for music that brought them
many cherished memories. The band
affected many lives, and it is very
proud of its El Paso origin. I had the
privilege and honor to engage in a
heartwarming conversation with Patty
Tiscareño, lead singer of PT and the
Cruisers. She spoke fondly of the
band, opening up about their early
days and their experiences throughout
their musical careers. PT and the
Cruisers reached greater success than
the average local band through a
talented lineup, deep connections and
that never-ending thirst for music that
shaped them and others for good.
PT and the Cruisers consists of
five very skilled musicians, unified
through an enormous affection for
music that transforms each of them
into brilliant stars. The band's name is
a combination of Patty Tiscareño, PT,
and the four Cruisers: Andre
Bonaguidi, Garry Hollis, Doug Neal
and John “Buddy” Winston.
According to the Border Legends El
Paso website and in her own words,
Tiscareño was inspired by Linda
Ronstadt to pick up her voice as an
instrument. Other influences include
Simon & Garfunkle and the venerable
Joan Baez.
Inspired by Bobby Fuller, the
Beatles, and the Rolling Stones,
Bonaguidi has played drums for 50
years and keeps on going, with
extensive studio and stage experience.
Neal, the band's bass player, has been
performing, recording and writing
music since the 1960s. Winston,
owner of Star City Studio
Productions, sings and plays a variety
of stringed instruments but especially
leans toward the guitar. He models his
sound on legendary artists like Peter,
Paul & Mary, Chet Atkins, Doc
Watson, and, as he says, "Anyone else
with a lick to steal." Hollis sings and
plays guitar in the group, influenced
by the Beatles, Cream, The Allman
Brothers and Eric Clapton. The
chemistry exhibited by the five
together, though, makes for the kind
of music you want to ramp up in your
car stereo during a long road trip.
In a KTEP interview with Marina
Monsisvais, Tiscareño revealed that
while the styles of each member differ
from country, classic rock, blues and
more, they have a solid family-like
bond, as if fate had predestined their
nexus when the first music note was
struck millennia ago. Tiscareño shared
with me that "we have deep
friendships; the Cruisers are my
family. When you bake bread with
someone and share your homes and
share your musical talents, they're
your family." The tie they feel for each
other is not just something superficial;
their friendships stem from years of
spending long stretches of time
together and uniting as a band, during
rehearsals, performances and just
chilling to music. They have shared
many experiences, from happy
moments, ones full of warmth and
sunlight, to hardships, trailblazing
through cold winters that made them
yearn for spring. Their bond is one of
the many reasons they succeeded as
artists. Their love and commitment
for each other and their shared goal in
music drove them to push forward
and continue. They looked beyond
the music itself and toward the
solidarity it manifests, and that defines
them. Music creates connections that
are to be treasured. It heals the
wounds of broken hearts, influences
people to choose to be good and
provides an escape to the rhythmic
sounds of a good tune.
PT and the Cruisers did all of that
and more for their faithful fans, and
even for those who happened to have
caught just a teasing of their music. It
was easy to see they genuinely enjoyed
performing together.
Tiscareño speaks fondly of her
origins in music, saying, "I think I
probably started in the cradle. When
my parents would come in and wake
me in the crib, I would be humming
or singing." Her whole life has been
shaped by music. She remembers how
she sang Requiem Masses for the dead
at her Catholic school in Latin. Music
was embedded into her entire life,
73
whether at home, school or even in
love. Tiscareño, with that air of
reminiscence, said: “I listen to NPR a
lot in the KTEP station, and they play
all kinds of Tiny Desk Concerts of
people from different parts of the
world… and you know what? It's all
the same. It's notes. [But] it's just how
they [artists] feel them and how they
rearrange them, so to me, music is
universal. It heals. It's not like
language. We don't understand each
other's languages; we understand each
other's notes.”
She knows music transcends
barriers when even language becomes
meaningless. When words cannot or
are not enough to describe how
someone feels, music can say it for
them or become a source of comfort.
The English language has an
enormous number of words and
phrases one can choose to utter a
statement, but with only 12 notes in
music, a song can be arranged and
rearranged endlessly to speak the
feelings of a heart that begs to be
heard.
It would have been easy to remain
a casual listener of music, but
Tiscareño decided to nurture her gift,
much like a seedling is cared for and
cultivated into a beautiful flower. Her
talent blossomed. It changed her
experiences; she learned through it
and grew as a person, especially
through the struggles of a practicing
musician.
"The only two musicians in the
band that sustained their livelihoods
as musicians were Bonaguidi and
Neal," she states. She mentions how
they had many experiences working as
road musicians, scrambling through
obstacles, especially due to a lack of
money. She adds, "Musicians, locally
paid musicians, are so underpaid…
My husband Andre tells me many,
many times of how many bologna
sandwiches, how many late-night
burritos at the Circle K, washing their
clothes, hanging them out, putting on
their cleanest dirtiest shirt…," starving
artists, as it were.
Bonaguidi and Neal have been in
financially unstable situations which is
often what musicians go through.
Pt and the Cruisers (Photo courtesy of Border Legends of El Paso)
Tiscareño continues, closing her eyes
as if imagining their experiences, to
tell me how they have many stories
that one could sit down, listen to and
feel good about. Bonaguidi and Neal
knew what they wanted, and they
stuck with it, regardless of expected
rough terrain. There are always bumps
on the road.
Three of the five members enjoy
successful careers outside of music:
Tiscareño as an executive director,
Hollis as a financial analyst, and
Winston as a physicist. Tiscareño is a
part of the Rio Grande Cancer
Foundation (RGCF). Her bio on the
RGCF website states, "Patty
Tiscareño is the Executive Director of
the Rio Grande Cancer Foundation, a
non-profit organization that has been
around since 1996. She has helped the
organization raise $13 million in
foundation assets, creating major
programs, initiatives, and the grant-
making operations."
One of her fundraisers includes a
CD that she and the Cruisers made to
sell for the non-profit organization. It
was called The Kitchen Project because it
was born around the kitchen table.
The 2009 El Paso Times article “Doug
Pullen: 'PT' Records Fundraising
Effort CD” explained: "Money was
raised to help cover costs by ‘selling’
songs for $1,000 to people who
wanted to honor victims or survivors
in their lives.” In our talk, Tiscareño
says, almost in disbelief herself, "After
we sold everything, we netted the
foundation over $40,000."
This was not her first fundraiser.
She had previously recorded another
CD, Comes in All Colors, with Billy
Townes, and made over $30,000 for
the organization. Not only was each
CD a generous act of the musicians,
they also were able to sell their music.
PT and the Cruisers take
tremendous pride in their work and
their community, and it is
humanitarian acts like these that add
to their success. They are proud to be
from and live in El Paso. They know
its worth. Speaking from life
experience Tiscareño reflects: “There
is this perception that you are not
good if you have not gone to New
York or Los Angeles, but guess what?
