00;00;04;14 - 00;00;06;11 Yeah. 00;00;06;11 - 00;00;08;29 Hey. Hey. 00;00;09;10 - 00;00;11;13 Oh! Oh! 00;00;11;13 - 00;00;14;05 Ha ha. 00;00;14;05 - 00;00;15;11 Judy Brown. 00;00;15;11 - 00;00;16;14 Get him in there. 00;00;16;14 - 00;00;19;11 Julie Command of the market. 00;00;19;12 - 00;00;25;00 Dad, don't lie to me. Ned. 00;00;26;12 - 00;00;28;00 Almost as soon as he arrived 00;00;28;00 - 00;00;31;27 in Port Arthur, Texas, from his home town of Church Point, Louisiana, Andrew 00;00;31;27 - 00;00;36;22 Cormier began playing accordion for nights and nearly 30 years later, 00;00;36;23 - 00;00;41;00 Cormier is considered a living legend in the Southeast Texas Golden Triangle 00;00;41;10 - 00;00;45;11 and a testament to the Cajun music and culture that now defines the region. 00;00;46;21 - 00;00;47;15 I didn't know. 00;00;47;15 - 00;00;50;00 Anybody when I first moved over here. 00;00;50;00 - 00;00;54;06 After about two months, you know, and my mother, 2001, died. 00;00;54;06 - 00;00;58;04 My my brother noted they got a French band playing and I had the building 00;00;58;04 - 00;01;00;29 club out in between for them and Beaumont. 00;01;01;13 - 00;01;03;17 So sort of general style of playing drummer. 00;01;03;17 - 00;01;07;00 He was a boss of the dance hall and he did a drum play. 00;01;07;19 - 00;01;08;18 He said, Can you play drums? 00;01;08;18 - 00;01;10;10 I said, I play at it. 00;01;10;10 - 00;01;13;10 So I played for about four or five months, and so he quit 00;01;13;10 - 00;01;15;28 and I took over and recorded. It is back on. I'm still. 00;01;17;28 - 00;01;20;00 You got it and I guess especially. 00;01;20;00 - 00;01;30;18 The thunder was hunter Khrushchev was a special. 00;01;34;27 - 00;01;36;17 Cormier was 18 years old 00;01;36;17 - 00;01;39;14 when he began performing in Texas Cajun Dance Hall. 00;01;40;04 - 00;01;44;05 He was the first son of nine brothers and four sisters, and from a musical family 00;01;45;06 - 00;01;48;02 premier and an accordion prodigy by the age of 11, 00;01;48;12 - 00;01;52;14 had started playing parties and dance halls in Louisiana when he was 16. 00;01;52;20 - 00;01;55;26 Joe Thibodeaux owns the Rotary Club in Port Arthur, Texas, 00;01;56;03 - 00;01;58;24 and is one of Cormier's earliest fans. 00;01;59;28 - 00;02;03;02 I knew Andrew Cormier from back home 00;02;03;02 - 00;02;05;20 when I, I remember when I came out of the service. 00;02;06;29 - 00;02;10;15 There was a man by the name of How We Saw War. 00;02;11;18 - 00;02;13;18 He used to go see Andrew's daddy. 00;02;13;18 - 00;02;17;20 And as Andrew's daddy, could you let Andrew come play for me? 00;02;18;00 - 00;02;20;15 Andrew was just a kid, but he was good. 00;02;20;15 - 00;02;23;18 Then I had a cousin by the name of Russell Equipment who 00;02;24;06 - 00;02;26;04 had started playing the fiddle with Andrew. 00;02;27;03 - 00;02;29;15 So I went one down and I said, 00;02;31;00 - 00;02;34;25 Mr. Coleman, I'm sure we have a song. 00;02;36;04 - 00;02;40;08 My daddy wants to know if you let Andrew Brave over my shoulder. 00;02;40;08 - 00;02;42;11 So I picked up Andrew to go pick up. 00;02;42;11 - 00;02;47;07 Russell, would go out and would barbecue, and they'd play all day long. 00;02;47;07 - 00;02;52;26 And until just before Andrew Daddy passed away. 00;02;53;06 - 00;02;54;22 The last time he came on the road 00;02;54;22 - 00;02;57;25 that drove me to listen to Andrew called me to play. 00;02;58;14 - 00;03;02;14 And when he see me, he said, Oh, you show. 00;03;02;14 - 00;03;03;23 He's our old boy. 00;03;03;23 - 00;03;07;10 And then I had to tell him the truth, that I had lied all these years 00;03;07;10 - 00;03;16;01 to get Andrew to play ball where he got a big lie about it. The. 00;03;19;27 - 00;03;21;22 Like many Cajuns before him. 00;03;21;22 - 00;03;23;06 Cormier left Louisiana 00;03;23;06 - 00;03;26;18 to come to the Beaumont Port Arthur region for more steady work. 00;03;27;07 - 00;03;30;21 It was in this part of Texas that Cormier found other transplanted 00;03;30;21 - 00;03;33;25 Cajuns hungry for the music they had grown up with. 00;03;34;02 - 00;03;35;26 Andrew Cormier. 00;03;35;26 - 00;03;39;21 But when I moved over here in the fifties, 00;03;40;06 - 00;03;44;17 a college of Music was strong in Port Arthur, Beaumont. 