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FROM THE EDITOR The Healing Power Of Music
PUBLISHER David Rupkalvis EDITOR Karen Gleason WRITERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS Brian Argabright Karen Gleason Atzimba Morales ADVERTISING Xochitl Arteaga PRODUCTION
Roland Cardenas EDITORIAL karen.gleason@delrionewsherald.com 830-775-1551, Ext. 247 ADVERTISING xochitl.arteaga@delrionewsherald.com 830-775-1551, Ext. 250 STORY IDEAS karen.gleason@delrionewsherald.com
2205 North Bedell Avenue • Del Rio, TX 78840 delrionewsherald.com Del Rio Grande is published by the Del Rio News-Herald. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without written permission of the publisher. Editorial content does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher of this magazine. Editorial and advertising does not constitute advice but is considered informative.
My first hope is that all of you are healthy. Over the past two months, we have all been touched – in some way – by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We have shifted to living our lives in different ways: standing in lines waiting to get into the grocery store, wearing masks, washing our hands frequently, standing apart from our fellows, working from home or, sadly, not working at all. We haven’t seen the end of this crisis yet, either. I believe we are in for many more months of gloomy news and most of us – me, at least – won’t feel safe until a cure or a vaccine have been developed. One of our saving graces as human beings is our ability to adapt to many different kinds of situations, and over the past two months, all of us have done some adapting and we will continue to do so until this challenge, too, is behind us. Throughout my life, my love of music has helped me through the rough patches, and during this time of COVID-19, my favorite music has continued to lift me up and brighten my days. All of the Grande staff are music lovers as well, particularly Brian Argabright. Brian spearheaded the creation of content for this issue while I was concentrating on April’s birding issue, and I want to thank him and Atzimba Morales for doing most of the heavy lifting for the May issue. You’ll want to read Brian’s piece on William Beckmann, a young Del Rioan who is well on his way to becoming a true musical star. Like Blondie Calderon and Radney Foster before him, Beck draws on his small town and bicultural roots to infuse his music, and we know that we’ll be hearing a lot more from this young man in the future. This month we’re also featuring other talented local folk, including the Mariachi Metztli Brillante, an all-female group and Del Rio High School Choir Director Josue Gonzalez. We hope you enjoy. Stay safe, Karen Gleason Del Rio Grande Editor
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CONTENTS 6
DEL RIO’S RISING STAR Singer/songwriter William Beckmann makes his name in country music
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ALTERNATIVE SOUNDS Expecting Perfection offers throwback to 90s rock.
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FINDING INSPIRATION Spencer Whitney explores, fuses different genres.
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GRANDE LIFE Meet Josue Gonzalez, accomplished vocalist.
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DELIVERING DIVERSITY Up and coming artist Angel Baena blends genres with acoustic sound.
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LAST LOOK Grande writer and photographer Brian Argabright wraps up the issue.
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GROUNDBREAKING MARIACHIS Metztli Brillante breaks new ground in old sounds.
ON THE COVER: Singer/songwriter William Beckmann seen here at the family home waits to return to performing in front of fans around Texas . • Photo by Karen Gleason
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William
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Beckmann Story and photos by BRIAN ARGABRIGHT
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rom the “border blasters” that carried the name of Del Rio across the country to the classic stylings of Blondie Calderon to the memories created by songwriter/musician Radney Foster, Del Rio’s musical legacy has been gifted from musician to musician over the lifetime of this town. Now, the next part of Del Rio’s musical lifeblood is ready to share his hometown with the rest of the world. William Beckmann, 24, is slowly but surely making his name in the world of country music. The son of Tammy and Edwin Hyslop, Beckmann admits that his rise from learning to play the guitar from a friend to opening for renowned artists such as the Randy Rogers Band and fellow Del Rioan Foster has been an amazing trip thus far, but he feels the best is yet to come. Beckmann, whose full name is William Beckmann Hyslop but who is best known by the nickname “Beck,” has been surrounded by music since he was in elementary school. He said his love affair with music began when he was young. “When I was about 9 or 10 I really started to realize I had an interest in it. It wasn’t until I was 11 or 12 that I really started to pursue it,” Beckmann said. “I could tell that was what I liked to listen to … just all different sorts of artists and stuff.” One of his biggest influences growing up was legendary Texas crooner George Strait. He said listening to Strait’s songs, the melody and the storytelling, made him fall in love with his songs and with country music in general. “The first guitar I ever got was when I was around nine years old and my grandfather bought it for me at Walmart. It was an electric guitar. I got an amp from Buddy’s Music back when it was on Main Street, and while I didn’t really know how to play, I liked to plug it in and make some noise with it. I still have it, all these years later,” Beckmann said. Beckmann said he never had any real formal training when it came to playing the guitar. He said his friend, and fellow aspiring musician, Tacho Coronado, was taking guitar lessons and would then turn around and teach Beckmann what he had learned. He said those informal lessons after school, just hanging out, were his first taste of really learning to play. “It never really dawned on me to try to sing. The first time I wrote a song was when I was about 13-14 years old. The song probably wasn’t any
William Beckmann has been playing music and writing songs since he was a student at Del Rio High School.
