Fiddle Player to Bring South Texas Tejano Tunes to ODU

October 08, 2019

Belen Escobedo will perform her rare and beautiful fiddle tunes in the South Texas Tejano (Texas-Mexican) tradition at 7 p.m. Oct. 15 at Old Dominion University's Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries.

Escobedo will perform on the final day of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Tickets are $5 and on sale at ODUArtsTix.com. Free parking is available at the 45th Street garage.

She will be accompanied by her band Panfilo's Güera on bajo sexto (12-string bass) and tololoche (a borderlands upright bass).

Escobedo has twice been a featured fiddler at the Festival of Texas Fiddling, and in 2017 she was awarded the prestigious Texas Master Fiddler Award.

Growing up on the south side of San Antonio and working as a professional fiddler since she was a teenager, Escobedo has preserved a unique style of fiddling that has all but disappeared from the Texas borderlands.

She likens the old music traditions to home-cooked food.

"You knew your mama loved you and you knew your grandmother and your great-grandmother loved you because they made you homemade tortillas from scratch," she said. "All the time they'd spend grinding and cooking, and if they finished they'd go help the men in the fields after that. The main ingredient in that was love. Now, maybe you just heat them in the microwave, but then, they took the time to make that just for you. That's how I feel about the music."