Debuting In Chicago Los Rondels: Laredo’s Original Tejano Recording Artists

The book Laredo’s Original Tejano Recording Artists written by Humberto Gonzalez meticulously describes the journey of a Tejano band in Texas, that helped pioneer the newly formed Tejano music genre. The author who was himself a part of the band depicted the initial days of the formation, and eruption of the band in the musical scene of U.S and in Spanish speaking regions.

In the particular segment of the book, the author speaks about the first tour the group went on outside their state of Texas. The story builds on the reputation the band had made for themselves in Texas, and in the Spanish speaking region of the country and outside. The author built up the group’s success story perfectly, where he described how the band’s first releases were getting popular among the masses within the state boundaries, and how easily they managed to bust into the top ten of the charts in Laredo and Mexico. The author perfectly portrays the band’s initial success in the state of Texas, and the surrounding areas where Spanish is spoken, and pictures the summer of ’68 to be their turning point where they were officially invited to perform outside the state, i.e. in Chicago

The Invitation

After the band’s initial rise to fame within the state, they were now contacted by organizers and sponsors from Chicago. This turned out to be the biggest break for the newly formed band. All of the members were excited and enthralled to be performing outside the state for the first time. The author describes the group performing within the state a number of times, and getting an invitation to perform outside the state was something that they all were excited about.

It was evident in the story earlier, nearly every person who was a part of this band was a bachelor, a college student, and worked part-time, except for one. Victor Garza. The music director and the lead guitarist couldn’t join them as he had a full-time job, and a family to look after, joining them in a three-week long tour wasn’t possible. In came an equally talented and skilled replacement, who never made the loss feel heavy on the rest of the members of the band even though the absence of their mentor was always on their minds

The Tour

As the group’s first tour outside the state began, they were very excited and thrilled to perform in front of new audiences. The promoters who invited them to perform were a bit weird to say the least, but, due to their heavy influence in the area, and their power, the band was in safe hands. They performed on multiple occasions while on tour, and they were heavily backed up by the influential promoters, who once jumped on the ticket stall with a handgun to get their performers their due.

The book Laredo’s Original Tejano Recording Artists is filled with much more entertaining and intriguing incidents about the band’s experiences, and the author Humberto Gonzalez beautifully depicts the stories in his memoir. Grab your copies of this exciting band’s journey on Amazon and Goodreads, where it is readily available for enthusiasts from all over the globe.