I just got word that some of the filming for ”Broken Promises”  will happen March 21-22 at the Mercedes KC Hall. They will film dance scenes during those days, and there are rumors that Little Joe will play March 21. I’ll keep you posted.

Lupe Saenz, a die-hard conjunto fan, is teaching by example. He devotes countless hours to keep our music alive through his weekly TV show on the local PBS affiliate and through his Web site http://www.conjunto.org/ Check out the site and you’ll feel thankful we have someone like him to keep conjunto alive.

Last night, while driving home after work, I decided to hit the scan button on my car radio hoping to find some tejano or conjunto tunes. I knew it was an overoptimistic thing to do - we know that local radio programmers don’t have any use for the genres that put the Rio Grande Valley on the musical map - but I still had hope. Instead, what I found were the flavor-of-the-month tunes that have taken over the airwaves. Radio programmers still seem infatuated with narco corridos - they feel drug traffickers need to be glorified and perched on a pedestal for all to worship. It’s sad that programmers think this is all we deserve - idiotic odes to who knows who. Gives a break, man! Ya chale!

Just for the heck of it ... here it goes. 

A friend e-mailed me this. Enjoy!

The Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center will celebrate the Dia de la Guadalupana (day of the Virgin of Guadalupe) with a lecture, pozole and conjunto music. The event will happen at 7 p.m. Wednesday at 225 E. Stanger Street in San Benito. According to Catholic tradition, December 12 is the day when the virgin appeared to a native named Juan Diego on a hillside. Wednesday’s event will feature religious displays by local artists. But if you are not terribly crazy about the Juan Diego/Virgin tale, there is always good conjunto music on tap.

Members of Intocable today took a break from vacationing to help needy children south of the border. The musicians visited some 250 kids at Monterrey’s government-run children’s home and gave them toys. They also helped light the center’s Christmas tree. Kudos to Intocable for their act of kindness.

Hace tiempo… since the last time I listened to this song. This is Tejano! Enjoy

Thanksgiving has come and gone and it’s time to lose the extra pounds. And what better way to do it than by walking the halls of the newly opened Conjunto Museum in San Benito. The museum is one of the best things to happen to conjunto music, and it was made possible largely by the arduous work of Rey Avila, an undying conjunto junkie. I remember talking to Rey a few years ago about his desire to have a conjunto museum in the area, but at the time to me it seemed like an unreachable goal. Well, thanks for proving me wrong, Rey. This man’s devotion to conjunto music and his desire to preserve the  genre’s rich tradition is worthy of admiration. If you get a chance to swing by San Benito, stop at the museum, 210 E. Haywood, and admire our rich conjunto tradition … and the work of a man with a vision.

Norteño music great Ramon Ayala is working with Dodge Arena and other entities to collect donations for flood victims in the Mexican state of Tabasco. The floods displaced almost 1 million people and left 80 percent of the state under water. Donations will be accepted from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today through Nov. 19. For information on the items needed, call 956-648-0810. Let’s give a little to those who have nothing.