Jonnny Ramirez in the Morning - be involved.
Welcome to my blog.
Welcome to what I hope is the first of many blogs about radio, music, people, and the world in general.
Basically the things that I am very passionate about and the things that make me scratch my head
and say, “REALLY”!
To those of you tech savvy peeps that spend endless hours on the internet looking for who knows what, but what the hell, we have it so let’s use it, I welcome you. To those of you that listen to the show and the radio station, thank you for listening to my words, commenting on our topics and correcting me when I make a mistake, and most importantly for making my tenure at KXTN the best years of my radio life.
I have been fortunate enough to have been employed at the same radio station for the past 19 and a half years, and I say fortunate because I am a firm believer that in radio just like in life, you have to be at the right place at the right time. I certainly was that long ago and with what little talent I have, I have managed to maintain and remain competitive.
KXTN is and always will be a reflection of who we are as Tejanos. We love and appreciate all genres of music but our music, Tejano as many call it, is more than just music. It is our umbilical to our culture, our heritage, our family. Yes we use the radio station like most other stations except, KXTN is present on Sunday mornings when as a family we are having breakfast, during the family Bar-be-ques, the backyard birthday parties, at the park for Easter.
Well you get the picture, KXTN is us! Recently I heard a comment that really made me scratch my head and say REALLY, COME ON NOW! “What $15 dollars for Bobby Pulido, Elida Reyna, and Hermanos Farias? It was only $8 during Fiesta!” Then they kept talking about the shows they had recently been to including a country show (Gary Allen). I smiled because I know for a fact that they paid $25 a piece for that show. So let me see if I got this right, paying $25 for a country show (with just 1 live act or about one and a half hour of music) is acceptable but paying $15 for a Tejano show (multiple artists or almost 5 hours of live music) is unacceptable bordering on offensive.
When did we start taking our music for granted that we have started to under appreciate, and under value it? I have to ask: is this not the same as undervaluing our culture, our heritage?
I know we are only talking about music but I go back to the point I made earlier that NUESTRA MUSICA is so much more than just a happy beat that makes us tap our feet or makes us want to get up and move our big ole jiggly asses all across the dance floor.
We who have Tejano music in our cities or towns, on our FM radio stations, at our local music stores have become spoiled and have taken it for granted to the point that current and future artists would much rather pursue other musical paths or perhaps even pursue other career objectives.
Nuestra musica is not dying but suffering from stagnation that is being brought about by “TEJANO APATHY”. Lets wake up and take an active part in the continuation and growth of such a vital and important part of our culture, our heritage.
Our stories have as much right to be told as those stories that are told in a country, rock, or hip hop songs. Our artists are so much more versatile and therefore are able to narrate their stories in a multilingual, multicultural and amazing way.
Que viva nuestra musica y que siga la onda!!
To those of you tech savvy peeps that spend endless hours on the internet looking for who knows what, but what the hell, we have it so let’s use it, I welcome you. To those of you that listen to the show and the radio station, thank you for listening to my words, commenting on our topics and correcting me when I make a mistake, and most importantly for making my tenure at KXTN the best years of my radio life.
I have been fortunate enough to have been employed at the same radio station for the past 19 and a half years, and I say fortunate because I am a firm believer that in radio just like in life, you have to be at the right place at the right time. I certainly was that long ago and with what little talent I have, I have managed to maintain and remain competitive.
KXTN is and always will be a reflection of who we are as Tejanos. We love and appreciate all genres of music but our music, Tejano as many call it, is more than just music. It is our umbilical to our culture, our heritage, our family. Yes we use the radio station like most other stations except, KXTN is present on Sunday mornings when as a family we are having breakfast, during the family Bar-be-ques, the backyard birthday parties, at the park for Easter.
Well you get the picture, KXTN is us! Recently I heard a comment that really made me scratch my head and say REALLY, COME ON NOW! “What $15 dollars for Bobby Pulido, Elida Reyna, and Hermanos Farias? It was only $8 during Fiesta!” Then they kept talking about the shows they had recently been to including a country show (Gary Allen). I smiled because I know for a fact that they paid $25 a piece for that show. So let me see if I got this right, paying $25 for a country show (with just 1 live act or about one and a half hour of music) is acceptable but paying $15 for a Tejano show (multiple artists or almost 5 hours of live music) is unacceptable bordering on offensive.
When did we start taking our music for granted that we have started to under appreciate, and under value it? I have to ask: is this not the same as undervaluing our culture, our heritage?
I know we are only talking about music but I go back to the point I made earlier that NUESTRA MUSICA is so much more than just a happy beat that makes us tap our feet or makes us want to get up and move our big ole jiggly asses all across the dance floor.
We who have Tejano music in our cities or towns, on our FM radio stations, at our local music stores have become spoiled and have taken it for granted to the point that current and future artists would much rather pursue other musical paths or perhaps even pursue other career objectives.
Nuestra musica is not dying but suffering from stagnation that is being brought about by “TEJANO APATHY”. Lets wake up and take an active part in the continuation and growth of such a vital and important part of our culture, our heritage.
Our stories have as much right to be told as those stories that are told in a country, rock, or hip hop songs. Our artists are so much more versatile and therefore are able to narrate their stories in a multilingual, multicultural and amazing way.
Que viva nuestra musica y que siga la onda!!
Right on! Support KXTN Artists! Hey, they gotta eat, too.
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It's good to keep our culture growing strong. It would terrible if we lost the Tejano music that we know and love.
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