We here at Rancho Alegre were saddened to hear of the passing of Tony “Ham” Guerrero, leader and founding member of the legendary Tortilla Factory. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Guerrero family, and we express our deepest condolences. Ham influenced countless musicians over the years, and he will be greatly missed, but his legacy will live on.

Al Muñiz is a character. And at Rancho Alegre, we love characters. We especially like exceptionally talented, passionate characters who have paid their dues in the industry and are doing what they love to do.

Here at Rancho Alegre, we talk. A lot. Frequently we’ll have more than one topic going at once. During Saturday’s marathon discussion, Frank mentioned that Ruben Naranjo did a cover of She’s About a Mover. So when we got home, I listened to it. And I listened again. And again. It was mind-blowing.

First of all, Rancho Alegre Entertainment started Rancho Alegre Radio to preserve a lot of the old recordings that are no longer being produced, as well as to help promote new recordings that aren’t being played on the radio. Especially since we live in Austin, where Tejano radio stations are scarce and Conjunto stations are non-existent. More projects to come include Traders Village (in the final development phase), where you can trade music with no fees.

A couple weeks back, the Austin American-Statesman featured one of our local legends, Manuel “Cowboy” Donley. Check out this lovely piece, written by Juan Castillo, complete with a couple of pictures and a brief performance by the man himself….

Rancho Alegre is pleased to announce that we will be working with Arturo Balderrama and his organization, the National Puro Conjunto Music Association to help promote and preserve Conjunto music. Together, we will be rekindling lost love for the music and igniting some new flames as well.

Conjunto music at one time in the Southwest was king. It was the next phase after Mariachi and dominated the airwaves, especially in Texas. Then from Conjunto, Tejano music broke out and Conjunto was pushed to the side as Tejano, with its exciting horns and, later, synthesizers, ruled the airwaves. And all was good. But then, Norteño came into the picture, pretty much burying Tejano, as Tejano did Conjunto. It didn’t kill Tejano, but at the very least, it dominates the airwaves now.

Everyone knows this story, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.

Little Joe y La Familia at the Flamingo

Saturday night, Rancho Alegre headed south on 183 towards Lockhart to see Little Joe y La Familia at the Flamingo Ballroom, one of our favorite venues.