AFTERwords
Welcome tejanos. Some of the documentation here extends TMDC beyond its main conclusion. It provides additional information, context, reflections, and/or I talk about other events, news, updates, FAVs, and even my own relative conclusions that come to mind. You could say I close loose ends or any other relevant and consistent afterthoughts that I might have missed over the years. It happens.
A few TM tracks below, sort of as a 'Thank You Gesture' for visiting this link. They're tejano music arrangements done in MIDI, original songs, and even karaoke. I do miss playing music on stage, all the fun I had with so many musicians, but, well, I had to fade in the Arizona sunset. No mas.
Beyond the homepage, the other side of ... TM
Music like life itself, I believe, can take us through so many roads, so many different paths, so many changes, traveling through city after city, playing in other states and countries, but more importantly we also learn other things from so many people we meet along the way. That is the beauty of life itself.
Having said that it's always a non-stop day for me, a full day of things to do around here. And surprises too! I mean, unexpecting, I was on Google on Feb the 15th and decided to see if TMDC was available, and there it was, my old domain name from back in the mid-1990s! I just had to buy it and bring back more tejano music, the good times, and good old memories for all of us.
First, a few things to get started on the right footing:
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What do I mean when I say, "The Real One?" Oh, 30 plus years ago I was the only TM from California to Florida. Now they're all over the map and on the internet/social media too, so, welcome to the original TM.
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Why bring it back you might be asking? Hmmm. Well first it's personal for several reasons, but I don't expect it to go ballistic like the first one; and I was a lot younger back then. Still, out of the 5-6 sites I've had over the years my dot com was my FAV one.
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There are three new links - Visuals, The Past, The Army - I added them to make my picture gallery different, to go back in time with music and pictures, and to say a little about my military music background and my time in the Canal Zone, Panama. When I had this link years ago many old Army buddies seen it and then we started making plans to see each other again. We had Army band reunions.
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And ... if you still enjoy my music arrangements, my original material, and karaoke songs, well, they're still here on this link - just scroll down to the bottom ... I thank you kindly for that.
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Finally, back in the 90s TMDC functioned as a vibrant hub and vehicle for tejano music passion and a testament that, together, we can do more. I still want that spirit and alliance back into this new site, 2.0.
"TM? Is there one, just one single tejano music agenda or issue that you are truly proud of?"
Yes, it would be this one: The time when I suggested to all the Tejano Awareness Board members the idea of a new tejano music alliance for the tejano music industry. Unbeknownst and without of the knowledge of the majority of most tejanos across the United States, there was a small group during the TAB years that decided to do something about uniting our tejano music industry.
The major participants were Javier Villanueva, Eddie Perez, Dora Arteaga, Roy Ramos, and me. There was another San Antonio girl by the name of Sandy that joined later. At the time we started using Yahoo Conference to communicate with all the members and getting to the business at hand; we even completed a mission statement and other important plans and strategies for the new alliance.
We must have had 4-5 of these important meetings and after many debates back and forth, we finally decided to call it ... THE NATIONAL TEJANO MUSIC ALLIANCE. During the last sessions and meetings, we voted Javier as the first president of this new alliance; TM as the VP; and the other members had titles such as treasurer, media director, and Internet and Graphics consultant, etc.
During this time frame, we also set up a forum during one of the Las Vegas Convention events. Sandy and 'JV" had Chente and Jimmy Edward as the main speakers and we also had our new banner in the conference room. It was a great workshop and a good music/fan connectivity session. Weeks later JV looked at the non-profit app in Austin to get further things going, but this is where most of the participation and involvement came to a slowdown of things; then communication stopped altogether and the idea just died slowly.
Why did it fail? Who was at fault? Hard questions indeed. Before the Vegas workshop we also had meetings in San Antonio and in Alice Texas. In the end of all this I did take some of the heat and blame for the complete failure back then, but to clarify things even more, I will add this today:
"Our clear alliance message was lost due to lack of follow-ups between all and/or some of the alliance members, and lack of professional media coverage - and something called, TEAMWORK. In the end, our overall mission also failed because we didn't reach out to other fellow tejanos and tejanas in key tejano music states - and across the United States."
That is my assessment and conclusion on the matter, but I will also add that if we would of been somewhat successful, our tejano music industry, today, would be in a much better creditability with the American mainstream music, and our tejano music industry in a much more profitable position and overall structural classification. End results and to me the most important one: "Our tejano music fans would of seen more tejano music entertainment throughout major cities - including Phoenix Arizona." [By TM and written on April 25, 2013]
What two words relate to TEJANOmike? What are the relevant characteristics of TM? Or this link? Music Narratives
Music narratives are songs that tell a story, whether true or fictitious, through lyrics, melody, rhythm, and other musical elements.
They can be found in various genres, such as rap, country, tejano, pop, and rock. Music narratives can mean "different things to different people, depending on their personal experiences, preferences, and interpretations."
Some possible meanings are:
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Music narratives can be a form of entertainment, as they capture the listener’s attention and imagination with their plot, characters, and emotions.
