YOU'RE INVITED TO THE FREE 13TH ANNUAL FREDDIE GOMEZ MEMORIAL CONCERT FEATURING BRUNO ZUNIGA AS 2024 AMBASSADOR

2024 AMBASSADOR BRUNO ZUNIGA AND HIS HOHNER  PUSHBUTTON ACCORDION

The Broken Sprocket Presents the 13th Annual Freddie Gomez Memorial Conjunto Concert! Friday, August 31st, 2024

The Broken Sprocket, 6305 Paredes Line Rd, Brownsville, TX

Join us for an unforgettable evening of live music, great food, and good times as we celebrate the legacy of Freddie Gomez with the 13th Annual Memorial Conjunto Concert. This event features:

• Bar: Refresh yourself with a variety of beverages.

• Live Music: Enjoy performances by talented musicians.

• Meet & Greets: Get up close and personal with the artists.

• Food Trucks: Savor delicious food from a variety of vendors.

Featuring:
• 6:30-7:15 PM: Welcome Ceremonies with 2024 Ambassador Bruno Zuniga 

Accordion Students Showcase.
• 7:30-8:00 PM: Conjunto Dance Contest
• 8:00-8:30 PM: Chris E. Treviño and Juan Antonio Tapia
• 8:45-9:45 PM: Hector Gonzalez y Su Conjunto
• 10:00-11:30 PM: Santiago Garza y La Naturaleza
Bring your friends and family to enjoy a night filled with the best Conjunto music and vibrant community spirit.
Mark your calendars and don’t miss out on this spectacular event!

See you there!

By Juan Montoya

I may be dating myself a bit here, but back in the day when cotton was the king of agriculture in South Texas our parents used to send us kids with a local truck driver (contratista) to pick cotton in fields around Brownsville.

The work was hot, low-paying and tiring. But it was also a kind of adventure. The money we made during the week (between $10 to $15 ) would be used to buy clothes for school. A dollar went a long way back then. A bag of chips was five cents.

A lot of the neighborhood kids of the Las Prietas and Southmost areas would be out in the fields and to pass the time, we'd sing the favorites songs of the day.
Inevitably, the songs made popular by Freddie Gomez would reverberate across the fields, the sound of youthful voices drifting over the mirages of heat across the green and white expanse of the endless cotton rows.

One particular favorite at the time (the Vietnam War was on) was "El Soldado Raso," that dealt with a soldier (a private) leaving for the war and leaving behind his family and friends. It was a somewhat melodramatic tune but it conveyed the feelings of many young soldiers and the families they left behind.

Me voy de soldado raso

voy a ingresar a las filas

con los valientes muchachos

que dejan madres queridas

que dejan novias llorando

llorando su despedida. 

Mañana salgo temprano

al despuntar nuevo dia

y aqui va otro mexicano

que va a jugarse la vida

que se despide cantando

que viva la patria mia.

Now, Freddie wasn't the first singer to interpret this song. But his high nasal voice and accordion gave the song a distinctive sound that earned him fame as the "Cyclon del Valle."

Ask any Hispanic veterans of the time who the artist was who sang that song and inevitably, Freddie's name will be the first from their lips.

Many probably remember him from other songs such as "No Supe Comprender," "Un Mal Viento," "Yo Te Quiero a Ti," and many others too numerous to mention, including a selection of polkas pa los bailadores.

If you are like many others of us who grew up on his music and appreciate the memories he left behind, Timo Ruedas a retired U.S. Customs office and conjunto aficionado from Brownsville, the South Texas Conjunto Association and the Brownsville Society for the Performing Arts are inviting the public to join them today to remember his music.

The event is free in celebration of Labor Day, the working man and woman's holiday.

Freddie Gomez was a simple man, and singing with a conjunto was a side gig (he worked at J.C. Penney's in Brownsville and retired from there without ever missing a day of work).

One can only imagine what he could have achieved if he had devoted his full time to his musical pursuits.
See you there.