New York has bad and mediocre
musicians, too. We're a small town
with a big attitude… We have more
stellar musicians in this town than
anyplace else in the world. … when I
say I'm from El Paso [when playing
my music somewhere else], people
recognize some of the folks on the
map. I am very proud of my El Paso
roots."
Her comments are accompanied
by a beaming, honest smile that
speaks more than words ever could.
Tiscareño gladly shares the spotlight
74
with other local musicians. She speaks
very fondly of the town and is amazed
by its musicality. She places her hand
over her heart as if her pride would
overflow, causing it to burst, "I am
proud to be from here. I am proud of
the musicians I associate with and
play with. I go to lots of concerts, and
I watch performers. I see guitar
players and drummers, and I am
blown away by the elevated caliber of
the musicians of El Paso. We rock!"
El Paso, indeed, is home to many
talented and extraordinary musicians,
which are incomparable, just like PT
and the Cruisers.
Artists value their calling, their
work; their lives are molded
differently because of it. They see the
world from a diverse and, perhaps, a
better perspective because of their
desire to create art. For PT and the
Cruisers, it was music. Although there
were hard times, they learned to
appreciate music even more as a
result. More importantly, they lovingly
have given back to the community.
Their love for music has not only
touched their lives but, hopefully,
those of their fans. That is one of the
many magical things about music, one
of the many aspects that made PT and
the Cruisers an unforgettable band.

Stairway
to
Heavenly Success
Greg Gonzalez (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
D
rawn to the bizarre
reverberation created in
an echoey space, El Paso
band Cigarettes After Sex
recorded its first extended play in a
university stairway. The resulting
sound? One that evokes the image of
cigarette smoke drifting through a
dimly-lit room, anything reminiscent of
a nouvelle vague, or French New Wave,
film. For four years, frontman and
founder Greg Gonzalez led the band’s
sound through several iterations,
beginning in 2008 with a sound that
strove to emulate Madonna’s 1980s
singles, synth-pop duo Erasure, and
‘80s rock band New Order. Gonzalez’
style would “harken back to darker
influences such as Joy Division,” a
1970s English rock band, according to
the First Avenue website. After
experimenting with darker, melancholic
sounds influenced by another English
rock band, the Smiths, the band finally
found its trademark sound. Their
secret: lyrics that had a universal appeal
and, of course, a four-story University
of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) stairway.
And as ridiculous as stairway studio
sessions seem, this technique remains
the band’s primary method to creating
the subdued, hypnotic sound they are
El Paso’s
Cigarettes
After
known for.
Born and raised in El Paso, Texas,
Gonzalez always had an ear for British
rock and an appreciation for European
films. In a 2017 interview with Eloise
Blondiau, Gonzalez explained that his
father worked as a video retailer,
resulting in an entire library of VHS
tapes surrounding young Gonzalez and
inspiring his creative endeavors even
into adulthood. Gonzalez studied
music at UTEP and started Cigarettes
After Sex (often referred to simply as
“Cigarettes”) in 2008. The band
underwent several iterations by 2012,
the year in which Gonzalez recorded
the first extended play, I.,
unconventionally, in a UTEP stairway.
In a 2020 Financial Times article by
Michael Hann, Gonzalez said it
“sounded like you had entered the
heavens or something, it was so cosmic
-sounding.” If you’ve ever listened to
I., you know the sounds are nothing
short of seductive and soothing,
something you might hear late at night,
seeping from the speakers in a strange
and hazy cinema. This marked the
beginning of what might be labeled the
band’s trademark stairway sound. Three
years following the creation of I., the
track “Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You
75
Sex
By Samantha Linn
Babe” exploded on YouTube, and the
band gained an international audience
almost overnight. Cigarettes struggled
to follow the attention gained from this
track and didn’t reignite the enthusiasm
of their significant internet fan base
until the release of the 2015 single
“Affection.”
After the big break in 2015,
Gonzalez dropped out of school and
relocated to Brooklyn, New York, and
the band gained Jacob Tomsky on
drums and Randall Miller on bass, with
electric guitarist and keyboardist Phillip
Tubbs from El Paso. In New York,
Gonzalez managed the Beekman
Theatre while often performing live
throughout the local music scene. In
the interview with Blondiau, Gonzalez
stated that he focused on songwriting
during this time and drew inspiration
from the change in scenery, specifically
from the snow, which has the potential
to stun and inspire anyone raised in the
desert.
In a 2017 Music Week article, Ben
Homewood explained that a friend of
bassist Randall Miller went to see the
band at the now defunct Fantana’s in
New York’s Lower East Side in
September 2015. Instantly blown away
by their alluring sound, specifically by
Gonzalez’ “androgynous” vocals, Ed
Harris became the band’s official
manager. At the time, Cigarettes’
internet hit “Nothing Gonna Hurt You
Baby” had 500- to 600,000 views on
YouTube. In Homewood’s interview,
Harris stated, “We knew how to roll
out the music. There was organic
growth and we wanted to keep it as
pure as possible.” With Harris’ help,
the band signed a deal with Partisan
Records, an independent record label.
Partisan managing director Zena White
explained that “the band had been
growing their fan base organically, so
we wanted to put in more traditional
distribution, sales and marketing to
elevate that.” The label intended to aid
the band to further musical success
rather than micromanage them. White
explained that “the secret is constant
communication, empowering the band
and not taking them down a different
road." Two years later, in August of
2017, Blue Raincoat Music signed the
band and manager Harris. In a
Homewood interview, the band
expressed that by 2017, they had put
on “111 shows, in 36 countries, over 5
Cigarettes After Sex—Southside (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
continents.” Envision a couple of
easygoing indie-loving college students
packed in a university stairway,
recording live, originally-written songs
and aspiring for musical stardom.
Almost a decade after recording I.,
Cigarettes toured many countries,
including Poland, Brazil and India. Talk
about climbing the heavenly stairway to
success!
University stairways are becoming
the new recording studio, at least for
Cigarettes. The sound achieved
through this recording approach is
something much more intimate, which
is what the band seeks to capture.
Cigarettes is known for its unique,
sometimes undefinable sound.
Gonzalez replied to Knar Bedian in a
2017 interview, “Sleazy-sweet, hazy
romantic ballads,” when asked to
describe his music without using genre
names. Of course, a considerable factor
contributing to the unique sound is the
recording process. Gonzalez stated in
the interview with Bedian that he wants
to maintain a “spontaneous approach”
to recording his music, involving
recording songs as they’re played live.
76
Gonzalez explained that “with this sort
of process, the locations of the
recordings are really crucial.”