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good. I just started singing and stuff,” Beckmann said. “I never really took singing lessons. I learned to craft my style from listening to different people and just practicing. By junior high and high school, I’d already had a couple of years of singing and playing guitar under my belt. All of us who played, like me and Tacho and our friend Jec Calderon and his brothers, we wore that music thing on our sleeve. “I can remember singing for my classmates, whenever the teacher would let me bring my guitar to class. My go-to songs included stuff like ‘The Chair’ by George Strait, ‘In My Arms Instead’ by The Randy Rogers Band and even classic oldies like ‘Margaritaville’ or ‘Tequila Sunrise’ by the Eagles. I really started writing my own songs, though, when I was a junior. Once I met Radney Foster, that launched that part of that process,” Beckmann continued. Beckmann’s talent began to get noticed locally. He performed at and won the Del Rio High School’s Mr. Aries pageant in 2012 and was the musical guest at that year’s Miss Del Rio Pageant. After graduating from Del Rio High in 2013, Beckmann attended college in Austin before transferring to Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville tested Beckmann as the pull of being a music star and graduating college was a struggle each and every day. “It wasn’t easy balancing college and my professional life,” Beckmann, who said he moved to Nashville with a briefcase full of original songs and poems. “It took quite a bit of patience when I first moved to Nashville because I really just wanted to dive into it. By early 2015, my junior year of college, I was 19 years old or so, and Radney was already mentoring me quite a bit. He was always someone I could call if I needed advice or just needed help. He was that guy for me that would always talk me through it.” “I was probably naïve, but I wanted it so bad. I remember him telling me to calm down, just focus on being a student and getting good grades and be patient. ‘We will get there when we get there,’ he told me,” Beckmann added. While at Belmont Beckmann really began focusing on song writing. He’d try to write at least one song a day. He admitted that maybe one was good, but said sometimes he would go back to his other songs and cobble bits and pieces from each and come up with something he liked. “I remember telling myself I would rather write a bad song then not write a song at all. I’d make myself write a song, even if not to play for anyone, but I would always walk away proud of myself,” Beckmann said. “Having gone to Belmont, and meeting so many different people, it was a lot of friendly competition. I would hang out with these good friends I’d made while I was there, and they’d play a song they wrote yesterday and I’d realize, ‘Wow, they wrote that yesterday,’ and it was then I felt the pressure. If you weren’t writing songs, everyone else around you was. I learned to not wait around for something to hit me.” It was also at Belmont that the seeds for Beckmann’s first professional release began to grow. Titled, “Outskirts of Town,”
Performing for audiences has been a part of William Beckman’s life since he was a teenager. One of his first big performances was at the 2012 Miss Del Rio Pageant (middle photo). Since then, Beckmann has had the opportunity to perform at bigger shows including the Future Faces Show in Arlington in 2019, where he met county music legend Randy Travis (top photo).
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William Beckmann jots down some song lyrics in his notebook while playing at his grandmother’s piano inside his home in Del Rio. Beckmann recently signed a worldwide publishing agreement with Warner Chappell Music.
