Los Garcia Brothers and Los Bad Boys will go toe to toe Friday at Graham’s Central Station in Pharr. The show should be good, since there is nothing like watching two bands trying to outperform each other. Admission is $5 before 8 and $8 thereafter.

A couple of weeks ago, the front man of a new conjunto asked me to do some recording sessions for his album. The invitation was very appealing, especially since it’s been a while since the last time I laid bass lines for a record. The excitement, however, lasted very little. After rehearsing with the band a few times, only one of which was with a drummer, the bandleader decided it was time to hit the studio. I was unnerved by the singer’s anything-goes attitude and his belief that mastering a record will turn off-key passes and out-of-tempo tunes and turn them into Grammy material. I guess what bothered me more was the realization that this is the approach many bands are taking when it comes recording new material. It is that “it’s-good-enough” notion that has turned off most major record labels when it comes to dealing with some Tejano and Conjunto artists. Where did our sense of pride go? Mediocrity hurts the music we love so much. It wouldn’t hurt if some of these up-and-coming acts realized that.

This morning’s commute to South Padre Island got a little longer when I hopelessly tried to find some Tejano tunes on the dial. Maybe the long drive made me believe I was further north in Texas, where radio stations don’t try to pass banda music as Tejano. It’s a disgrace that the Valley, the birthplace of so many Tejano greats, doesn’t have a radio station that plays our beloved genre. Ni modo, I’ll just have to make do with listening to Tejano Web casts at the office.

The Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center is hosting Oscar “Bullet” Villa at 7 p.m. today during the “El Second Weensdee” – Tejano Conjunto oral history series. It’s only $5 to get in and you should get a good dose of traditional conjunto knowledge. The center is at 225 E. Stenger Road in San Benito.

Welcome to Tejano Talk, the V247.com’s newest blog and the home for all chismes about Tejano and Conjunto music. My goal is to make this space an informative and entertaining destination for all Tejanos cruising cyberspace. Feel free to post comments and visit as often as possible.