For immediate release
April 2, 2025
Media Contact: Piper LeMoine
Media Contact email: piper@ranchoalegre.org
Media Contact phone: 512-609-9208
Rancho Alegre Conjunto Music Festival to Celebrate 10th Anniversary April 25-27 in Austin, Announces Lineup and Venues
Central Machine Works and Doris Miller Auditorium to host three days of dancing, Texas cultural music, and lots and lots of accordions
Austin, Texas - Austin-based nonprofit organization Rancho Alegre announced its lineup for the 2025 Rancho Alegre Conjunto Music Festival (RACMF), scheduled for April 25 at Central Machine Works and April 26 and 27 at the Doris Miller Auditorium in East Austin. The event is free admission and all ages are welcome.
Conjunto (KOHN-hoon-toe) is an accordion-driven Texas roots music genre born in south Texas at the end of the 19th century and is a fusion of German rhythms like polkas, waltzes, and shottices with Mexican folk songs sung in Spanish. Conjunto, the traditional root of modern Tejano music, has been the soundtrack of the lives of Mexican-Americans for generations and could be heard all over Austin's east side for decades. With three days of purely Latine music, the RACMF is one of Austin’s largest Latine music events.
“We are excited to return to both Central Machine Works and the Doris Miller Auditorium this year. Central Machine Works is one of the hottest venues in town and one of the few who enthusiastically book all kinds of music. We love bringing Conjunto music to their regular crowd and also introducing our audience to this great home-grown venue,” says Rancho Alegre Executive Director Baldomero “Frank” Cuellar.
“And the legendary Doris Miller Auditorium is one of Austin’s hidden gems, whose music legacy is unparalleled in a city where historic venues are disappearing every year. Ever since I was a kid growing up in East Austin, I’ve loved this building and its role in presenting black music when Austin was still segregated. It’s an honor to present Conjunto on the same stage that welcomed such legends as Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, and Tina Turner. We loved having our festival there last year, so we’re excited to return.”
The RACMF lineups have always been diverse and have featured talent from all over the state who don’t usually get a shot to play in Austin or at bigger festivals.
Friday April 25th, 5:30 to 10pm, Central Machine Works (4824 E. Cesar Chavez, Austin TX 78702):
5:45pm Belen Escobedo y Panfilo’s Güera (San Antonio)
7:15pm Conjunto Baraja de Oro (Waxahachie)
8:45pm Headliner - Los Enmascarados (Kingsville)
Saturday April 26th, 1 to 10pm (doors open at noon), Doris Miller Auditorium (2300 Rosewood, Austin TX 78702):
1:15pm Conjunto Los Pinkys (Austin)
2:45pm Los Tremendos Alacranes (Corpus Christi)
4:15pm Rene Joslin y Los Favoritos (Alice)
5:45 pm Flavio Longoria y Los Conjunto Kingz featuring Juanito Castillo (San Antonio)
7:15pm Conjunto Impulso de Ernesto Cadena (San Diego, TX)
8:45pm Headliner - Los Cucuys de Rodney Rodriguez (Rio Grande City)
Sunday April 27th, 1 to 10pm (doors open at noon), Doris Miller Auditorium:
1:15pm Max Ancira (Houston)
2:45pm Conjunto Los Amores (Laredo)
4:15pm Felipe Perez y Sus Polkeros (San Antonio)
5:45pm Cindy Ramos y Su Conjunto (Laredo)
7:15pm Gilberto Perez Jr y Sus Compadres (Alice)
8:45pm Headliner - Bobby Salinas y Los Mas Bravos Del Valle (McAllen)
The festival will also feature lifetime achievement awards for Austin’s own Thomas Hernandez of Turntable Records, Ramiro Gonzalez, Bene Medina, Wally Gonzalez, Mingo Saldivar, and Janie Esparza of Janie’s Record Shop. The lineup and set times may change without notice.
Emcees for the event include longtime radio host Steve Barber, Austin Conjunto legend Julian Limón Fernandez, and reality TV stars Daniel and Cathy from A&E’s Inmate to Roommate series.
The Rancho Alegre Conjunto Music Festival is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department, the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Texas Music Office, The National Endowment for the Arts, KEDA Radio, Lovemytejano.com, Tex Tune Automotive, Austin Manual Therapy Associates, Texas Folklife, JF Mechanical, Gottfried Alexander Law Firm, Moxie Maeve, Burt's Texas Garden, Ricardo and Esperanza Rodriguez, and Cynthia and Gonzalo Rodriguez. Production partners include Compadresmusic, Full Gallop, and 2nd Gate Productions.
About Rancho Alegre
Rancho Alegre is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Conjunto music. Projects include a podcast, a nonprofit record label, digitizing analog recordings, interviewing legendary and up-and-coming artists, contributing to the historical record of Tejano and Conjunto music, connecting artists with professional and business services and resources, affordable merchandise for bands, speaking to schools and universities, and presenting the annual Rancho Alegre Conjunto Music Festival and various events throughout the year. Further information about the organization’s year-round projects is available at ranchoalegre.org or the free Rancho Alegre mobile app.
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