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William Beckmann, seen here performing at the Future Faces Show in Arlington in 2019, has performed some concerts in social media since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but said he’s as anxious to get back out on the road to perform as others are to go see him.
the seven-song EP was eventually released in 2018, roughly a year after Beckmann graduated from Belmont. The album showcases Beckmann’s songwriting talent and musical skills, from his work on guitar to his bluesy influence on harmonica. It’s not traditional country in that the familiar twang isn’t present in all of the selections, but it’s a reflection of the music Beckmann loved growing up and the tastes he’s developed as he’s learned more about playing and writing music. Beckman had plans to return to the studio this spring and record a follow up to “Outskirts,” but the COVID-19 pandemic had other plans. Now, Beckmann spends his time around the family homestead in Del Rio, writing songs and trying to stay active as he, like millions of other people, await the word they can return to work. “When it comes to choosing songs that are going to go on an album, I just go with my gut now and try not to think too much about it. I mean, they’re all good songs, and I think people will like them, so I’m not worried that people won’t receive them well at all. It’s just so hard to find the right songs that go well together and speak to you the most at that particular time. A lot of the songs are older than others. You
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can have a song that’s six or seven years old next to a song that’s just a month or so old. They all come from different eras of your life, but each song has a story. It reminds you of a place and where you were in life when you wrote it,” Beckmann said. In December 2019, Beckmann’s career got another big boost when he signed a worldwide publishing agreement with Warner Chappell Music in December. The deal isn’t for Beckmann to record music, but rather to write on his own or with other songwriters to contribute to Warner’s catalog. Those songs could then be recorded by Beckmann or other recording artists. “It’s still kind of surreal for me. I’ve been blessed and fortunate to have these opportunities, Now I can look back and realize I have so many great people around me and have had a chance to digest it. I’m surrounded by my heroes who are now my friends. Guys like James Johnson, with whom we wrote a great song together,” Beckmann said. “This is going to be really helpful for me with these experiences. I’m really trying to keep up and hold my own among all these talented writers.” Since being back home Beckmann hasn’t stopped writing or performing. He’s done a couple of live
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concerts via social media outlets like Facebook and Instagram. He said the performances have given him a chance to stay connected with his fans and make some new ones along the way. It’s also given him a chance to reflect on the times as they are now. “Those kinds of shows are kind of the only way people can stay connected right now, through different social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook and even TikTok. Doing that and playing music for the fans I’ve got and who follow me or just putting videos out there to reach a new audience … no matter the case, people are craving that entertainment right now. Trust me, I want to go out and play as badly as someone who wants to go out and watch a show,” Beckmann said. “It’s really a good thing that we’re able to help each other out that way. I think it’s important to keep that going to inspire and to entertain, and if I can sort of distract you for a moment from what’s going on then that’s a good thing. Music is supposed to help heal people, so the more we put out there, the better.” Beckmann said once he’s able to, he will be back on the road and bringing his music to as many venues as he can fit into his schedule. He said fans can keep track of his schedule on his official website, williambeckmann.com, but when things get a little too hectic, he knows he can come back home and just let all that busy life just drift away. “It’s impossible for me to ever leave Del Rio just because my family and my grandparents live here. I’ve traveled different places and don’t feel as whole as I do in Del Rio,” Beckmann said. “It sounds corny or cheesy, but I have to come back home to recharge my soul, myself and my happiness. I lose my sanity when I’m gone for too long. Time moves very fast when you’re on the road, but here, time moves really slow. I’m able to think more clearly and just be myself. Here, I’m the same guy who was walking around the high school playing ‘The Chair’ for people. I don’t feel like that on the road.” •
William Beckmann Favorite Songs By BRIAN ARGABRIGHT In the first Del Rio Grande Magazine devoted to music, I compiled a list of songs about Del Rio and the surrounding area. For this time around, I asked singer/songwriter William Beckmann, a Del Rio native, what songs he would recommend to people to get an idea about a town like Del Rio and his life in general. Here’s his list. Commentary is by Beckmann: “Texas on My Mind” by Pat Green – “It’s a great song, and it was written by a close friend of mine, Jango Foster.” “Hell of a Year” by Parker McCollum “Jesse’s Soul” by Radney Foster – “I would say any song by Radney Foster, but ‘Jesse’s Soul’ is just one of those songs that I really like.” “West Texas Rain” by Wade Bowen “Blame It On Mexico” by George Strait – “This song obviously needs to be on any list regarding Del Rio, but I like it because it reminds me of Acuña back in the day.” “Speed Trap Town” by Jason Isbell “Missing You Is More Than I Can Do” by The Randy Rogers Band – “It’s a song about two people who grew up in a small town and one goes off to be an entertainer and how that impacts their relationship. It’s got that small town vibe. It’s really cool and reminds me of home.”
