Texas Border Business
Weslaco’s Texas Onion Fest takes place on Saturday, April 2 at Mayor Pablo G. Pena City Park (formerly Weslaco City Park), and this year’s featured entertainment brings some of the biggest stars to the Onion Fest stage.
Grupo Control will headline this year’s Hermes Music Main Stage, bringing the sounds of Tejano to Texas Onion Fest. Founded by brothers José Guadalupe and Sergio Degollado, the band got their name from place where they were born, Control Tamaulipas, a small town just outside the border city of Matamoros, Mexico.
The Degollado brothers first formed a group called “Super Llama”, where they found the musical concept that launched them to fame, and eventually formed Grupo Control. In 1999, at a taping of El Show de Johnny Canales, Lupe Rosales, promoter of the record label EMI Latin, discovered the talent of the group and gave them the opportunity to record their first album called “Cumbia without Control”. Songs like “El Tao Tao”, “Tu No Me Los Das,” “Maria Salome,” and “Cumbia con la Luna” among others, have brought international fame.
“We are grateful first to God and to our fans, and also for the great support we’ve been given by the press, radio and television,” remarked Sergio. “We’re also grateful for our family, which is our main strength.”
Classic Country star Johnny Rodriguez will also be performing at Texas Onion Fest, bringing all the hits his fans know and love. His unconventional start may surprise some – it was a jail visit in 1969 that gave Johnny his first break.
His jail house singing enthralled Texas Ranger, Joaquin Jackson, who told a promoter about Rodriguez. The promoter then hired Johnny to perform at the Alamo Village, a popular south Texas tourist attraction and location of many well-known movie sets. It was here that Johnny was heard by Nashville artists Tom T. Hall and Bobby Bare who both encouraged Johnny to fly to Nashville in 1971. A 20-year old Rodriguez found himself stepping off the plane with nothing more than his guitar in hand and $14 in his pocket. Soon, he was fronting Tom T. Hall’s Band and writing songs.
Less than one year later, Hall took Johnny to perform for Nashville record producers, and they offered him a contract on the spot after hearing “I Can’t Stop Loving You” and “If I’d Left It Up To You”.
His debut album, Introducing Johnny Rodriguez, went to #1 on all three major trade charts and by 1973 he was nominated by the Country Music Association for “Male Vocalist of the Year” and won the Billboard Trend Setter Award for first Mexican-American to capture a national audience. Some of Johnny’s classic hits during this period included “Pass Me By”, “You Always Come Back (To Hurting Me)”, “Riding My Thumb To Mexico”, “That’s The Way Love Goes” and “Just Get Up And Close The Door”.
Texas country radio star and RGV native Bo Garza will kick off Texas Onion Fest’s headline entertainment. Garza began his musical career in 1980 as part of the Junction Band, who regularly played at the Kings X Lounge in McAllen.
In the mid 80’s, Garza went on to open for many legends at the Villareal Convention Center in McAllen, such as Merle Haggard, George Jones, and George Strait. Late on, in the early 90’s, Bo recorded “Precious Heart” and “The Show Must Go On” in Nashville, both of which can still be heard on the radio today. His latest recording features the hits “I’m Home” and “Let the Red Wine Flow”, which are big requests at his shows.
Texas Onion Fest would like to thank entertainment sponsors Jeff Everitt and Associates and Progreso International Bridge, and main stage sponsor Hermes Music. Advance tickets can be purchased online at www.weslaco.com. Admission for adults is $6, children $4. Mayor Pablo G. Pena City Park, formerly Weslaco City Park, is located at 300 N. Airport. For more info, visit weslaco.com or call 968-2102.
