Crossing Borders
Crossing Borders
My Journey in Music
Max Baca is one of the foremost artists of Tex-Mex music, the infectious dance music sweeping through the Texas-Mexico borderlands since the 1940s. His Grammy-winning group, Los Texmaniacs, and his extensive work with the accordionist Flaco Jiménez established the Albuquerque-born and San Antonio-based bajo sexto player/bandleader as a spokesperson for a too-often-maligned culture. The list of artists who have contributed to Los Texmaniacs’ albums include Alejandro Escovedo, Joe Ely, Rick Trevino, Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel, David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, and Lyle Lovett.
Max Baca was born to play music. By his eighth birthday, he was already playing in his father’s band. Polkas, redovas, corridos, boleros, chotises, huapangos, and waltzes are in his blood. Baca’s music grew out of the harsh life of the borderland, and the duality of borderland music—its keening beauty—remains a recurring theme in everything he does.
Max Baca’s memoir offers an invaluable contribution to the very thin body of memoirs written by nonwhite musicians who have been key figures in the historical development of Hispanic musical cultures in the United States.
I love this book for its freshness, its enthusiasm. It is a life story, not just of Max Baca but of many of the musicians who perform the border music of the lower Río Grande Valley and beyond. It tells of gigs from border bars to concert halls in Europe and battlefields in Afghanistan. It reveals the spirit of a culture founded in family tradition, honor in friendship, and love of music. Read this book and listen to the music of the borderlands. It’s beautiful.
Max Baca is an American original. The music he makes is indistinguishable from the life he has lived, and it could never have happened anywhere else in the world.'--Daniel Sheehy, curator emeritus, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Max Baca is the founder of Los Texmaniacs, one of the top conjuntos in the world. Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he lives in San Antonio, Texas. Craig Harris has taught, written about, photographed, and played music for more than four decades. His most recent book is Bluegrass, Newgrass, Old-Time, and Americana Music. He hosts The Craig Harris Show, a weekly radio show out of Washington, DC. Daniel Sheehy is the director and a curator emeritus of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Daniel Sheehy
Chapter One. Comenzando (Beginnings)
Chapter Two. Flaco
Chapter Three. Creciendo (Growing)
Chapter Four. La Música (The Music)
Chapter Five. Familia (Family)
Chapter Six. Cima de Cartel (Headlining)
Chapter Seven. Sir Douglas, Augie, and Freddy Fender
Chapter Eight. El Origen (The Origin)
Chapter Nine. El Movimiento (Moving)
Chapter Ten. Estirándose (Stretching)
Chapter Eleven. Empujando Hacia Adelante (Pushing Forward)
Chapter Twelve. Selena
Chapter Thirteen. Los Texmaniacs
Chapter Fourteen. Grabación (Recording)
Chapter Fifteen. Cantando por una Causa (Singing for a Cause)
Chapter Sixteen. Carlos
Chapter Seventeen. ¿Adónde Vamos desde Aquí? (Where Do We Go from Here?)
Epilogue
Interviews
Max Baca’s Discography
Recommended Viewing
Gringo Lingo
Notes
References
Index