Cigarettes is known for taking
recording sessions to unconventional
places. This unusual approach captures
the raw emotion that the band strives
to convey in their music. Gonzalez
continued in the interview saying, “The
way a room sounds fully affects the
arrangement we devise for a song and
also gives the recording its feeling and
mood.” Influenced by The Trinity
Session, an album by The Cowboy
Junkies recorded in a church using a
single microphone, Cigarettes recorded
most of their album Cigarettes After Sex
at Bushwick, the Sweatshop Rehearsal
space. They recorded the song “Each
Time You Fall in Love” in the
Beekman Theatre’s stairway, indicative
of Gonzalez’ fondness for the ethereal,
dream-like sound acquired in such a
space. The “stairway sound” achieves
visceral emotion and impacts listeners
in a way studio-recorded music doesn’t.
An inspiration behind Gonzalez’
storytelling through music comes from
his love for film. In the interview with
Bedian, the frontman explained that
two films, in particular, have influenced
his work: Michelangelo Antonioni’s
1960 Italian film L’Avventura, for its
“strange, erotic, and deeply romantic
feel,” and Krzysztof Kieslowski’s The
Double Life of Veronique, which
Gonzalez claims was influential in the
“feel and sound” of “Affection” and
the new LP, Cigarettes After Sex.
Gonzalez claimed that he had “been
obsessed with film since I was a little
kid.…I wanted to transmit whatever
feelings that I was getting from my
favorite films and whatever moods I
really liked and somehow get that
across in the music since I wasn’t a
filmmaker.”
Blondiau agreed that everything
about the band epitomizes a French
New Wave aura, rejecting traditional
conventions and embracing
experimentation. He wrote, “The name
of his band alone evokes the gauzy
smoke, smudged eyeliner, and
crumpled bedsheets of a French New
Wave film, and the LP’s [Cigarettes After
Sex] striking black-and-white album art
could easily moonlight as a movie
poster.” As Blondiau claims, even
Cigarettes’ album covers evoke a
nouvelle vague appeal with its simplistic,
monochromatic and vintage look,
analogous with the moods expressed in
their music.
For their first two releases,
Cigarettes’ album artwork was created
by American visual artist Man Ray,
who embraced the style described
above. German photographer Resa Rot
captured the photo Cigarettes used for
their cover for the single “K.” The
band’s ability to tie multiple mediums
of artistic expressions, such as film,
literature, photography and fine art
points to their imaginative style.
Gonzalez’ desire to “pull back the
covers on life’s more intimate issues,”
as Paul Moody put it in his 2019 article
on the Another Man website, stems
from his upbringing in El Paso and his
early exposure to European cinema.
The sometimes bleak and even erotic
lyrics of Cigarettes’ music point to the
band’s appeal for the authenticities of
life. What listeners appreciate about
Cigarettes’ music is its ability to capture
the unrefined feelings we all experience
through melody and words. Infused
with strange and suggestive emotion,
Gonzalez’ songs tell stories with
themes from infatuation and affection
to pain and frustration, some
interspersed with Gonzalez’ memories.
“Sunsetz,” for example, was inspired
by the memory of Gonzalez glancing in
his rearview mirror and seeing his ex-
girlfriend wave to him as he drove
away from her home in El Paso. “The
sunlight on your face in my rear view”
describes a very particular scene, which
is something Gonzalez likes to use in
his songwriting. In a 2017 YouTube
FaceCulture channel interview, he
explained that he feels authentic
settings allow listeners to experience a
raw emotion associated with a place,
“sitting down in a restaurant in the
lower east side or living room, you
know. It’s like all these settings are kind
of present and I think that’s…definitely
a big film influence.”
Although the band underwent
several changes through the years --
from losing members, such as
keyboardist Phillip Tubbs, drummer
Greg Leah, keyboardist Steve Herrada
and guitarist Emily Davis, to gaining
new ones -- their sole aim has always
been to connect with listeners. In the
interview with Blondiau, Gonzalez
added, “We’ll play shows and the
whole crowd is singing like a big sing-
along—which is awesome—or the
crowd is just in this dreamy trance-like
state, or people are dancing. I like that
the music can fit into all of these
categories, that it can provide all these
different outlets of expression for the
listener. It can help somebody sleep or
they can sing or they can dance to it. I
think that’s great.” Their music
transcends borders as their fan base
consists of people from vastly different
ethnic backgrounds, a result of their
internet beginnings and Gonzalez’
appreciation of music from other
cultures. He asserts that his music
embodies a simplicity accessible to
people from all different walks of life.
In the Homewood interview,
Gonzalez talked about a time when the
band’s music positively impacted a
listener: "I met a couple in their 40s
77
Greg Gonzalez (Photo courtesy of
Wikimedia Commons)
and they greeted me with tears…. They
had lost a friend in a car accident and
they said our music had been helpful to
them. It was really special." Not only
does Gonzalez’ music help listeners
cope with loss, but it’s cathartic for the
frontman himself. In the Face Culture
interview, Gonzalez shared that his
songwriting is a way for him to work
through his experiences and share
them with others.
Cigarettes’ unconventional
beginnings suggest their style of
challenging the status quo and
embracing creative expression in its
most unusual forms. Their success is
rooted in authenticity and their desire
to stay true to their origins, to let
inspiration drive their success, just as it
did in 2012 with their first extended
play record. Their ability to reach
listeners at a global scale says
something about their El Paso-based
organic style. They may have left El
Paso, but El Paso’s influence will never
leave them.
If you happen to be walking up or
down a stairway, keep an ear out for
the smooth melody of a bass and a
couple of indie-sounding vocalists.
Who knows, you might casually
encounter the next up-and-coming
worldwide sensation, a group of
locally-grown El Paso musicians on the
stairway to heavenly success.
 Hidden Treasures of Local Metal:
A Partial Story
Sabrewulf (Photo courtesy of Priscilla Perez)
W armonger, Lynch,
Pissing Razors,
Sabrewulf. If you don’t
recognize these names,
it might be because you are unaware of
the long running heavy metal music
scene in El Paso! Our city is home to
more than 100 bands and has a history
dating back to the mid-1980s. The
metal community is small in
comparison to the west coast but has
ardent fans and is continually evolving.
Heavy metal music has a rich
history dating back to the 1970’s with
the birth of the band Black Sabbath.
The band’s title song was inspired by a
horrific vision a band member
experienced, a fascination with horror
movies, and a focus on the “Devil’s
Chord” to create a unique menacing
sound. This chord goes by many names
and is essentially a triad with the fifth
tone flatted. It was used in some
classical music and then in rock, but
when used with distortion, it is a
signature sound in heavy metal.