00;03;45;02 - 00;03;46;01 Oh, yeah. 00;03;46;14 - 00;03;48;15 And there were many of them, you know. 00;03;48;15 - 00;03;49;14 That's why I played so long. 00;03;49;14 - 00;03;50;13 And why I won't play it. 00;03;50;13 - 00;03;52;20 I guess because it were no van. 00;03;52;26 - 00;03;53;12 I know. 00;03;53;12 - 00;03;55;23 No French. French mariner. I right around here say. 00;03;56;05 - 00;04;01;17 But I played 20 some odd years that I wrote Oracular without that solid. 00;04;02;00 - 00;04;04;25 But I like to make sure about it happen if I can 00;04;06;14 - 00;04;08;06 made it my genre. 00;04;08;06 - 00;04;14;05 Joe Thibodeau One of the biggest draw in Gardner ever had was Andrew Coleman. 00;04;14;11 - 00;04;18;02 Andrew played the smoothest dance in music you've ever heard. 00;04;18;21 - 00;04;20;26 He would bring 00;04;20;26 - 00;04;23;25 probably 600 people on a Saturday night 00;04;24;12 - 00;04;27;01 in a place that shouldn't have had, but about 350. 00;04;27;17 - 00;04;35;16 You know. 00;04;35;18 - 00;04;39;13 Cormier's popularity caught the attention of another fellow Louisiana Cajun, 00;04;39;22 - 00;04;42;05 who had been living in the nearby town of Winnipeg. 00;04;42;18 - 00;04;46;19 Huey Moe had a weekly radio show on which he featured local Cajun bands 00;04;46;19 - 00;04;50;09 live from the studio and from dancehalls like the Blue Jays. 00;04;51;13 - 00;04;56;13 Moe invited Cormier to perform on his show and recorded some of his performances 00;04;56;13 - 00;05;11;01 for his own crazy Cajun record label, Huey Moe. 00;05;11;19 - 00;05;13;02 We'd been doing it for a year or two. 00;05;13;02 - 00;05;14;19 I mean, my dad and Rodney 00;05;14;19 - 00;05;18;29 Legend and Andrew called me and then we would play on Saturdays at 4:00. 00;05;18;29 - 00;05;21;19 They'd let us have just a now, you know, catered music. 00;05;21;19 - 00;05;24;12 They could do most in most states and a lot of places, you know. 00;05;24;29 - 00;05;27;02 But Andrew had a mournful sound. 00;05;27;15 - 00;05;31;03 He had a small percentage of chord when he would play a sad song. 00;05;31;03 - 00;05;32;26 It was just sad. 00;05;32;26 - 00;05;35;22 I mean, it was a lot Clifton did with the blues, 00;05;35;22 - 00;05;50;21 you know? 00;05;55;14 - 00;05;57;02 Cormier style was rooted in 00;05;57;02 - 00;06;01;00 the richly textured Cajun waltzes and two steps he learned from his father. 00;06;01;09 - 00;06;04;01 And by listening to old 78 RPM recordings 00;06;04;10 - 00;06;06;28 of Joe Falcon and Walter Mouton. 00;06;07;19 - 00;06;11;12 But he was also inspired by R&B and country music he heard in Texas 00;06;11;27 - 00;06;14;20 his playing absorbed contemporary influences 00;06;14;20 - 00;06;17;21 without sacrificing tradition. 00;06;17;21 - 00;06;21;01 Pedal steel guitar player and longtime friend Ivy Duga 00;06;21;15 - 00;06;23;29 explains the difference between Cormier's sound 00;06;24;08 - 00;06;26;20 and that of another local legend, Joe Bonneville. 00;06;27;16 - 00;06;30;18 He plays an exciting style of music. 00;06;31;06 - 00;06;33;12 Joe's more traditional in ways. 00;06;33;12 - 00;06;36;19 Joe plays double a lot, which is really interesting 00;06;36;19 - 00;06;39;01 to note instead of just one. 00;06;39;21 - 00;06;41;20 And it's more traditional. 00;06;41;20 - 00;06;44;03 I guess he was probably one of the first ones 00;06;44;11 - 00;06;47;21 that played a lot of single note accordion and 00;06;48;28 - 00;06;52;04 it was exciting because he was able to do a lot more 00;06;53;13 - 00;06;56;20 shuffling than the older accordion players. 00;06;57;10 - 00;06;59;27 Naturally they'd say, Well, he needs to play, though. 00;07;00;29 - 00;07;02;03 And he had his thing going. 00;07;02;03 - 00;07;04;15 And he was he knew. 00;07;13;11 - 00;07;13;25 The house 00;07;13;25 - 00;07;16;25 party tradition died out by the mid-fifties when dance dancehalls 00;07;16;25 - 00;07;20;28 were in full swing, filled with family members and longtime friends. 00;07;21;08 - 00;07;24;08 Dance Halls kept the tightknit Cajun community together, 00;07;25;04 - 00;07;27;09 balancing a full time job with music. 00;07;27;17 - 00;07;30;24 Cormier played benefit dances as often as he played for profit. 00;07;31;03 - 00;07;35;06 For him, benefit dances were his greatest contributions to the community. 