Thursday j k
hjrsday, July 27,2000
AGGIE£
THE BATTALION
.Rico Suave
Tejano brings flavor of Mexico to College Station music scene
Kristen Young
The Battalion
Local latino entertainment venues are the
pulse of Bryan night life. In light of Bryan-Col-
lege Station's large Hispanic population, Te
jano is one of the most popular forms of music
in the area. Several local night clubs, including
El Tejano, Lulac and Tejano Ranch, feature live
and deejayed Tejano music.
Big-name appearances include Jay
Perez, one of the most notable artists
in the industry, who Recently per- ^
formed at Tejano Ranch.
Tejano music is working-class
music, and it parallels American
country music. It comes in two
principal genres: /»*
ranchero, the modern country western type,
and corrido, a traditional story ballad.
These songs tend to be lyrically superficial
and sentimental, evading provocative social
and political issues.
"In Tejano rancheros, someone usually falls
in love, or loses a wife or a girlfriend, or goes
to a rodeo or horse-
nks in a game of pooll
DOOl.
bs surfaci
Princeton Police Chief Tim Ksif
used to comment further on
tter Wednesday.’
Similar clubs have cropped
•where in the United States,
In March, Washington Attar
reral Christine Gregoiresued 13f
ters of a gifting club^caisingtk
pehiting an illegal pyramidscher
ed the Renewal Celebration.
\nd last week, several male and!
e police officers in Auburn,Mail
e suspended or forced to resign:
spending $2,000 to join the Ir
ranging Lives" pyramidschemt
Jack in Texas, the problem beta:
•pidemic of sorts in Marchin
ton, southwest of Dallas,"
ens of calls streaming in to If
ce.
We had so many co
ut it. It became really so wi
ad it became the talkoftheto' 1
re were so many people gettin:
ed," police spokesperson Dee
on said Wednesday,
authorities eventually teamed
i the Better Business Bureau
a news conference warr
ten of the clubs.
Jo arrests were made, andU-
ibers’were stuck to dwell onf
icial losses.
Arlington resident Dei
[quist borrowed $5,000 fa
c in March to join one suchd
rever saw a penny of it again
back riding," said Felix Torres, manager of
KBMA, a local Spanish radio station.
The typical Tejano band is comprised of a
button accordion, a Mexican 12-string guitar,
drums and an occasional alto saxophone.
Tony Walker, drummer and manager of
Third Floor Cantina, said Tejano music differs
from other Latino music. "The rhythms and
style of play are different," Walker said.
Mario Juan, an employee of KBMA,
added, "Tejano music is very accordion-
heavy because that's really the prime in
strument in Tejano and the regional
mexican music."
The universal icon of Tejano music
is Selena.
"Selena really brought Tejano
music to the forefront, more
so than any other artist
ever has," Walker
said. "Tejano mu
sic is still reel
ing from the
’ loss."
Third
Floor Cantina
offers a mix of all
Latino music types.
"Third Floor was the first live music
venue ever to conduct a Tejano night, and, at
one time, it was the
biggest thing in town,"
said Walker. "Manny
Barraza (DJ) plays sal
sa, merengue and mambo.
He also plays American contemporary mu
sic, hip-hop, jazz and country. "It's not all Te
jano music."
Likewise, the music venue attracts an
eclectic conglomeration of individuals. Ac
cording to Walker, patrons range in age frqm
18 to 65, and they come from every race and
level on the socio-economic
ladder. However, ap
proximately 95 per
cent are Hispanic
working class. The
remaining 5 percent
include African
Americans, Cau
casian working class
college students.
As the sole local Spanish ra
dio station, KBMA also of
fers a wide variety of Lati
no music. Blanketing
this diverse population
is a monumental task.
"We try to play every
thing," Juan said. "We play a lot
of Mexican regional music, a lot of Tejano, and
we also have international music on our
playlist."
"We play Mexican, Tejano, Puerto Rican,
Cuban, Honduran and Spanish,"
Torres said. "All the Latin American country
music is played on this station. So we really
have a variety of music on the air." He said the
amount of air time dedicated to each genre is
in direct proportion to the number of listeners
from each segment of the Latino population.
American pop music is also featured on the
station, reflecting globalization and the blur
ring of boundaries between music cultures.
"Some American pop songs are translated
into Spanish, but you also find a lot of the
Spanish music being translated into English,"
Torres said. Several American hits are preva
lent in the Latino pool of pop, for instance
"Mambo No. 5." Likewise, Latino influence
has leaked into American pop
culture, especially in the case of
Ricky Martin.
Native Mexican music is also in demand
in the College Station area.
"The big local venue right now is the Lake-
view Club in Bryan. Every Sunday night there
is usually a big Latino Spanish band that
comes and plays to pretty big crowds," said
Juan. "The Lakeview Club primarily features
Mexican music and dance.
"It's mostly related to Mexico because there
are people here from all areas of Mexico," said
Torres. Accordingly, the club attracts primari
ly working class Mexican-American patrons.
Local Latino entertainment venues do not
commonly attract the college population.
"Alternative music is the most popular mu
sic, obviously, with the Latino student popu
lation," Walker said. "That's the one that's go
ing to get the draw."
The local Latino music subculture is vi
brant and extensive. Torres encourages every
one to venture out and "discover it with your
own eyes and ears."
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sent to work at a country club for the
summer. She befriends Brittany
(Ward), who introduces her to the rich,
elite circle. The rich kids turn out to be
as insane as the people Adrien left be
hind in the institution.
When Brittany thinks Adrien is
trying to steal her love interest (Set
tle), the film turns into a semi-thriller.
With painfully obvious plot twists
and foreshadowing, the movie's fi
nale is too predictable.
The reason Adrien was sent to a
mental institution provides the only
suspense, and it is not revealed until
late in the film.
Her incident with insanity makes
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drastically after the first 10 minutes of
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