From this one spark, the influence
By Adrian Martinez and Rachel Murphree
of this high-energy, intense, and in-
your-face type of music spread
throughout the world, breaking into
other sub-genres such as thrash metal,
a loud and chaotic style that would
make someone bang their head against
a stage; death metal, thematically gore
and death influenced; and power metal,
a manic exciting sound which can get
anyone pumped up. There are also sub-
genres within each of these.
The music focuses on the occult,
war and violence, political and social
themes, the weather, high-fantasy, and
mythology, among others. Bands
range from the classic heavy metal
leather-clad Judas Priest and British
invaders, Motorhead and Iron Maiden,
to the big four of American thrash
metal: Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax
and Slayer.
El Paso has always been a spot for
touring regional and major bands to
perform such as Megadeath,
Queensrÿche, and Metallica who have
played in the El Paso/Las Cruces area
seven times, starting in 1985 at the Big
78
Sabrewulf
Apple Night Club on the eastside of El
Paso. The city has a persistent local
metal scene as well.
The earliest newspaper mention we
could find of local heavy metal bands
in El Paso dates to the mid-1980s,
during the period of early American
heavy metal. According to the El Paso
Times, the bands Lynch, Banshee, and
FT13 performed at the Sound of the
Seas Performance Warehouse on
Friday, June 21st, 1985. The heavy
metal scene continued to grow and
change.
Pissing Razors is an El Paso band
that formed in the early 1990’s and
contributed to a new style of metal
along with the Arlington, TX group
Pantera. Pissing Razors delivered their
variation on thrash metal with their
debut album Psycho, Punko, Metal Groove.
Their defining tone and style
contributed to the sound of groove
metal, a Texas-born stylization of
thrash that became a defined sub-
genre. They released multiple albums
before they disbanded in 2004 although
they got back together for some live
concerts as late as 2019.
The metal community got a shot of
new energy in the early 2000s when
San Antonio metal enthusiast Robb
Chavez came to town to set up a big
event. He hosted a weekly television
show since 1997 highlighting bands in
his home town and promoting the local
metal scene. In 2001 he teamed up
with El Paso promoter Chris Hate and
put on the first and second Robb’s
MetalWorks Showcases in El Paso. In a
2004 interview with the Texas Metal
Undergrond website, Robb said: The
2nd Annual Robb's MetalWorks
Showcase in El Paso in 2002 was huge!
It was really extraordinary how the El
Paso metal scene embraced us,
especially the bands...because someone
was actually giving them some
attention and highlighting their talents.
We feel really connected to that city
because of all our metal friends out
there...bands like Pissing Razors,
FueledIIFire, Demise, Reign Of
Terror, and Soma to name a handful.
That was the reason we did our first
showcases in El Paso, because the fans
and bands there were hungry for it.
Because of that it became the largest
local metal show of that year.”
There have been other local
concerts including El Paso Morgue
Fest 2005 which was held at Lucky
Devils. In an El Paso Times article on
the Morgue Fest, front man for the
band Bowels Out, Juan Castillo, said:
"There are diverse styles of metal in El
Paso…. There's technical death metal,
old-school black metal, goregrind metal
and hard-core metal.” The article
stated that the local metal scene was
getting better and outside bands were
noticing.
Robb came back in 2018 to choose
local bands who would perform at
Hel-Paso Showcase #3 held at the
Rockhouse Bar & Grill. In an
announcement on KLAQ Robb said,
“I felt it was about time to get back to
El Paso, back to a metal scene that has
maintained its humility, integrity and
love for the underground… I've always
been impressed by the musicianship
and dedication of west Texas metal
bands.” The bands chosen were
Defleshed and Gutted, Abaddon,
Triarchy, The Grave Aesthetic,
SlutHammer, Texas Voodoo Stomp,
and Satanic BBQ.
Sabrewulf, a local Death Metal band
that formed in 2011 released their last
full-length album, Mala Suerte, in 2020.
An album review on the Metal
Devastation Radio website says, “From
start to finish ‘Mala Suerte’ is a trip
through the barren Texas desert that
leaves you gasping for air while your
skin gets burnt to a crisp by the
punishing rays of the sun. The Latin
roots of some of the band members
surely come sipping through in their
sound.” They are helping define the El
Paso metal sound.
Several places to find where your
favorite local band is playing are
@elpasohardcore on Instagram or
KLAQ’s website among others. As the
country slowly comes out of the
pandemic, local bands including
Sabrewolf, Barbarian and Rotten
Disgust will perform for free in
October at the Rockhouse, and
Megadeth and Lamb of God will
perform at the Don Haskins Center in
August. Long live heavy metal!

An El Paso Gypsy: Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks By Patricia M. Colón

W orld sensation Stevie Nicks was born on May

Photp courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
26, 1948, at the Good Samaritan Hospital in
Phoenix, Arizona. Her mother, Barbara
Nicks, was a shoemaker, and her father, Jess
Nicks, migrated from job to job, working for Greyhound at
one point and for the meatpacking company Armour. Given
the name Stephanie at birth, she was unable to pronounce it,
saying “Teedee,” as a young child. Soon her parents agreed
on the name Stevie, which has become synonymous with the
mega band Fleetwood Mac. Much of Stevie’s success can be
attributed to her country and western singer grandfather
Aaron Jess Nicks, known simply as AJ. It was AJ, whose
musical dreams in the country world never panned out, who
taught a young Stevie how “to harmonize, encouraging her
to sing with all her might,” said Music Spotlight Magazine. In
2013 Stevie told Mojo, “We’d duet on songs like [Dorsey
Burnette’s] ‘It’s Late’ and AJ picked up that I was a good
harmony singer.” A fallout between her parents and her
grandfather over his influence on Stevie didn’t stop her from
singing. She told Mojo, “I sang all the time, to the radio, to
anybody.”

79
 Stevie’s father climbed up thebe dependent on a man.” The one
corporate ranks which forced the variable that never changed, despite
family to frequently move throughout
frequent moves, was music, which
her childhood, from Phoenix to New became an even greater force during
Mexico, Utah, California, and her high school years and propelled her
eventually El Paso, Texas, living in the
to rockstar status.
Sun City from ages seven to thirteen In high school, Nicks met future
(3rd to 7th grade). Stevie’s motherguitar great Lindsey Buckingham, and
worried about the friendships Stevie
after graduating, they became
gave up with each move and tended to
romantically involved and released an
her self-development by signing Stevie
album called Buckingham Nicks. The
up for art, piano and dance classes. The
album went largely unnoticed, and
future rock/pop star was beginning to
Stevie worked alternately as a maid,
take shape right here in El Paso. dental assistant and waitress to support
In 4th grade, reported Music Spotlight
herself.