00;07;35;15 - 00;07;37;18 Not that I like having somebody 00;07;39;13 - 00;07;40;20 pay for. 00;07;40;20 - 00;07;42;11 And when I was a kid 00;07;42;11 - 00;07;45;10 and I had some of the dance and hard dances 00;07;45;21 - 00;07;48;10 and no music or what 00;07;48;10 - 00;07;53;15 I call a bazaar or something, and the proceeds go to the Hmong league. 00;07;54;15 - 00;07;57;22 I Yeah, that's just a cultural. 00;08;00;08 - 00;08;01;27 Accordions according to. 00;08;01;27 - 00;08;05;27 Is a radio series exploring multicultural accordion music in Texas. 00;08;06;15 - 00;08;09;01 The project is co-sponsor offered by Texas 00;08;09;01 - 00;08;11;23 Folklife Resources and CU TFM. 00;08;12;17 - 00;08;13;21 Ragland Producer. 00;08;13;21 - 00;08;15;25 Walt Morgan Engineer. 00;08;15;25 - 00;08;18;26 Funding has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. 00;08;19;09 - 00;08;21;19 The Texas Commission on the Arts. 00;08;21;19 - 00;08;24;01 The Texas Committee for the Humanities. 00;08;24;01 - 00;08;25;25 The Austin Arts Commission. 00;08;25;25 - 00;08;28;13 The Were Them Foundation and the Troll Foundation 00;08;32;12 - 00;08;34;12 for Accordions, according to Texas. 00;08;34;12 - 00;08;43;01 I'm Bonnie Bowen. 00;08;47;10 - 00;08;50;05 In the rural farming communities of Central Texas, check 00;08;50;05 - 00;08;52;22 polka dances are the favored weekend activity. 00;08;53;10 - 00;08;57;10 Most polka bands are family bands well known within their community. 00;08;57;26 - 00;09;02;29 The Rogers Polka Band began as teenagers playing house parties 40 years ago 00;09;03;09 - 00;09;06;24 and are now among the top dancehall bands in the region. 00;09;07;08 - 00;09;09;11 Oh, that's funny. 00;09;09;11 - 00;09;13;27 I can go down on you. 00;09;16;00 - 00;09;17;25 Alfred Brazil. 00;09;17;25 - 00;09;19;22 Where they play for some house parties now. 00;09;19;22 - 00;09;23;05 That's really how we got started and just little functions that came up 00;09;23;05 - 00;09;26;10 that maybe accordion or something would add to it. 00;09;26;15 - 00;09;28;09 We just played, you know, 00;09;28;09 - 00;09;31;20 then we played some picnics, church picnics during the summer, 00;09;32;07 - 00;09;36;14 then some polka festival and just kept, kept expanding and expanding. 00;09;37;06 - 00;09;39;16 I never really thought we'd be around 40 years later. 00;09;39;16 - 00;09;52;19 I'm still going. 00;09;53;21 - 00;09;57;02 Many of the very early Czech family bands featured at community 00;09;57;02 - 00;09;59;17 events were actually large brass ensembles. 00;10;00;05 - 00;10;03;13 The accordion was reserved for house parties and family singalongs, 00;10;03;27 - 00;10;06;27 so it wasn't surprising that brothers Alfred and Anton 00;10;07;05 - 00;10;09;19 each chose the accordion as their first instrument. 00;10;10;11 - 00;10;12;24 Inspired by popular Texas Czech brass 00;10;12;24 - 00;10;16;20 bands of the thirties and forties like the Boccia Family Orchestra 00;10;16;20 - 00;10;20;19 and the Project Orchestra, the first incarnation of the Brazil's 00;10;20;19 - 00;10;24;24 Polka Band in 1953 featured three accordions. 00;10;25;12 - 00;10;27;15 And I know I had a cousin playing, but an accordion. 00;10;27;15 - 00;10;28;24 I was playing with an accordion. 00;10;28;24 - 00;10;31;13 Anton was playing the piano. Accordion. 00;10;31;13 - 00;10;32;02 The accordion. 00;10;32;02 - 00;10;35;27 You can pick it up and you can play it by yourself and make a lot of music 00;10;36;18 - 00;10;38;18 or else like I play a saxophone. 00;10;38;18 - 00;10;39;25 It's kind of hard to 00;10;40;25 - 00;10;43;09 care the show and it was just a particular instrument. 00;10;43;09 - 00;10;45;20 But according to a one man band 00;10;45;20 - 00;10;48;22 out of that house dances, they would have the accordion, 00;10;49;19 - 00;10;51;26 primarily the button accordion then, 00;10;51;26 - 00;10;54;13 and maybe a drum and maybe the tuba, 00;10;55;14 - 00;10;56;27 and that would be it. 00;10;57;03 - 00;11;01;08 I think the lead, the Central Texas style of music 00;11;01;28 - 00;11;04;11 and I don't know whether it was developed by the Russians, 00;11;04;11 - 00;11;08;20 but I think the instrumental and the fact that they made it sound, 00;11;09;06 - 00;11;11;19 satisfying, pleasing and good. 00;11;12;05 - 00;11;14;19 Julius Tupa, editor of the Texas Polka. 