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They can also be a source of humor, suspense, or surprise, depending on the tone and style of the song.
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Music narratives can be a way of learning, as they convey information, facts, or perspectives about various topics, such as history, culture, society, or politics.
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They can be a way of teaching, as they illustrate moral lessons, values, or principles through their story.
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Music narratives can be a mode of expression, as they reflect the songwriter’s or singer’s personal experiences, feelings, thoughts, or opinions.
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They can also be a mode of communication, as they share a message, a point of view, or a call to action with the listener.
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Music narratives can be a tool for healing, as they help the listener cope with their own challenges, struggles, or traumas.
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They can also be a tool for empowerment, as they inspire the listener to overcome their fears, doubts, or limitations.
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Music narratives can be an art form for appreciation, as they showcase the creativity, skill, and talent of the musicians.
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They can also be an art form for criticism, as they challenge the norms, conventions, or expectations of the musical genre or the society.
Music narratives are "songs" that tell a story through lyrics and music. They can be found in different genres and styles, and they can convey various themes and messages. Afterwords, the thrills, chills, and tears we experience from music are the result of having our expectations artfully manipulated by a skilled composer and the musicians who interpret that music.
Something to remember ...
"For all our music industry failings, all our proud history, and despite our limitations and fallibilities, us Tejanos and Tejanas are capable of greatness. We are a courageous generation, but without imagination and intercommunication, without a
much-needed business alliance, and without total commonality across our country, sadly, we will not advance and or go nowhere."
If you enjoy my music arrangements and original material, and karaoke, well, here are a few more tracks for you.
From TM: 'About TM dot com'
All seven links on this tejano music site are 'integrated and are a compilation of collected information' for the process, perception, concept, sound reasoning, inconclusive narratives, and the power of comprehension. In its totality, they were created and put together in order to improve our tejano music industry across the United States. Secondly, to represent TEJANOmike and in a orderly method of ideas, presentations, my own views and commentaries, both in my present life and in my past music career.
It is a complete, extensive, thorough site, and perhaps even exhaustive to read all these links, but TMDC is 'me' ... which can easily be misinterpreted since tejano music is a complex enterprise/not commercialized. Also, my own music analysis and commentaries go further in depth and with a more serious analysis, but not to the consensus of the majority. Therefore, tejano music discretion is strongly advised.
"What are the site links about?"
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Home ... This is where it all begins, and it has my introduction to the site. I talk about music balance, music awareness, Austin and my beginnings, the long music journey, present music apps/platforms, and as an advocate for more than 30 years.
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Tejano Music ... I try to give my visitors my own views on all things tejano, but I start kind of hard with a new commentary about reclassifying, ranking, organizing, and categorizing our music - past and present. There's also 'to the heart statements' about how we lost everything we had. I added a few internet tejano music history articles. You probably want to know why have all this info about tejanos? Honestly? Because I think our tejano 'lives' makes us so different than others. We're special, we are unique, and we are super great! We like all kinds of music! Yep, and that is super about us! GO TEJANOS!
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Music ... On this link I'm introducing our own 'Carmona Music' material - from original songs and other cover arrangements by TM. All four of us love music tremendously and in our hearts and souls, passed on from previous Carmona generations. The music tracks and demos are there also for music artists that need more original songs for their recordings.
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Visuals ... For some strange reason I call it 'Visuals' instead of a Picture Gallery, Pics, Prisms, Pictures, a collage, grid, and even a slide gallery. Whatever. Just me. I guess it comes from my past years as a photographer in San Jose CA. The girls? Sorry. I'm a Libra.
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The Past ... "Nobody wants to go back to the past, right?" Hmmm. Well, our beautiful tejano music does have a lot of history that is relational with so many different past cultures. I think we need to understand it 'a little better', or we are going to miss too many life links. I'm not suggesting you read 20 books and 10 volumes about our music history but get a glimpse of where you came from, your own tejano music roots, and when/where our music started. It wasn't San Antonio.
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The Army ... I was drafted into the Army and was gone for two years in Monterrey CA and in the country of Panama - 1964/66. But what was more exciting was all the Army band tours we did while stationed in Panama. My mom being my mom, as always, had a funny way of saying things. When I got back home after my separation in Charleston, South Carolina, I rang the doorbell and my mom opens the door and says, "What are you doing here? They didn't kill you in Vietnam?" OMG. My mom. I love you too mom. Hello. I just added a story about playing 'taps' in the Canal Zone for service members that served overseas.
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AFTERwords ... This link has no order, no format or platform either. Seems to have a life of its own and a little bit of everything. My introduction on this link states, "Some of the documentation here extends TMDC beyond its main conclusion. It provides additional information, context, reflections, and/or I talk about other events, news, updates, FAVs, and even my own relative conclusions that come to mind. You could say I close loose ends or any other relevant and consistent afterthoughts that I might have missed over the years. It happens." Ahh, yeah, that's about it. It's a freestyle anything goes type of link, that's all. Oh, there's also TM music tracks for y'all.