Magazine, Stevie and her best friend The then fledgling band Fleetwood
Colleen performed a tap dance to Mac struggled with band tensions,
Buddy Holly’s “Everyday.” Stevie lineup changes with musicians coming
recalled to Time Out New York in 2001,
and going. Initially created by blues
“I wore a black top hat and a blacksensation Peter Green, Fleetwood Mac
vest, a black skirt with a white blouse,
moved on from notable guitarists such
black tights and black tap shoes with
as Bob Welch to eventually Lindsey
little heels. I had a definite knowledge
Buckingham after hearing his track
of how I should look, even then” in El
“Frozen Love.” To acquire
Paso. In time her style would evolve
Buckingham meant including Nicks.
into a witchy/gypsy boho style lookThe band agreed to this condition, and
that’s uniquely her own. in 1975 Lindsey and Stevie signed on
Unfortunately for the border town,
to Fleetwood Mac which gave the band
in 1959, Stevie’s family needed to move
a more pop/rock sound.
again, this time to Salt Lake City. Upset
The new and improved version of
about leaving El Paso and her friends
the band recorded the self-titled album
behind, again, her mother gave her the
Fleetwood Mac in 1975, entering at #186
one bit of advice that has never left
on Billboard’s Top 200 chart, ultimately
Stevie: “You will go to school, and you
reaching the #1 spot 58 weeks later.
will be independent, and you will never
The tracks included the wonderful
“Rhiannon,” with
Stevie’s raspy voice,
and the romantic
ballad “Landslide” --
top radio classics.
Stevie’s financial
woes were over due
to the success the
band was soon to
achieve.
While the album
struggled in the
beginning, it was the
band’s first live
performance that
made all the
difference. On May
15, 1975, they
performed at the
Civic Center Theater
in sunny El Paso,
Fleetwood Mac
Texas, one of
(Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
80
Stevie’s childhood homes. After that
night, Fleetwood Mac became an
undeniable world sensation, releasing
hit after hit. Stevie and the band made
an oath to music, dedicating their lives
to the band, and everything about
being a rockstar was fun to Stevie.
After enduring much internal
drama, Fleetwood Mac began to
disintegrate in the 1980s, with both
Stevie and Lindsey leaving the band.
Having gained much-deserved fame,
Stevie went on to a successful solo
career, entering the Billboard 200 with
her album Bella Donna which reached
multi-platinum status. Perhaps one of
her most significant accomplishments,
as she puts it, is her “right” to say she
is the only woman ever to be inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
twice, with Fleetwood Mac in 1988 and
as a solo artist in 2019. Stevie said, “It
is a great honor to be there twice
alongside other men.” She felt like she
had definitely “broken a big
‘rock’n’roll’ glass ceiling.”
Fleetwood Mac returned to El Paso
on August 5, 2003, where “it all began
for them,” said Victor R. Martinez of
the El Paso Times. They performed
before a crowd of 8000 at the Don
Haskins Center, playing 24 songs with
a double encore. Stevie took to the
microphone and said, “I am going to
say this little thing about El Paso, then
I will leave it alone. This was the first
city Lindsey and I played when we
joined the band. It was the most
exciting night of our career because we
knew it was going to work.” The crowd
roared its approval. Dressed in gypsy
black robes, Stevie continued, “This is
also the place where I went to third,
fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh grade. I
went to this little all-girls Catholic
School called Loretto, but that was too
hard for me, so I went to Crockett. El
Paso will always have a special place in
my heart; it is the place where I learned
how to sing.”
Moving from city to city as a young
child, a true gypsy, with her family
constantly on the go, it was all rth it in
the end for Stevie. A rock icon with a
bohemian heart, Stevie Nicks continues
to influence young artists worldwide…
a woman to look up to!
 Sun City
Music Festival
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
T
o dance under the desert sky
as you listen to electrifying
music is an experience that
seems right out of a movie.
But to those who found themselves in
El Paso during the Labor Day weekend
several years ago, it was very real. And
how exciting it was! For two
consecutive days, a tribe of thousands
of locals, Southwest festival-goers and
the best DJs from all around the world
created the cinematic fantasy that
dazzled the city of the Sun.
It was called the Sun City Music
Festival (SCMF). At its baseline, SCMF
was a large crowd grooving to
electronic dance music (EDM). But
Gxldbloom, a well-respected local
artist who has been in the music
industry for over six years, described it
as a “sweet release of stress, worries,
and expression... a wild, beautiful
place.” Aficionados will eagerly agree
with his poetic statement. In its 2011
inauguration, SCMF gathered an
estimated 20,000 attendees, doubling
the capacity of the now-demolished
Cohen Stadium, where many
experienced some of the best nights of
their lives over two days. The
enthusiastic crowd prompted the
producers to upgrade SCMF with a
move to Ascarate Park whose vast and
lively landscape fit the big party
perfectly. It remained there until its
Electrifying
final (so far) event in 2017.
It was SMG Events and James
“Disco” Donnie, the creative minds
behind the stage, who brought us
world-renowned artists such as
Afrojack, Armin Van Buuren, Zedd,
and David Guetta back in the festival’s
early days. Then in September 2017,
SCMF’s logo shone in big, golden
letters as the crowd roared excitedly to
the headlining performances of
Marshmello and Above & Beyond.
“It was a place to let go and not be
judged,” said Gxldbloom, “to move
how you want, feel how you want,
dress how you want, dance how you
want and all in peace.” He described
the experience as a disconnection -- a
good, necessary disconnection. Having
attended SCMF four times, through his
eyes we can appreciate how the festival
positively influenced participants.
SCMF helped him realize what his end
goal as a creator is, not just how far his
music goes, but on a more personal
level, as an artist, producer and DJ. It
was the “rave experience” that pushed
him to “spin the decks with that kind
of energy.” Now Gxldbloom himself
performs sets that “take people
through a little journey or adventure,”
welcoming them into a safe, high-
spirited space like the one that first
fascinated him.
This progression in art and culture
81
El Paso
By Victoria Alcantar and
Dalia Hajir
extended to other creators like Julian
Bajsel, one of the festival’s
photographers and one of Houston’s
best. And though he admits he’s not a
musician, Bajsel has always been
“passionate with music,” he said to the
Houston Press in 2014, which must be
undoubtedly true for a man whose
mantra is “Music should be seen and
heard.” SCMF changed Bajsel's life.
The festival paid and published his
work, covered his traveling expenses,
and created long-lasting, professional
connections with other artists, which
"turned into future work" for him. The
festival helped Bajsel "learn how to
shoot stage production since electronic
music has lots of lights and special
effects," a thrilling journey for which
he is still grateful. With his pictures,
people can relive SCMF's best
moments, and those who didn't get the
chance to experience it can view
flashes of action that entice their spirit
into the festival.
While there were photographers
and dancers, arts like culinary and
sculpting also had their place in the
show; costumed performers and live
painters weren’t dismissed either.