00;11;14;19 - 00;11;18;05 News and other bands picked up on it and it was 00;11;18;26 - 00;11;21;07 self taught musician's 00;11;22;05 - 00;11;25;11 playing a happy sound and finding the right 00;11;25;11 - 00;11;29;06 combination of musicians to enhance one another's sound. 00;11;29;16 - 00;11;31;24 They didn't receive music, but they were jamming 00;11;32;12 - 00;11;48;03 and they produced some fine music. 00;11;48;03 - 00;11;51;09 And Tom and Alfred learned old folk songs from their parents. 00;11;51;22 - 00;11;54;26 Their father, an immigrant from Czechoslovakia, played the accordion, 00;11;55;04 - 00;11;57;11 though he did not perform with the group. 00;11;57;11 - 00;12;00;15 Armed with this repertoire of songs, the brothers were encouraged 00;12;00;15 - 00;12;01;22 to find their band. 00;12;01;22 - 00;12;07;11 Today, many of those folk songs are still performed by the group Alfred Roswell. 00;12;07;11 - 00;12;10;18 But the same tunes that a lot of the folk songs that we play now, 00;12;10;28 - 00;12;13;12 they were playing when they brought them here from the old country. 00;12;13;22 - 00;12;16;04 The repertoire is no end to it, really. 00;12;16;07 - 00;12;17;08 You know? 00;12;17;19 - 00;12;21;16 Some of the songs that are sort of standards, you might say 00;12;22;02 - 00;12;26;13 is If I were a bird fool, could they be allowed to touch him or. 00;12;27;05 - 00;12;29;28 At the spring walls, rooster donkey sedula. 00;12;29;28 - 00;12;31;29 We call it in check. That's a waltz tune. 00;12;32;18 - 00;12;35;13 And oh gosh, the list just goes on and on. 00;12;35;21 - 00;12;41;11 They're mostly tales, stories of lies, love and things like that. 00;12;41;12 - 00;12;44;13 Happy songs, happy songs rather than our own 00;12;44;13 - 00;12;48;00 old recordings by different bands like box shows and 00;12;49;05 - 00;12;50;06 Lonely Old 00;12;50;06 - 00;12;57;01 78 RPMs. 00;12;57;01 - 00;13;01;01 Outside of learning songs from their parents, Anton Brazil recalls 00;13;01;01 - 00;13;04;29 being inspired by recordings and performances of early family bands. 00;13;05;29 - 00;13;09;13 We used to play them at home on the old green phonograph. 00;13;09;20 - 00;13;12;23 Crank it up and let it go to a bunch. Of. 00;13;13;04 - 00;13;14;22 Koranic ballparks. 00;13;14;22 - 00;13;16;26 But thanks for showing them our favorite band. 00;13;17;09 - 00;13;21;11 I started going to the public dances in 49. 00;13;21;11 - 00;13;23;15 I think that's before we started playing. 00;13;33;24 - 00;13;35;06 Like their audiences. 00;13;35;06 - 00;13;38;02 The Fragiles are very aware of the influential family 00;13;38;02 - 00;13;40;01 bands that came before them. 00;13;40;01 - 00;13;44;22 The Pontiac Arkestra, which began performing in early as 1918, was 00;13;44;22 - 00;13;48;28 a big influence on their sound, as well as many other groups still active today. 00;13;50;00 - 00;13;52;06 Even now, the Brazils have a unique way 00;13;52;06 - 00;13;55;19 of saluting that orchestra and its legendary leader, Joe Patek. 00;13;57;10 - 00;13;59;06 The perfect son was very unique. 00;13;59;06 - 00;14;03;16 It was a very smooth sound, good dancing, sound, good listening, very smooth. 00;14;04;04 - 00;14;05;13 They lasted a long time. 00;14;05;13 - 00;14;07;11 They played till 1983. 00;14;07;11 - 00;14;09;15 It was very difficult to copy them. 00;14;09;15 - 00;14;12;27 Mean we tried to, but we didn't even get close to it. 00;14;12;27 - 00;14;14;16 But it's recognizable. 00;14;14;16 - 00;14;17;29 So people relate to that and they appreciate it. 00;14;17;29 - 00;14;19;12 It's our respect to them. 00;14;19;12 - 00;14;22;22 We do a couple of numbers usually, and that's 00;14;22;22 - 00;14;24;23 where I put a hat on and a cigar. 00;14;25;25 - 00;14;28;06 Those are the guys smoke a lot of cigars. 00;14;28;06 - 00;14;30;17 I'm not really doesn't have your small credentials. 00;14;30;17 - 00;14;33;04 The other part, the star. 00;14;47;03 - 00;14;47;22 Many Czechs 00;14;47;22 - 00;14;51;26 today have moved out of rural communities and into cities like Houston and Dallas. 