Beckmann
“Thirty Damn Years” by Peter the III “Mama Tried” by Merle Haggard
“No More Buffalo” by James McMurtry – “It’s just so good and just kind of talks about traveling and being on the highway and going to small towns. It gives me that sense of nostalgia.”
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Expecting Perfection band members Ari Menchaca, Diego Coronado, Luis Enrique Guadarrama Garza and Poncho Biscaino combine different musical genres, while keeping in touch with the essence of 90s rock.
n o i t c e f r e P g n i Expect 12
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Story and photos by ATZIMBA MORALES
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hat began as a school hobby, local band Expecting Perfection continues to establish its local roots while proving the local music scene is more than just one specific genre. “Back in the day, when we were in middle school, it was me and Diego. I think it was in seventh grade, me and Diego decided to start a band,” Ari Menchaca said. The band went under a different name during its initial phase, with Menchaca as the lead guitarist and Diego Coronado as the drummer. At the time, Menchaca and Coronado only performed covers, at places such as The Spot skating rink and Del Rio High School’s Battle of the Bands. Menchaca added they briefly disbanded after there wasn’t progress, and later Menchaca met other people to join the band that would take the name of Expecting Perfection. “With the name Expecting Perfection … it was just in the back of my mind ‘dang, these guys are probably expecting a lot from us … they’re going to be expecting perfection,” Menchaca said. At that moment the name clicked and the band began performing, according to Menchaca. The people Menchaca worked with left the band, with Coronado reprising his role on the drums and Luis Enrique Guadarrama Garza later filling in as rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist. The band’s first official performance was the Rotary Park’s first park show.
“We all had our complications because we were still in high school at the time,” Menchaca said. During this time Poncho Biscaino was performing with the band Shuttered Sound, but would later join Expecting Perfection as the bassist. Menchaca added at that time each band member went through their own experiences. That same summer the band created its first setlist of six original songs. “We just went out there and performed all that,” Menchaca said. Luis added the brief hiatus allowed him to discover his singing range, as well as the style he was comfortable with. “Everyone got to grow and in the long run, once we got back together it just clicked,” Guadarrama said. The band describes itself as its own thing, as it does have some songs that have a pop-punk feel and other songs that are more heavy metal, but the band does
not settle on one specific music genre. “It’s really what just comes out, what the song makes of itself,” Guadarrama said. All the band members agreed they didn’t realize the local music scene was bigger than expected and that it went beyond the high school’s battle of the bands. “We’re trying to grow and we’re trying to see if we can make the (local) scene grow again,” Coronado said. Menchaca added the local music scene is a hidden gem that many people do not realize, and there is much more talent that has yet to be discovered by the public. Del Rioans can check out the band’s current music on YouTube and Spotify, while the band plans on revamping its music catalog sometime this summer. Expecting Perfection recently released a “raw and acoustic” EP on April 7, with an accompanying music video for the track “The Better Half”. •
The band continues to improve its musical presence, while also revamping some of its older music catalog.
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SPENCER
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HITNEY
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“
I hope there’s a song that maybe somebody will grab onto and enjoy!