Nearly every type of talent was
celebrated. Gxldbloom agrees. When
asked what kinds of art other than
music he witnessed at SCMF, he
replied, "Visual arts! Everything from
actual graphic visuals that go along with
what the DJ is performing to light
shows to pyrotechnics to some very
creative and interactive sets.” Treated
with the utmost intricacy, these sets of
lasers, lights, fog machines and cannons
enlivened the three stages of SCMF
with storms of color that got “tattooed”
in Gxldbloom’s heart. The tiniest details
forged together well can create a
stunningly beautiful program.
The desert environment and the
festival’s location in a border city
allowed many international attendees
from Mexico to join the rave, says
Bajsel, which formed part of SCMF’s
uniqueness. For Gxldbloom, other
reasons to love the festival went from
the appealing offerings of festival
caterers to how SCMF raised the bar for
EDM lovers every year, which
Gxldbloom attributes to the outstanding
stage productions. “Big DJs know it’s a
great stage for a great performance and
would deliver just like they would at
their big performances at other festivals.
Memories were made that will last my
Rasta Mexico. Radio La Chusma, 2011
lifetime. They [the festival and artists]
knew how to make an experience, and
it’s just something that brings smiles to
my face when I think of it.” The
location, the festival goers, and the
production all made for an immersive,
eccentric, yet touching celebration
across all borders.
SCMF is loved… and missed, for it
has been canceled since 2017. The
reasons are unknown. But on the
SCMF’s official Twitter account, several
months before 2018’s Labor Day
weekend, the organizers apologized:
“Each year, the Disco and SMG teams
work diligently to ensure every single
time you enter the gates of Sun City
Music Festival, the best possible
experience awaits you…. Unfortunately,
we don’t believe that goal can be
accomplished in 2018. As a result, we’re
sad to say Sun City Music Festival will
not be held this Labor Day Weekend.
On behalf of the entire SCMF family,
we hope to return in 2019 and greatly
appreciate all of your support over the
past years. Thanks for the memories
82
that will last a lifetime!”
The unexpected news left many fans
disappointed that their Labor Day
weekend would feel empty without
SCMF. When Covid-19 shut down big
gatherings the following year, having a
group of over twenty thousand people
dancing tightly together became even
more of a distant dream. However, in
2020, an awaited tweet by Disco Donnie
sprung a rumored comeback as soon as
2021. “Starting a new festival during a
pandemic… [is] complicated,” he
replied to a fan’s inquiry on the matter.
“Ascarate was nice enough to move my
deposit and dates to 2021, [but it’s] still
complicated.” Hopefully this will
reassure dance and music lovers to wait
patiently. The world’s current
circumstances have put a rest to SCMF,
but it might not be forever. The festival
is hopefully coming back, it seems, and
when it does, El Paso will party as hard
as ever!
Radio la Chusma: A
Bridge Between Borders
By Dalia Hajir and
Leslie Saucedo
W hen you live in a border
city, you get a heartfelt
understanding of the
challenges and wonders
of different cultures sharing the same
air. Throughout El Paso's history we
have appreciated how the symbiotic re-
lationship between the United States
and Mexico has given local artists inno-
vative ways to make their voices heard.
A case in point example is Radio la
Chusma.
This band’s predominant reggae style
infused with cumbia, Caribbean, South
American and Afro Cuban music takes
you to a unique place that nevertheless
feels familiar, a fusion of the traditional
to create something new. “The border is
collaborative, full of creation,” said
founder Ernesto Tinajero to the San
Antonio Current a decade ago. “When
two huge forces like our two nations
meet, great energies are unleashed —
something beautiful erupts.”
Tinajero is a wise man. Nearly all he
says is delivered with passionate elo-
quence and dedication; he seems the
type of person who would tell you won-
derful tales under the night stars around
a crackling fire. He founded Radio la
Chusma officially in 2002, though ac-
cording to an El Paso Inc. article, the
group has "been around since the '90s
with several transformations.” This tribe
of hard-working musicians produce an
infectious mix of sounds that dance
along Spanglish lyrics, everything topped
with Latin spirit!
You may wonder what chusma means.
From Spanish to English, it means rab-
ble, a disorganized or disorderly crowd
of people. When asked this same ques-
tion, however, Tinajero dives a bit deep-
er. "Chusma is the riff-raff, the unwant-
ed, marginalized people that we as a so-
ciety do not value, the natives of these
lands, the indigenous side in all of us.”
This statement signals the band’s deep
awareness of current issues while mak-
ing sure to celebrate our origins. In this
Mariachis: Mexico’s Cultural Stars
Mariachi Femenil Flores (Photo courtesy of Lilly Sanchez)
T
o enchant a love interest or to
accompany marriage. To
show gratitude or to ask for
forgiveness. To celebrate a
birth or to mourn the dead.
Mariachis will serenade for just about
any occasion you can think of. In some
of El Paso's most popular Mexican
vein, their song “Calavera no Llora,”
was released to honor our ancestors and
loved ones who left us.
The video for “Calavera no Llora”
shows Tinajero placing offerings on a
decorated table: water, fruit, candles,
flowers, clothing, or anything the de-
ceased person enjoyed when alive. A
masked figure dressed in warm colors
responds to the offerings and the music,
comes back from the dead, and starts
dancing to the upbeat rhythms within
the excited crowd. When the night falls
and the song ends, the figure goes back
to its resting place, concluding its visit to
the realm of the living. “Calavera no
Llora” feels nostalgic and lively — a
universal story that reaches anyone’s
soul.
Other local hits like “Big Money”
and “Cruzando Fronteras” are political
in nature. The former speaks to the pro-
tests at the Standing Rock pipeline and
the Duranguito neighborhood in Down-
town El Paso, per a 2020 article from El
Paso Inc. The latter acknowledges the
immigrants who leave their countries
behind to reach the American Dream,
restaurants, you can hear them sing in
elaborately tailored suits, and with
booming voices and loud gritos, for
nothing beats mariachis when enlivening
a hearty meal.
But who are mariachis, and why is
their music so universally loved?
As Mexican as tequila and el Día de los
83
taking with themselves only memories
of their past life in search of a better
one. “One of our goals is a unifying
message and an eye-opener,” Tinajero
said after the release of “Big Money.”
“Being OK with who we are is another
message to a lot of brown-skinned
Americans who would rather follow the
“American” way, or what is popular. We
are all people of this Earth. We were all
indigenous at one point, and I think the
farther we get from that, the farther we
get from understanding each other. We
are not that different. We have all been
conquered, we’ve all been abused, and
we’ve all risen – and we try to do all that
with music. After all, all cultures had a
drum at the beginning.”