00;14;52;12 - 00;14;54;28 Of those that have stayed on in the small Czech 00;14;54;28 - 00;14;58;01 settlements, few still remain on the family farm. 00;14;59;01 - 00;15;00;05 However, when the Brazil 00;15;00;05 - 00;15;03;13 began playing, most Czech musicians were farmers as well. 00;15;04;13 - 00;15;07;16 Are stories, 00;15;07;16 - 00;15;11;19 for that matter, more on. 00;15;13;02 - 00;15;15;26 Their side. 00;15;18;04 - 00;15;21;04 And more on. 00;15;21;13 - 00;15;24;00 Most of the Czech people that came 00;15;24;00 - 00;15;26;09 to this country around the turn of the century. 00;15;26;10 - 00;15;29;02 A little bit after my father came here in 1903 00;15;29;25 - 00;15;33;19 from Crimea's east Czechoslovakia, and they were farmers. 00;15;34;07 - 00;15;36;26 And most of the people at the time that immigrated here 00;15;36;26 - 00;15;40;11 from the Czechs and the Moravian went into farming. 00;15;41;04 - 00;15;46;05 Way back, Your Honor, I would say almost nine out of ten bands came from the farm. 00;15;46;12 - 00;15;48;03 I got my old Hohner button accordion. 00;15;48;03 - 00;15;50;04 I had this one in my hand a long time. 00;15;50;20 - 00;16;00;21 Let's do the Red Raven Polka. 00;16;04;28 - 00;16;08;03 Today, the Brazils are one of a handful of family bands 00;16;08;03 - 00;16;11;15 who continue to make a living on the land, as well as with the accordion. 00;16;12;09 - 00;16;16;16 I love the land, just like I love the music and all of the accordion, 00;16;16;23 - 00;16;19;17 cause it takes all the other people. 00;16;20;08 - 00;16;22;14 According to Sky, the heart of the situation. 00;16;22;22 - 00;16;25;02 It's hard to be an accordion in a folk event. 00;16;32;07 - 00;16;38;12 And I 00;16;39;02 - 00;16;41;01 think that. 00;16;42;12 - 00;16;43;29 Accordions, according to Sexy, 00;16;43;29 - 00;16;47;26 is a radio series exploring multicultural accordion music in Texas. 00;16;48;22 - 00;16;51;04 The project is co-sponsored by Texas Folklife 00;16;51;04 - 00;16;53;09 Resources and KPFA. 00;16;54;04 - 00;16;55;23 Kathy Ragland Producer. 00;16;55;23 - 00;16;57;27 Wal Mart Engineer. 00;16;57;27 - 00;17;00;24 Funding has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, 00;17;01;06 - 00;17;05;09 the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Texas Committee for the Humanities, 00;17;05;21 - 00;17;08;25 the Austin Arts Commission, the Wortham Foundation 00;17;09;00 - 00;17;11;24 and the Tribal Foundation. 00;17;11;26 - 00;17;16;24 AM for Accordions. 00;17;16;24 - 00;17;17;24 According to Texas. 00;17;17;24 - 00;17;27;22 I'm Connie Bowen. 00;17;30;09 - 00;17;34;10 So young Chicano Alegria 00;17;37;02 - 00;17;40;11 or DSU, Law and Order, y'all. 00;17;41;14 - 00;17;45;06 The popularity of Tex-Mex coming to accordionist Domingo Saldivar 00;17;45;19 - 00;17;50;28 is the result of a dedicated and varied career among fans in South Texas. 00;17;51;08 - 00;17;52;24 He is seen as a strong purveyor 00;17;52;24 - 00;17;56;00 of the tradition and a visionary of contemporary style. 00;17;56;28 - 00;17;58;00 He is an original. 00;17;58;00 - 00;18;00;29 He has spent a lifetime developing an accordion style 00;18;01;08 - 00;18;04;13 that has infused the continental tradition with new energy. 00;18;04;26 - 00;18;09;13 You have to develop your phone no matter what it is, the tuning, 00;18;09;28 - 00;18;13;19 or if you do a certain pass from the accordion. 00;18;14;03 - 00;18;17;07 The, you know, for that really to develop into style 00;18;17;15 - 00;18;26;08 and just keep doing it. 00;18;27;00 - 00;18;30;07 If you love music, it's not hard to develop your stuff. 00;18;30;27 - 00;18;31;22 You love it. 00;18;32;27 - 00;18;33;07 You're going 00;18;33;07 - 00;18;41;25 to want to be different. 00;18;43;25 - 00;18;45;27 Saldivar, who began playing music at age 00;18;45;27 - 00;18;49;17 11/1 drums, bass, guitar and then the accordion 00;18;50;07 - 00;18;54;07 bar near San Antonio to migrant farm workers, the second of 12 children. 00;18;54;18 - 00;18;57;12 He learned to adapt quickly to new people and places. 00;18;57;23 - 00;19;02;03 In 1949, all the way to the 1954. 00;19;02;25 - 00;19;06;02 That is, to get us out of school and take us up north to Wisconsin, 00;19;06;02 - 00;19;10;27 Minnesota, to pick tomatoes, potatoes and everything. 00;19;10;29 - 00;19;14;09 Then we would come to Texas and pick cotton, go to Arizona and pick one, 00;19;14;28 - 00;19;16;17 and then would come back home. 00;19;16;17 - 00;19;19;25 And we usually end up starting school a little late 00;19;20;18 - 00;19;30;07 and then quitting a little early. 