Revancha Norteña band carrying on family legacy

Halfway between Clovis and Portales is the huge Garcia estate known as the Midway, consisting of a popular Spanish music dance hall adjacent to a sprawling Mexican style ranch. The ranch has grown in size over the years as the musical success of the family band, Los Huracanes del Norte — who were recently nominated a second time for a Latin Grammy Award — has increased at phenomenal rates. Behind these iron gated doors now, a new generation of Garcia musicians is beginning to grow its wings, crawling out of the shell of their parents’ success, and yet ready to fly off from the nest, strumming and singing to a unique tune and style that they can call their very own.

Revancha Norteña — a band consisting of second generation Garcia musicians — will perform in Portales, at the Midway Convention Center, on Sunday, serving as the opening band for the popular Conjunto Atardecer band, followed by a performance of the headlining band, Los Huracanes del Norte.

Translated into English, “Revancha” means revenge, and this youthful band seems determined to move forward with a vengeance and get their name known. And they are beginning to get their name on the radar in the Mexican music genre known as Regional Mexican music or Norteño music, as it is more commonly called due to its heavy border-influenced sound of saxophone, accordion and bajo sexto, a 12-string Mexican guitar. Since the band got serious about music a few years ago, they have began garnering attention, not to mention airplay, in music markets such as Phoenix, Los Angeles, Denver and Albuquerque this past year with hit singles off of their “Nuevos Senderos” CD which includes romantic tunes such as “Amiga” and their upbeat version of a song, “Quereme,” previously recorded by Juan Sebastian. These songs were both on the No 1 spot in Spanish music charts in Albuquerque for two weeks this fall.

Revancha Norteña is slated to shoot their first professional music video in January for their CD release, “A Quien le Debo el Favor,” according to the group’s saxophone player, Jaime Garcia.

Hermilo Ojeda, program manager and owner of the Spanish radio station, KLMA, in nearby Hobbs, which plays a great deal of Norteño music, said his radio station has seen a notable amount of requests for songs by Revancha Norteña in recent months. “I think Revancha Norteña is an up-and-coming band,” Ojeda noted. “They have a unique style with a faster rhythm then their parents, Los Huracanes. It is definitely a more youthful sound. Their music is not being requested as much as the big bands, like Los Huracanes and Los Tigres del Norte, but we are getting some requests and so they are on the radar now. I think they have great potential.”

Band members include Ramiro Rodriguez, bajo sexto; Charlie Vasquez, percussion/graphic animation; Jaime Garcia, saxophone; Saul Tarango, bass; Rene Garcia, drummer; Luis Peña III, singer; and Antonio Barrera, on accordion. According to Rodriguez, many of the band members of Revancha Norteña started off as summertime roadies for their parents’ band, but soon they got that inherited itch to be on stage themselves.

“It is hard work, sometimes, because people expect us to be like our dads, but it is an honor to follow in their footsteps. It is nice to keep the family legacy going,” Rodriguez said. “Hopefully, we can keep doing music, for them, and take care of them someday, like they have taken care of us.”

Garcia said he doesn’t expect their parents to retire from their band, Los Huracanes del Norte, anytime soon. “By the way it looks, they will go on forever,” Garcia said, “But if they do retire someday, we will keep the music going,” he said.

Los Huracanes del Norte formed in the late 1960s and, to date, have recorded more than 50 Spanish music albums. They have become a household name in the Spanish music market, often landing spots on Billboard’s Regional Mexican music charts and are often seen on national and international Spanish TV.

As for Revancha Norteña, the young band is not holding back in tracking out new roads for itself. Rodriguez said of their music style, “It is what I call a ‘Chihuahua’ style. Our music has its own swag or kick to it. We’re different from Los Huracanes because they sing corridos and traditional Norteño music. They are hardcore Norteño. We’re more romantic. I call our music Norteña Romantica because, while we have our heavy songs, we also have our light songs.”

Peña, the lead singer of Revancha, is one of the few band members who is actually not a member of the Garcia family, by blood anyway. His father, was a part of the original Revancha Norteña band and then Peña followed in his father’s footsteps as well. Peña, who was a member of the Dimmitt, Texas, high school choir, said that he draws his inspiration from popular Mexican singers and groups, such as Ramon Ayala and Los Rieleros del Norte.

Rodriguez said that Revancha Norteña occasionally gets requests to play Los Huracanes del Norte songs, such as “Cruz de Madera,” a song about a wooden cross, but he said that Revancha Norteña is not a cover band. They have had a good number of original songs on their CDs, produced by Pepe Samaniego of Odessa, Texas.

“We do feel a little pressure to live up to the expectations people have of us, because of our parents,” Garcia admitted, “But our parents always support us and help us out. They want us to do our own thing.”

Garcia, Rodriguez and Vasquez are all graduates of Portales High School and Vasquez is a current student at Eastern New Mexico University, majoring in business administration. From Los Huracanes de Norte, band members Rocky Garcia and Antonio Garcia are also graduates of PHS.

Presale tickets for the Sunday night concert are $30 and are available in Clovis at Panaderia Sanchez, Modas and at El Caporeal. Doors open at 8 p.m. on Sunday at the Midway Convention Center. Tickets will be $40 at the door.