Radio la Chusma’s multi-stylistic ap-
proach to music has united listeners of
all backgrounds. With its soul-igniting
border sounds and thoughtful messages,
its members invite us to accept our
roots, ourselves, and our fellows from
the other side, because, as Tinajero re-
minds us: “Everything is everything. It’s
all one. It’s a beautiful thing.”
By Dalia Hajir
Muertos, mariachis are musical groups
with three or more musicians who play a
range of instruments that include
violins, guitars, basses, vihuelas
(rounded, five-stringed guitars), and
trumpets, each instrument contributing
to the unique sound of mariachi. The
musicians are fronted by one or more
singers and all of them wear the charro
suit, a beautiful testament to Mexico's
cultural essence. It consists of tight
pants -- or a full-length skirt for women
-- and short jackets, bow ties, and often
wide-brimmed sombreros. Silver or gold
buttons and handmade patterns enrich
the outfit, and the more elaborate, the
more expensive, stated the Mexican
newspaper Informador. No charro suit
complements two mariachis; each one is
personalized to the wearer’s size and
style.
"To wear a charro suit is to wear
Mexico," said Lucio Díaz Ugalde,
distinguished as one of the best charro
tailors in the Mexican state of Jalisco. It
is there, in the city of Cocula, where
mariachi music was born.
According to writer Jonathan D.
Clark, it all began when European
professional musicians arrived in Mexico
in 1519. Seeing that the natives had their
own “highly developed musical
traditions,” the colonizers introduced
their religious ideas with songs and
music, something the natives already
knew well. Native and foreign music
gave birth to new musical styles,
including mariachi music, which today
still varies within regions. In the past,
mariachis wore work clothes and were
largely rural, but after the Revolution of
1910, the charro suit started becoming
the norm and the nation saw mariachis
as something to be proud of. With the
Photo courtesy of Enrique Aragon
evolution of media during the 1930s, the
urbanized mariachi won international
recognition and rose over its rural roots.
Mariachi music is now popular
through Mexico and the Southwest
United States, but you can find groups
as far away as Japan, South Africa, or
even Egypt. After all, mariachi is “the
only music the whole world listens to,”
said Heriberto “El Cura” Molina,
former soloist of 30 years with Mariachi
Vargas, known as the most influential
mariachi group. Molina said he had the
pleasure of bringing mariachi music to
all the capitals of the world, an
incredible task that highlights mariachi
as an irreplaceable part of Mexican
culture. In further proof of this, in 2011
the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) put mariachi on its
Intangible Cultural Heritage of
Humanity list.
You don’t have to go too far to find
sensational mariachis. In El Paso, we
have many groups to choose from! One
is Mariachi Femenil Flores Mexicanas, a
mariachi of 15 strong, admirable women
whose emotional voices bring the public
to tears. Las Flores shared the stage with
Mariachi Vargas and Mariachi Los
Camperos de Nati Cano -- the most
famous U.S. mariachi, and with
Grammy winners Juan Gabriel and José
José, among many others. As stated in
their official webpage, Flores Mexicanas
84
donate their time to church functions
and city celebrations, making them
“actively involved in their hometown
community.” The director, Lorena
Liliana Sánchez, gives classes in a small
music academy, teaching children the
fascinating way of the mariachi.
We also have Mariachi Alegre, one of
El Paso's favorites. This youthful, caring
and professional mariachi has a wide
range of songs in its repertoire, making
it a great choice for any occasion. In
2020, when El Pasoans came together to
mourn those who were lost in the
shooting at Cielo Vista Walmart,
Mariachi Alegre performed “Amor
Eterno,” a song that united our
community in grief -- a song to say
goodbye to the lives lost. Formed
mostly by university graduates, Mariachi
Alegre encourages people to start and
finish their education, which they
themselves did while performing to the
best of their abilities.
Then there’s Mariachi los Galleros, who
call themselves “El Paso’s most
traditional mariachi.” This is an earned
title for their experience, hundreds of
songs in knowledge, and a precise yet
emotional play that takes you away from
the rest of the world. This is especially
true for their splendid violinists. Want a
specific song? Ask for it -- most chances
are Los Galleros know it!
May and June, the peak season for
mariachis, motivated mariachis
throughout the city to work
safely despite Covid-19. The El
Paso Times stated that Mariachi
Estrella, for example, charmed
its clients with sidewalk
serenatas and played in front of
houses, in yards, and even a
parking lot, while Mariachi
Tapatío kept the celebrations
going with virtual
performances via Zoom. All in
all, mariachis are married to
creativity and will always know
how to adapt during hard
times.
Like family, mariachi music
accompanies through life’s best
and worst. So, whatever the
occasion is, give one of these
groups a call – you won’t regret
it!

Khalid MTV (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
Khalid:
El Paso’s
Adopted Son
By Ha Ngo
R
&B music sensation Khalid
impacts the El Paso
community with his
continual support and
positive representation of the humble
border city. Having lived in the
Bordertown for a year before success
quickly found him, he always
remembers to attribute his rise to
stardom to the city he calls home, El
Paso. The love from locals he
encountered allowed Khalid to
nourish his creativity, something he
has never forgotten. He repays his city
by donating his time and money to
local charities, supporting community
educational programs, and serving as a
mentor to local musicians of all styles
and genres.
The soulful singer with a unique
voice writes fondly of the Sun City in
his songs, although El Paso hasn’t
always been his home. Khalid Donnel
Robinson was born on February 11,
1998, in Fort Stewart, Georgia. Before
Khalid was born, his parents
separated. While in second grade, his
father passed away, leaving Linda
Wolfe to raise him as a single,
working mother. Due to his parent’s
military careers, his mother being a
Sergeant First Class, who served in
the Army as a supply technician,
Khalid lived in Kentucky, New York,
and six years in Heidelberg, Germany.
Interestingly enough, Wolfe became a
member of the Army chorus, perhaps
foreshadowing what her son would
eventually become.
Life as the child of a military
parent was always difficult for the soft
-spoken singer. He admitted that it
was difficult “moving around quite a
bit and never fully knowing his place,”
wrote Dave Acosta, entertainment
reporter for the El Paso Times. Khalid
participated in school plays and
belonged to the choir growing up.
Still, it wasn’t until his arrival in the
Bordertown that he felt the
confidence to actively pursue a career
in the music industry.
Khalid did not know what to
expect when he moved to Texas from
New York in 2015. His mother’s
military obligations brought them to
85
Fort Bliss right before Khalid’s senior
year of high school. He felt right at
home at Americas High School,
where he gained the motivation to
write and record his music with
encouragement from the local
community.