00;19;34;29 - 00;19;38;12 In 1954, Saldivar was faced with his first challenge 00;19;38;12 - 00;19;40;23 to adapt his music to more than one type of audience. 00;19;41;22 - 00;19;42;15 On one trip to 00;19;42;15 - 00;19;45;02 Minnesota with his parents, he decided to stay a while. 00;19;45;17 - 00;19;48;27 Saldivar did learn popular country songs from the radio 00;19;49;12 - 00;19;52;06 and rather than perform them as they were on the guitar, 00;19;52;13 - 00;19;56;01 he translated the words into Spanish and accompanied himself on accordion. 00;19;56;29 - 00;19;58;16 His performances of these songs 00;19;58;16 - 00;20;01;09 became very popular at local parties and celebrations. 00;20;02;14 - 00;20;06;08 I picked up songs from people like for young Hank Williams. 00;20;06;16 - 00;20;11;10 I was the only Mexican there in that town, and there was another Mexican family 00;20;12;01 - 00;20;14;18 in a place called Winnebago, Minnesota. 00;20;14;18 - 00;20;17;05 So in order to be able 00;20;17;05 - 00;20;20;12 to hang out with that crowd, I learned their music 00;20;20;23 - 00;20;23;17 and then introduced them to my music and they liked it. 00;20;24;12 - 00;20;28;15 And then I started playing the accordion by myself because no band or company. 00;20;29;02 - 00;20;31;15 Had done this. And I guess I am. 00;20;33;15 - 00;20;37;06 Not going to be the enemy of everything. 00;20;38;05 - 00;20;40;12 Later in San Antonio, Saldivar played 00;20;40;12 - 00;20;43;16 accordion with some of the city's most successful and innovative groups. 00;20;44;05 - 00;20;46;20 His first break came as one of two accordionist 00;20;46;26 - 00;20;50;13 with Louis Guadalupe House, and his song on the NBC. 00;20;50;14 - 00;20;52;29 Indio was the band's first local hit. 00;20;53;20 - 00;20;56;14 In addition to showcasing his songwriting talents, 00;20;56;14 - 00;20;59;12 Saldivar was accordion style was allowed to flourish. 00;21;00;10 - 00;21;03;15 I started developing a style of moving 00;21;03;25 - 00;21;06;04 because, like in the late forties 00;21;06;19 - 00;21;08;23 and early fifties, 00;21;09;09 - 00;21;11;09 all the bands when they were playing, 00;21;11;23 - 00;21;15;19 most of them set down, except the guy that plays the bass middle. 00;21;16;02 - 00;21;17;05 The accordion was sitting around 00;21;17;05 - 00;21;20;21 in the chair and the guitar would sit down to the vocal player. 00;21;21;06 - 00;21;23;17 And then I started sort of dancing with the accordion 00;21;23;26 - 00;21;26;09 and I noticed that people are really they just kept on doing it. 00;21;26;25 - 00;21;30;11 And there is thought just to be a natural part of the show. 00;21;30;21 - 00;21;32;23 Whether that is the. Dancing. 00;21;32;23 - 00;21;34;28 Cowboy lingo Saldivar remembers. 00;21;34;29 - 00;21;37;07 What was quite I guess I love Paso. 00;21;38;19 - 00;21;39;09 And I. 00;21;41;07 - 00;21;42;08 Think these days 00;21;42;08 - 00;21;44;20 they gave me the blues and cowboy 00;21;45;01 - 00;21;47;07 like in the little in the valley 00;21;49;03 - 00;21;50;09 in Corpus. 00;21;50;14 - 00;21;52;24 He was just sort of a natural 00;21;53;16 - 00;21;55;29 for me to do that because I really like music. 00;21;56;03 - 00;21;58;18 I love music. 00;21;58;18 - 00;22;03;21 And it seems like when you do that, you get more out of the music 00;22;03;22 - 00;22;05;26 as you feel. 00;22;08;12 - 00;22;10;25 Even during his absence from the continental scene. 00;22;11;02 - 00;22;13;27 Saldivar managed to create an audience for his music. 00;22;14;15 - 00;22;18;21 In the early sixties, he moved himself and his wife Susie to Anchorage, Alaska 00;22;19;04 - 00;22;22;19 for a seven year stint to help his brother in law open a restaurant. 00;22;23;01 - 00;22;26;29 I'm doing the coke, enthuses the cashier, and then one night 00;22;26;29 - 00;22;28;26 what if something was wrong with the jukebox? 00;22;28;26 - 00;22;30;10 And we had a full house? 00;22;30;10 - 00;22;33;07 So I took off the apron and I started singing 00;22;33;26 - 00;22;37;07 in between cooking and stuff, and the people really went for it. 00;22;37;17 - 00;22;41;14 So I got me two guys to play the guitars, 00;22;41;29 - 00;22;45;09 and then I played the accordion, like strolling through the tables. 00;22;45;13 - 00;22;47;14 So that was really great. 