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rom the Beach Boys to AC/DC to gospel, Spencer Whitney’s musical tastes have been shaped by a lifetime of musical education. Whitney, 27, has called Del Rio home for about four years. Originally from Collinsville, Texas, he moved to Del Rio with his wife, April, and her daughter Temperance. The family has grown by one more as daughter Sawyer arrived two years ago. Music has been a part of Whitney’s life since his youth. He said he began playing music around the age of 11 but that his tastes always leaned towards the classics. “I just grabbed a guitar and started learning to play. I began with stuff like The Beach Boys, but it evolved into harder stuff like AC/DC and a lot more classic rock. Truth is I just like to play and write songs,” Whitney said. Now, Whitney has learned to play not just the guitar but the bass, piano and lap guitar as well. Whitney began his professional music career playing in bands such as the Travis Parker Band and Ravenna Sun before deciding to start writing music on his own. In the beginning, Whitney admits that it wasn’t some of his best work. “Really it was just some awful band
Story and photos by BRIAN ARGABRIGHT
recordings,” Whitney said with a laugh. However, as Whitney continued to forge his own identity in the music world, the new freedom he encountered was his chance to really experiment with sound and create something he could truly call his own. Under the guise of Free Joy Billy’s Eye Records, Whitney began recording newer, more unique tracks. Many of them were instrumental rock tracks blended with what could be described as video game inspired
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sounds. Those recordings turned into a concept Whitney said he envisioned as his own version of the avant garde programming of Adult Swim. The idea was appropriate as some of those more experimental tracks include names such as “spaceghost” and “sowutifidonthavaplan?” and “Wild Aluminum” parts one and two. Many of the tracks were recorded as part of the Syd Slyturkey and the Magick Pokstarz concept Whitney has been developing for many years. “It just has its own thing. It’s electronic rock, but it
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evolved into a concept that’s kind of hard to describe,” Whitney said. Lately Whitney has begun to work on more personal gospel and Christian music tracks inspired by his participation in the ACTS program at Sacred Heart church. “I’ve been a part of ACTS for the past two months,” Whitney said during an interview in March. “I was actually the music director on the last ACTS retreat. I recorded a couple of songs and am already working on
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volume two, which I hope to be done with in April.” And if his musical plate wasn’t full enough, Whitney has also begun to incorporate some Latin songs into his catalog. He recently recorded “Dulce Caramelo” along with Angie Quintero, who performs under the name AngieQ. “I can’t put what I do into one style,” Whitney said. Recently Whitney has taken his work public, performing at the inaugural First Friday Artwalk collaborative event held on South Main Street. It was a big step for the singer/ songwriter because even though he’s been making music for years, performing it live for a wide audience still makes him anxious. “Sharing my talent has always been a scary thing for me. When I was asked to play at First Friday I was told it was because people liked what I played, but I’m a humble guy who’s still kind of bashful and prickly about any kind of criticism. I’m also bad at taking compliments,” Whitney said. “But I enjoy playing music, so when I do it in front of people I hope there’s a song that maybe somebody will grab onto and enjoy.” To hear more of Whitney’s music, go online and visit soundcloud.com and search for Free Joe Billys Eye Records. •
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A GRANDE LIFE
Josue Gonzalez Story and photo by ATZIMBA MORALES
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s Del Rio High School’s Choir instructor, Josue Gonzalez believes music can bring the best out in people. Neither music nor teaching were in Gonzalez’s future plans, but it took one course of choir for him to discover his musical talent. He recalls being hesitant about pursuing a career in music, as his parents wanted him to pursue a “stable” career in medicine or law. “I started to compete and win awards. I thought ‘Wow, I’m good,’” Gonzalez said. Towards Gonzalez’s high school graduation, he wanted to pursue a degree in music yet was still opposed by his parents. “I wanted to try out for an audition at the University of Texas at San Antonio, but my parents didn’t want to take me,” Gonzalez said. Gonzalez thanks his older brother for supporting his dream, and taking him to that audition. At the time, his brother had returned from a deployment, and Gonzalez recalls driving to the audition in a beat down car. Gonzalez’s audition earned him a full ride to UTSA and in order to keep the peace with his parents, he pursued a degree in music business. Yet, his story does not end there. Gonzalez later took on an internship in San Antonio, while also
auditioning for roles in musical plays. Gonzalez even had the opportunity to perform in Austria. One day, Gonzalez’s brother called him and asked Gonzalez to return to Del Rio, and help out with their aging parents. “I didn’t know what I’d do. I applied for the director position at Del Rio Council for the Arts, but obviously didn’t get it,” Gonzalez said. “He was like, ‘Hey, the choir director at the high school is retiring’ and they’re looking to hire,” Gonzalez said. Gonzalez applied and has taught many students throughout his career. “These kids have to trust you, and when they trust you, they’re willing to reach their full potential,” Gonzalez said. Gonzalez reminds his students he comes from the same neighborhood and understands the difficulty of breaking that stereotype. He continues to contribute to their education, while also watching his former students excel in their career paths. “I always watch my former students perform. I saw one of my students perform during her sophomore recital (in college). It’s great getting to see these kids getting to do the same things I did when I was their age,” Gonzalez said. •
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MARIACHI
METZTLI
BRILLANTE
Story and photos by BRIAN ARGABRIGHT
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Marina Olmos plays guitar as part of Mariachi Metztli Brillante and is one of the group’s founding members.