Khalid’s popular lyrics were
written as an emotional outlet that he
was finally able to share thanks to the
people around him. His adopted
hometown inspired his musical talents
with the love he felt from El Pasoans,
the city’s supportive culture and its
unique local geography. “I was
lonely,” Khalid told Jordan Breal of
Texas Monthly, “but I turned that
loneliness into a spur of creativity. I
was so inspired by El Paso and the
geography.” Khalid gained a
supportive network of friends who
encouraged him to pursue a music
career, and he eventually posted his
music on SoundCloud close to the
end of 2016. A few months later,
“literally my graduation year -- Kylie
Jenner played my song on her
Snapchat. And then I was going to
New York City to sign a record deal.
The people here [El Paso] are so
strong and kind.”
On March 3, 2017, Khalid, at the
age of 19, debuted his entire album,
American Teen, which soared to
number No. 9 on the Billboard album
chart, after the success of the hit
single “Location.” “The love and the
friendships I made were influential”
Khalid shared with Acosta. “El Paso
is where I started. I don’t feel like I’d
be making the music I’m making now
if I hadn’t gone there.” In American
Teen, reported Viraj Suri of Meridian
High School’s The Lasso, “Khalid has
flawlessly captured the qualms and
struggles of American teens. Good
things do happen to good people.”
Since then, it has been an incredible
ride for Khalid. He has been
nominated for six Grammy Awards,
won six Billboard Music Awards,
three American Music Awards and an
MTV Video Music Award.
Khalid has been incredibly proud
of El Paso and has positively
represented the town, shining a bright
light on the city since the start of his
glowing career. Those who are not
familiar with the Sun City can
mistakenly view it as a dangerous place
with its proximity to the infamous
Ciudad Juarez. Some who have no idea
where El Paso is located think it’s a
sleepy, forgotten, dusty town. Khalid’s
short time in the city has changed that
outlook forever, as his humble
character, creative musical talents and
giving heart have now overshadowed
any negative opinions about El Paso,
said Acosta. This is evident in his songs
and albums that are named after the
city’s landmarks. In his song,
“American Teen,” Khalid praises the
“pretty girls from the city of the 915.”
He refers to the nostalgia of Dyer
Street, a well-known street on the
northeast side of town, in the track
“Keep Me.” The music video for his
hit song “Location” filmed him as he
drove all over the beautiful El Paso
desert.
His first extended play record
entitled Suncity and the cover art
depicting the singer in front of a typical
local El Paso home are proud homages
to the Bordertown. His Suncity track
“9.13” is a recounting of the day El
Paso Mayor Dee Margo presented
Khalid with a Key to the City, praising
him for his fond representation of the
city. Mayor Margo stated, “The people
of El Paso, Texas, proudly present the
key to the City to Khalid Donnel
Robinson. Forever, from the city of the
915,” which constitutes the lyrics of the
three-line, 57-second-long song. “I’ve
learned to represent the city in such a
positive manner,” said Khalid, upon
receiving at the ceremony the key to
the city on September 13, 2018.
“There’s been so many people of all
over the world, from Australia to
Indonesia to Mexico to Brazil,
everywhere. And the loudest line, and
I’m not lying to you, the loudest line of
the show is ‘from the city of the 915.’”
El Paso’s hometown hero has
received many accolades, earning him
worldwide attention and fans. Since his
success, Khalid has worked with many
other chart-topping musicians through
many genres, such as guitar
extraordinaire John Mayer, Kane
Brown, Marshmallow, Logic,
Disclosure and many more. During his
rise to stardom, Khalid collaborated
with other up-and-coming artists, such
as Billie Eilish, who was only 16 years
old when they first collaborated. The
two released a duet entitled “Lovely,”
and Khalid has never hesitated to
praise the much-loved Eilish. In an
interview with Ellen DeGeneres,
Khalid profusely praised Eilish and her
brother, Finneas.
Although his rise to fame has been
quick, opening the doors for him to
work with world-famous musicians, he
remains grounded and keeps his dear
El Paso close to his heart by giving
back to the community. The Great
Khalid Foundation is a charity founded
by the generous R&B singer. One of
the programs outlined on its website,
the Performing Arts Scholarship,
awards merit-based scholarships to
high school seniors pursuing higher
education in a performing art,, and has
awarded $60,000 in scholarships to
date. Khalid’s scholarship programs are
beneficial to the community as the
requirements to be considered push
students to hold academic excellence,
ensuring they build great character and
nurture their creative talents, virtues
sure to last a lifetime.
In perhaps one of the most
generous acts of kindness, Khalid did
not flinch from showing support for
his adopted home of El Paso after the
tragic massacre of August 3, 2019. The
mass shooting at the Cielo Vista
Walmart took the lives of 23 and
injured an additional 25. Khalid gave
back to the Bordertown community
with a benefit concert for the victims
of the horrific, senseless shooting.
“Khalid and Friends: A Night for
Suncity” was organized by The Great
Khalid Foundation as the singer
returned to El Paso, bringing along
with him a group of friends and well-
known celebrities: Oscar-winning actor
Matthew McConaughey, musicians
SZA, Lil Yachty, El Paso politician and
supporter Beto O’Rourke, and more,
together raising over $500,000 for the
El Paso Community Foundation’s
Victims Relief Fund, reported the El
Paso Times.
86
The talented musician has also given
back to the borderland community by
using his superstar platform to give rise
to other local artists such as The Swell
Kids. In September 2018, the Swell
Kids received a call from Khalid’s
management team, inviting them to
open up for the R&B singer at the Don
Haskins Center. According to an
interview with Maria Gonzalez,
entertainment reporter from the El
Paso Times, a band member said this of
their mentor: “I think he saw our
potential and reached out to make sure
we can continue to grow.” The Swell
Kids, quite excited, gladly took the
chance to play their biggest venue to
date.
Although Khalid is now recognized
worldwide and is busier than ever
playing numerous concerts, he
consciously makes the effort to
remember the city where his career
began. The young singer is impressive,
balancing the duties of singer,
songwriter, philanthropist and mentor.
The compassion he has for the El Paso
community is what truly makes Khalid
a hometown hero.
In 2019, Khalid was named one of
Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential
People. There is no better way to
honor Khalid here than to share the
words expressed by R&B, Grammy
Award-winning Alicia Keys for the
TIME100:
Khalid is totally unique. He’s a
beautiful writer with the ability to take
human concepts and make you
understand and feel them. He has a
full, powerful voice that is somehow
unassuming and smooth at the same
time. He’s accessible—almost like
you’ve met somebody like him before,
although there’s nobody else like him.
He has his own style, and I think we’re
all hungry for individuality right now. I
love that his first album didn’t have any
features. It’s a beautiful, powerful
statement: “Here I am. This is me.” I’m
excited that he is so clear about who he
is right now, and I hope he continues
to trust that instinct. He has a beautiful
journey ahead of him, and I hope he
accomplishes things he can’t even
imagine yet.
See you in the ‘22-’23 issue of
Borderlands for all things literary in the El Paso del Norte region.
87