00;22;47;22 - 00;23;02;17 They really love that. 00;23;05;25 - 00;23;07;15 Rooted in traditional communities, 00;23;07;15 - 00;23;10;17 but in turn to contemporary music styles and attitude. 00;23;11;00 - 00;23;15;15 Over time, Saldivar has created a sound that appeals to a broad range of fans. 00;23;16;15 - 00;23;19;26 Recently, he caught the attention of Boston based Rounder Records label 00;23;20;22 - 00;23;24;04 the eclectic folk label enlisted accordionist Carl Finch, 00;23;24;16 - 00;23;28;02 conjunto enthusiast and leader of the Texas ethnic pop group 00;23;28;03 - 00;23;31;18 Brave Combo to produce a Saldivar recording. 00;23;32;09 - 00;23;34;08 The result. I love my freedom. 00;23;34;08 - 00;23;37;09 I love my Texas was released in 1992 00;23;37;09 - 00;23;40;19 and received a Grammy nomination. 00;23;40;19 - 00;23;42;22 I met Carlos. 00;23;42;29 - 00;23;45;27 When we were approached with a record. 00;23;46;25 - 00;23;49;08 I told him as long as I can keep 00;23;49;21 - 00;23;51;24 recording with my label. 00;24;00;05 - 00;24;00;29 Again, 00;24;00;29 - 00;24;04;04 Saldivar finds himself at home pleasing different audiences. 00;24;04;19 - 00;24;07;27 He has made the round of recording for largely Anglo audiences 00;24;08;13 - 00;24;11;29 and keeps his Tejano fans happy with releases on regional labels 00;24;11;29 - 00;24;14;18 like the Corpus Christi based Hacienda Records. 00;24;15;17 - 00;24;19;03 Moment with the El Manzano and. 00;24;21;29 - 00;24;24;08 Between the two, I'll be able to keep busy. 00;24;24;26 - 00;24;27;19 Their company will promote nationwide. 00;24;27;28 - 00;24;31;28 That promotion is going to help this area and help my work here. 00;24;32;02 - 00;24;33;17 Go with it. 00;24;33;17 - 00;24;35;25 It's only in recent years that Saldivar 00;24;35;25 - 00;24;38;22 has been able to make his living exclusively through music. 00;24;39;09 - 00;24;42;00 But making music has always been his life. 00;24;43;22 - 00;24;45;23 One that I never. 00;25;04;27 - 00;25;06;27 Of 15 years 00;25;06;27 - 00;25;09;11 afforded me because I was a social worker 00;25;10;12 - 00;25;12;10 and just playing music. 00;25;12;10 - 00;25;14;28 We continue to work to survive 00;25;14;29 - 00;25;18;19 and so it's very fortunate 00;25;19;01 - 00;25;22;28 for people that can make money doing something that they love. 00;25;23;18 - 00;25;33;13 I do things to give that. 00;25;33;18 - 00;25;36;27 Accordions, according to Texas, is a radio series exploring 00;25;36;27 - 00;25;39;00 multicultural accordion music in Texas. 00;25;39;28 - 00;25;44;17 The project is co-sponsored by Texas Folklife Resources and KUTV. 00;25;45;09 - 00;25;47;00 Cathy Ragland Producer. 00;25;47;00 - 00;25;49;03 Walt Morgan Engineer. 00;25;49;03 - 00;25;52;00 Funding has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. 00;25;52;11 - 00;25;55;01 The Texas Commission on the Arts in Texas. 00;25;55;01 - 00;25;56;28 The Committee for the Humanities. 00;25;56;28 - 00;25;58;24 The Austin Arts Commission. 00;25;58;24 - 00;26;00;09 The Wortham Foundation. 00;26;00;09 - 00;26;01;22 And the Trowel Foundation 00;26;06;15 - 00;26;08;15 for Accordions, according to Texas. 00;26;08;15 - 00;26;32;04 I'm Bonnie Bowen. 00;26;32;04 - 00;26;33;02 Well, bet you all are. 00;26;33;02 - 00;27;54;13 Let's give them a big round of applause. 00;27;57;01 - 00;27;58;21 I guess the best 00;28;07;15 - 00;28;11;14 to work on the 00;28;12;26 - 00;28;13;25 things 00;28;14;21 - 00;28;16;04 they enjoyed 00;28;17;01 - 00;28;20;21 doing before they got a fair bit 00;28;23;10 - 00;28;26;01 out of it. 00;28;26;01 - 00;28;30;03 The fall of Don Quixote. Hey 00;28;50;12 - 00;28;55;27 and everybody 00;28;57;06 - 00;28;59;08 there when it was done and 00;29;00;13 - 00;29;03;00 they seemed okay 00;29;03;03 - 00;29;04;25 and thank you, John. 00;29;04;25 - 00;29;08;01 And you are 00;29;09;01 - 00;29;12;22 so good. 00;29;12;25 - 00;29;21;05 Don Cheadle and. 00;29;25;17 - 00;29;32;11 And he is. And 00;29;36;29 - 00;29;39;25 and the been. 00;29;42;20 - 00;29;45;22 That all the time. 00;29;46;29 - 00;29;49;22 I really do 00;29;49;28 - 00;29;53;15 want to do more than that and want to say 00;29;53;29 - 00;29;56;06 I'm going to 00;29;59;25 - 00;30;03;02 buy my devices, 00;30;03;03 - 00;30;04;22 but I'll be 00;30;17;11 - 00;30;24;15 and then 00;30;26;17 - 00;30;29;19 and and and. 00;30;29;19 - 00;30;34;03 And and 00;30;35;12 - 00;30;39;07 and and and and 00;30;40;11 - 00;30;43;04 and you know 00;30;43;12 - 00;30;48;03 and and. 00;30;52;01 - 00;30;54;20 Everybody 00;30;54;28 - 00;30;57;14 and have done 00;30;57;14 - 00;30;59;23 it Thursday and 00;31;00;26 - 00;31;02;20 all the things that they 00;31;04;11 - 00;31;05;07 do that 00;31;06;26 - 00;31;10;01 is so wonderful. 