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ariachi music is such a longtime tradition in Del Rio that it’s not odd to hear the familiar plinking of guitar strings and hum of trumpets at social gatherings, birthdays or any of a plethora of special occasions. Now, a new group of carrying on the tradition of mariachi music, and they’re making a little history along the way. Mariachi Metztli Brillante features six Del Rio women born and raised here in the Queen City. They’re the first all-female mariachi group in Del Rio and one of only a handful of groups in Texas. Brillante includes Axochitzin “Xochitl” Abrego on guitar and vocals, Yanelly Guerrero on bass and guitar, Patricia Hernandez on trumpet, Yulissa Hernandez on trumpet and vocals, Ebdawna “Ebby” Jo Jimenez on violin, and Marina Olmos on guitar. The group ranges in ages from 19 to 32. All of
them have professional lives or are students on their way to a professional life. One is a mom to two children while another just finished her treatments in her multi-year fight against leukemia and is on the mend. Despite their differences, music is the passion that connects them all. While Patricia and Yulissa are cousins, all six women are connected not just by the music they play now, but by the lives they’ve lived and the paths that led them together. All six women played in mariachi bands as part of the San Felipe Del Rio CISD. Many of them learned to play their first instruments in classes taught at the Casa de la Cultura, where Abrego is now an instructor and whose roots are firmly planted. For the Hernandezes, mariachi music has been a part of their lives since they were born. “I started learning to play when I was five. My dad is a musician, but he learned on his own. I started playing mariachi music when I was in the seventh grade all the way up through high school. I played as a part of Mariachi La Diferencia, Mariachi Diamantes and Mariachi de Oro. After I was done with high school I kept trying to get people together to play, to keep the tradition going,” Yulissa Hernandez said. “I remember
talking with Marina and she said, ‘Let’s just do it,’ but it was so hard to find people with experience.” Little did they know, there was plenty of experience just looking for an outlet for expression. Olmos already had plenty of mariachi experience. She learned to play the music in eighth grade and has continued ever since. Her talent carried her to the University of Texas-San Antonio where she played with the mariachi group there. Abrego learned to start playing music when she was five years old. She took piano lessons until she was 13 and has had guitar and vocal lessons since she was seven years old. She calls herself a “musician by ear,” as she learns songs by hearing them and playing them via trial and error. She said joining Brillante was one of the best things that’s ever happened to her. “Being in this group has helped me a lot. Marina has been a friend of mine forever. In band I sat next to her because she was sweet to me and I secretly hoped she would teach me how to be better. We grew up without her knowing she was my mentor,” Abrego said. “Musicians have always been in my family. My grandparents, who were local workers, played. My mother, who
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is a political activist, is a singer. My brothers are musicians.” The group’s start wasn’t an easy one. “It got to the point we were just going to be a trio,” Olmos said. “We had another friend, Oscar, who was going to be the guitaron, but he was going to be out of town a lot so it was going to be hard.” Then, one-by-one, the pieces started to come together beginning near the end of October and beginning of November. In January, Guerrero and Patricia joined the group. Guerrero was brought in and she learned to play bass to help the group’s sound. Patricia joined in on the fun and then Abrego, who was friends with the group, mentioned Jimenez, whose experience with mariachi was the perfect final piece to the musical puzzle. “I started playing piano when I was three. In fifth grade I started playing violin in orchestra and basically did that until I was a senior. I joined the mariachi group at the high school as a senior because it was something I wanted to do,” Jimenez said. “I played with Mariachi La Diferencia and helped start Mariachi Rayos Del Sol before leaving Del Rio and moving to El Paso. I played with a group there called Mariachi El Relampago.” Jimenez eventually moved back to Del Rio and worked with the school district alongside Jesse