CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It can be safely said that every business in our area has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Also in that category is the entertainment and music industry -- more specifically -- Tejano. It's a genre that's part of our South Texas Culture.
On July 5, Little Joe Hernandez, a beloved Tejano artist, tested positive. He remains optimistic that he'll beat the coronavirus, but so many others in this industry have not. Over the past few week's we've lost so many of them.
Carl Lopez owns local radio station Majic-FM. As a media owner, his industry is advertiser driven.
"Radio and Tejano music and any type of genre depends on the entertainment segment and if we mess that matrix up, Rudy, with shutdowns and people not wearing masks and things of that nature it has a domino effect that collapses everything," Lopez said.
Without advertisers, a media company feels it. Then comes the trickle-down effect.
Rick Garcia owns CHR Records and makes his living recording Tejano artists and selling their music.
"They make their living by performing live that's what they do and so with bars, dance halls, the venues, the outdoor concerts, the festivals being closed up our artists don't have the capability to go and perform and do what they know how to do," Garcia said.
Without entertainment opportunities, artists, groups, bands, musicians, sound and lighting engineers are all in the dark.
"There's so many unknowns and it's really a scary time," Chaves said. "It's unprecedented."
Chavez and his wife Sarah own Ingenuity out of Kansas City. The company hosts the National Tejano music conventions each year in Las Vegas. Had it not been for COVID-19, today would have been the start of the four-day event. While that is on the downside of this pandemic, Chavez said there is an upside when it comes to this industry.
"I think it's made us look to go online a lot more, to be creative digital," Chavez said. "Probably given time for some artists to make some music."
Chavez produced a video that brought together Tejano artists to exemplify the drive and dedication to not only beat the pandemic, but use it to show the industry's determination to survive it and grow.
"We decided to tell the story of Hispanics," Chaves said. "The imprint of our, what our Latino community has meant to this country."
Be it Tejano or any other American genre, Chavez said if anything the video is meant to inspire us to know we will survive.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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