Photo 2 is Alvaro Zermeño, Emilio’s Tio abuelo. He was also a great ranchero singer/actor in Mexico.
By Roberto Hugo Gonzalez
As originally First published by Texas Border Business newsprint Edition
It is not often that I have the opportunity to meet young rising stars, people with a special talent that reach beyond international boundaries. I am talking about Emilio Zermeño Santos, a young banking professional with Lone Star National Bank that has succeeded with his ‘7 Leguas Mariachi’ group comprised of talented young musicians.
It just happens that Emilio ended up in a ranch owned by Vicente Fernandez, one of the most famous actors and singers of Mexico and he had a chance to sing with him.
How was it that you ended up at Vicente Fernández’ ranch in the outskirts of Guadalajara Jalisco last year? “A good friend of mine does business with his son Gerardo Fernández. I was invited to attend Vicente Fernández’ last concert as a guest,” Emilio told Texas Border Business.
This was a once in a lifetime opportunity; Emilio and Vicente Fernandez performed a duet of the song “Amor de los Dos” written by the late David Záizar another famous and beloved artist from Mexico.
Texas Border Business asked if Fernandez was impressed with Emilio’s talent. “Yes, he was, when I belted out a high note, he expressed to the audience that he was impressed,” Emilio stated.
Emilio has performed with 7 Leguas Mariachi for the last nine years. He said that they are eleven and are looking to add a 12th member soon. The mariachi group was founded in October of 2004.
Emilio said that 7 Leguas Mariachi group has won many awards but the most important and distinguished award was when they participated in a worldwide mariachi competition that was hosted by Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE) of Mexico and the Instituto de Mexicanos en el Exterior (IME). During this worldwide event they competed against 22 Countries and were recognized as the Best Mariachi.
Is the mariachi performing regularly? “We usually put on a concert for our local community around the months of February through March. However, we do get hired to do shows in other cities in the US and Mexico. In addition, there is rarely a weekend that we don’t perform at local private events in the Rio Grande Valley,” Emilio said.
I noticed that your last name is Zermeño, what is your relationship to Alvaro Zermeno the singer? “Alvaro Zermeño was my grandfather’s youngest brother,” Emilio responded.
Alvaro Zermeño (1935-1987) was born in Guadalajara Jalisco and died at the age of 52 in the capital of Mexico. An actor and singer, he began his career in Mexican cinema in 1961 with the movie “Juramento De Sangre”(Blood Oath) and appearing in a total of 49 films.
Now readers can understand that Emilio comes from a family of very talented actors, musicians and singers. Emilio first played the cello and side from singing he plays the violin, the ‘guitarron’, and a little bit of guitar.
Emilio holds a Bachelors in Business Administration, Majoring in Marketing and currently works at Lone Star National Bank. “I am a Banking Officer and Banking Center Manager for Doctors Hospital at Rennaissance Medical Banking Center. TBB