Brijalba, the Del Rio Middle School’s band and mariachi director, before leaving the school district. “I moved away for about a year and then came back. I truly believe God had different plans for me. When I got back and reconnected with Xochitl, one of the first things I asked her was, ‘So, about that band …’’ Jimenez said. Jimenez joined the group in February. With the band now formed, the group had just one practice before deciding to try their luck by offering traditional serenades, or serenatas, for Valentine’s Day. The group was hired to do a handful of performances, but their first public outing was a success. They did a total of 12 songs including one performance for a 100-year-old woman in a nursing home whom they say was singing and crying along with the music. “Really, nothing was planned. We didn’t even have a dress code. We just wore some blue sweaters,” Abrego said. “It felt good. It didn’t go bad at all. We went in with the attitude of if we mess up it’s okay. We just came together and did it,” Yulissa said. Most of the reactions the group has received have been positive. Patricia and Yulissa said their families are proud that they are carrying on the family tradition. “It feel really good. Her dad and my dad had a group when they were younger and seeing us keep that going is like us following their footsteps,” Patricia said. “This is exciting for us, but it means everything to me. Music has always been a part of me since I was young. My dad is my inspiration, and he’s been by my side 100 percent every step of the way. My uncle has
Cousins Yulissa Hernandez, top, and Patricia Hernandez both play trumpet as part of Mariachi Metztli Brillante. Yulissa is also one of the group’s vocalists.
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Mariachi Metztli Brillante also includes Axochitzin “Xochitl” Abrego on guitar (top), Ebdawna “Ebby” Jo Jimenez on violin and Yanelly Guerrero on bass and guitar.
always been there for me. Any excuse to play together we would use it,” Yulissa said. “This means the world to me, and getting to share it was Patricia … it’s even more special because she’s always been there with me.” Guerrero said being a part of the group makes her feel very empowered. “We didn’t let fear or any kind of barrier try and stop us,” Guerrero said. “It really was fate that brought us together. We’ve all had our own lives and to come back and to reconnect … music has created a bond within us. It’s also really cool that we’re all millennial women who are keeping these musical and cultural traditions alive.” “These are my people,” Patricia added. “This is very awesome. I know I’ve wanted this for a good while, since I was in high school,” Olmos said. “Our goal was always to do the full female mariachi band. Yulissa wanted to do that from the beginning, so when I see all-female groups I wanna be them. I wanna be in their group. Now, I have a group of my own and it’s because the music. Music, in general, just brings us together.” Jimenez said she is proud to be a part of the group and what it
means in terms of its place in society. “This is a big thing for me and for the girls. I don’t know if they understand how empowering this really is. They created a group of all females in what has typically been a male-dominated world. The only difference in the music we make versus the music they make is that we’re females. There’s no gender difference in music,” Jimenez said. “We’ve had a well-balanced reaction to what we do. We’ve had people for what we’re doing and people against. Being an all-female group isn’t for some people. They choose not to hire us for that reason, but that’s their personal preference.” Abrego said she’s trying to encourage the group to do more things together. It’s a task that has become even more difficult with the current COVID-19 pandemic and the rules regarding social distancing. Once that is lifted, though, Abrego said she hopes the group can bond more than just at practice and performances. “All these girls are inspiring. They all inspire me in some way. All these little pieces just came together and created something amazing. We may be a small, local group, but they’ve already made the biggest achievement by just performing. I would feel super accomplished by what we’ve done musically already.” •
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Story and photo by ATZIMBA MORALES
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Angel Baena performs a variety of Latin hit songs with his acoustic set during a fundraiser for the Friends of La Adelita last year.
