Now I still do experiments, a little bit, but it's more refined. Villarreal: Well when I first started, even with Emilio, we were just experimenting with ideas, sounds. When I was searching for a (band) name, I figured, "You know what, I'm going to put 'rodeo' here."įestiva: How do you feel you've evolved as an artist throughout Rodeo's nine albums? How long ago was your most recent release? Every time I looked up at that frame, 'rodeo' stuck with me. As a matter of fact, I even saved the poster, I framed it. I don't remember the exact total, but let's say, it was like 56,000 people were there, or something like that. It was a big experience for me, I was shocked to see how many people were there. During the tour with Emilio, we played in the rodeo in San Antonio, and it was one of the biggest rodeos. Tejano at the time was booming in the '90's, so it was just the right time for me to do something. They offered me a contract within a month or so, to do a CD. One of the songs that I did on the demo really blew them away. But because Capitol (Records) knew who I was, they gave me an opportunity and asked me for some demos. Originally I just wanted to make a group and play locally. At that point with Emilio, I decided I was going to move on and do something (else). I met a lot of people through the association with them. Villarreal: I had a good run with Emilio, we were already touring in Monterrey, and I had a lot of connections. So that's something that I learned along the way from them.įestiva: What led to the formation of Grupo Rodeo in 1993 and why that name? He was right, his concept was correct, that what the people want to hear on the radio is just something that's going to be catchy enough, simple enough so they can dance, drink, and all that good stuff. Basically his concept was, "we're trying to make music that was commercial." That's always been what's stuck with me. He liked the fact that I could play sax and keyboard, so he gave me the job.Īs far as learning, I learned a lot of stuff from Emilio. I went ahead and took my sax, just in case. He was looking for a keyboard player and I went to audition. By '89 he had a band and I was the last member to join the band. From what time period where you with Navaira, and what did you take away from your time there? That was my beginning.įestiva: I heard that you played sax, keyboard, and arranged music with Emilio Navaira. At 13, I started playing professionally with my dad and my uncle. That got started by listening to my dad, and wanting to be just like him. His brother had a orchestra by the name of Grupo Villarreal. Villarreal: My father was a musician himself, he used to play with his brother. The leader of Grupo Rodeo took a few minutes out of his busy schedule to talk about his lengthy Tejano career.įestiva: How did you get started in Tejano music? San Antonio's Frank "Pancho" Villarreal returns to the Valley tonight, at the Gaslight Club in McAllen.
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