00;31;10;12 - 00;31;12;24 Ringo Starr, 00;31;12;24 - 00;31;16;07 you ought to be world 00;31;44;09 - 00;31;52;01 right? 00;31;52;01 - 00;31;54;12 Oh, that that. 00;31;55;04 - 00;31;57;10 Now go get that old zydeco. 00;31;57;10 - 00;31;59;19 Oh, yeah, that Ozark looking out there for many, many, 00;31;59;19 - 00;32;04;05 many, many people. 00;32;04;05 - 00;32;10;13 And I 00;32;12;23 - 00;32;13;11 think 00;32;22;16 - 00;32;23;04 it's. 00;32;25;12 - 00;32;28;04 What I call that. 00;32;33;16 - 00;32;35;29 For the and. 00;32;39;12 - 00;32;41;22 What do they call that. 00;32;41;22 - 00;32;42;11 Don't 00;32;47;27 - 00;32;50;02 open to that. 00;33;39;15 - 00;33;43;19 What they call. 00;33;43;19 - 00;33;52;00 Well they should be so much more than that because I'm up all. 00;33;52;01 - 00;33;54;18 Of what they call me. 00;33;55;17 - 00;34;00;14 Oh, oh. 00;34;02;09 - 00;34;19;15 Oh like that. 00;34;19;15 - 00;34;37;26 Oh this is that. 00;34;37;26 - 00;34;41;19 Oh so good to. 00;34;43;16 - 00;34;46;10 0900 that's what we thought that picked up. 00;34;46;10 - 00;34;47;25 That's not bad at all. 00;34;47;25 - 00;34;52;00 You know, that night here's a guy they go, This is what daddy? 00;34;52;00 - 00;34;52;25 Both of us. 00;34;52;25 - 00;35;00;05 Oh, yeah. 00;35;00;05 - 00;35;03;16 Oh, all right. 00;35;03;16 - 00;35;22;18 But on this particular. 00;35;22;18 - 00;35;24;15 Well, they're gonna 00;35;29;21 - 00;35;32;07 things on. 00;35;32;07 - 00;35;34;24 What they call in the middle 00;35;42;23 - 00;35;43;11 school. 00;35;43;22 - 00;36;06;18 Is that for popularity? 00;36;06;18 - 00;36;43;24 The high. 00;36;44;13 - 00;36;46;19 All right, all right. 00;36;48;05 - 00;36;49;13 That book kept on it. 00;36;49;13 - 00;36;53;00 Zero. 00;36;53;00 - 00;36;55;23 All right, look, I kind of slowed down 00;36;55;23 - 00;36;57;14 little losses. Yeah. 00;36;57;14 - 00;36;58;08 How good. 00;36;59;05 - 00;37;01;18 It is to. 00;37;02;29 - 00;37;04;12 Hate it 00;37;04;12 - 00;37;09;11 this year here 00;37;10;22 - 00;37;16;03 and and 00;37;17;12 - 00;37;27;07 and here. 00;37;27;07 - 00;37;42;27 It was it's. 00;37;42;27 - 00;37;45;29 Yeah. Got a good. 50 00;37;45;29 - 00;37;46;29 year to 00;38;27;16 - 00;38;29;00 it it to. 00;38;31;23 - 00;38;50;05 Him to this 00;38;54;22 - 00;39;01;25 and oh my God. Oh. 00;39;02;12 - 00;39;03;26 He's evolving. 00;39;03;26 - 00;39;09;20 But I mean, oh, my God. 00;39;09;22 - 00;39;12;14 Over the. 00;39;14;18 - 00;39;55;01 Of oh oh. 00;39;56;01 - 00;39;58;12 Oh majority. 00;40;02;23 - 00;40;38;29 Of 0i0, 00;40;40;11 - 00;40;44;09 I know I said, 00;40;44;09 - 00;40;47;09 oh my God, 00;40;47;10 - 00;40;58;08 it is. 00;40;58;08 - 00;41;10;19 And it's 00;41;17;08 - 00;42;13;05 with or below. 00;42;13;05 - 00;42;28;06 Yeah, i00, oh, oh, man. 00;42;28;06 - 00;43;10;29 All Thank. 00;43;13;15 - 00;43;14;23 You. Society 00;43;15;29 - 00;43;17;08 don't still 00;43;18;10 - 00;43;19;17 oh right. 00;43;20;00 - 00;43;22;16 Now just more do it the drama 00;43;23;06 - 00;43;28;03 Robert ball and accordion yeah no I got to go do some zydeco now. 00;43;29;21 - 00;43;33;01 There is 00;44;04;01 - 00;44;05;00 a lot. 00;44;09;25 - 00;44;11;26 More they look at the same. 00;44;11;26 - 00;44;12;10 Story. 00;44;12;10 - 00;44;15;02 But I mean I guess 00;44;15;07 - 00;44;17;12 I was like anything 00;44;43;11 - 00;44;52;20 but they 00;45;04;01 - 00;45;08;22 said, oh. 00;45;09;15 - 00;45;10;25 This is our real so. 00;45;10;25 - 00;45;24;11 Oh yes, I know you're so 00;45;24;14 - 00;46;17;23 you know I brought it. 00;46;19;23 - 00;46;20;24 All right. 00;46;20;24 - 00;46;21;22 Thank you. It's okay. 00;46;21;22 - 00;46;22;02 Thank you. 00;46;22;02 - 00;46;23;12 So I'm 00;46;25;12 - 00;46;27;14 all right to little trouble now. 00;46;28;02 - 00;46;28;12 Yeah. 00;46;28;12 - 00;46;33;15 We're gonna turn it around a little bit, 00;46;33;15 - 00;46;44;25 make it.