tardom was never in Del Rio musician Angel Baena’s plans for the future and performing became natural after slowly opening up. Baena who uses his surname as his stage name estimates around 12 years old he picked up a guitar, but it wasn’t until months after his relatives offered to give him one for his birthday. “I wanted to play video games … I picked up a guitar after watching some guy on YouTube, and I realized how cool it was,” Baena said. Baena didn’t immediately turn to performing, he began strumming his guitar at home and sometimes at school. It was during his senior year of high school that he began performing for his church’s choir. Baena recounted he slowly warmed up to singing and before he knew it he was singing for his church. After high school Baena stopped performing and took a job as a waiter at La Mojica. At the time, the restaurant was still fairly new, and one day the owner of a restaurant in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico mentioned he wanted to have live music, according to Baena. Baena offered his skills, performed and from there decided to take his musical career seriously. He performed at La Veranda and has become a requested performer for local venues and parties. Baena added he can’t define his musical genre because he performs a variety of music, from country to rap, and it depends on the audience he’s performing for. “The day I release my EP I’ll know what musical genre I am,” Baena said. Baena hopes to have an album released towards the end of this year, and return to publishing videos on YouTube. Before Baena took a break from performing, his online videos garnered him over 80,000 views each. Baena is still getting used to people recognizing him as “the music guy,” but that recognition is making him realize he has a talent that draws people in. He does have some local inspirations such as Peter the 3rd and William Beckmann, which made him realize all three of them use Del Rio as inspiration for music. In the meantime, Baena has a repertoire of cover songs but also plans to work on some original music. Baena’s enthusiasts can keep a look out for him at future events around town. • GRANDE / MAY 2020
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Last Look I’m not going to lie. This was not an easy issue to put together. This is the second music issue we’ve put together for Del Rio Grande and this one was going great. Everything was being scheduled early and we were aiming to be ahead of schedule … and then COVID-19 arrived and everything ground to a halt. Suddenly a magazine dedicated to Del Rio’s music scene didn’t seem too important again. When we got the go-ahead to resume planning for this issue, I had only one interview left to do and that was William Beckmann, Del Rio’s next musical superstar. And all it took was one sentence to remind me why a music issue was needed in times like these – “Music is supposed to help heal people, so the more we put out there, the better.” That’s what Beck told me, and he’s right. In these days of uncertainty, where days blended together, and we grew negative from being denied the ability to live our lives the way we used to, a lot of us turned to music to remind us of the good times, to help us find just the right feelings to deal with life right now, to inspire us and to just remind us that it’s okay to cry because we’re human and we aren’t perfect. The folks we spoke to for this issue are artists. They view the world in a way that many of us can’t or don’t, but they also want to share that talent with the world through their music. Whether it’s the free spirit of folks like Spencer Whitney to the next generation of balladeers like Mariachi Metztli Brillante to the up-and-comers like Angel Baena, music is something that reaches across generations, races and genders to entertain us. This won’t be the last Del Rio Grande magazine to focus on music, so if we didn’t get to your favorite band or artist in this issue, or in the previous issue, let us know and we will be happy to include them in our 2021 issue. For now, crank up the tunes and get lost in the music that is the soundtrack of your life. We’ll see you all next month. Brian Argabright Grande Writer/Photographer
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- The members of Mariacho Metztli Brillante have some fun during their photo session inside the Casa de la Cultura. - Spencer Whitney wanted to make sure we got a good photo of his red shoes, a style choice that personifies Whitney’s eclectic take on music. - You never know when and where you’ll bump into William Beckmann, but he’s always ready for a proper selfie.
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HEART FELT THANKS TO OUR COMMUNITY We at Val Verde Regional Medical Center and all our associated clinics have always been thankful for our community. But as we joined together to fight the coronavirus, we didn’t realize how far you would all go to offer support. Our community really went all out during this time of uncertainty. You took the time to provide us with the resources we needed and you took care of our hearts as well. You supported us with food and drink, words of encouragement, kindness and gratitude and showed you cared in so many ways. We thank each of you from the bottoms of our hearts for everything you have done. We are all so very fortunate to live in a community that cares for one another so deeply. living our mission, focused on our vision and empowered by our legacy
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