“I’m a big fan of Patti LaBelle. It’s not just her voice. It’s the positive effect that her songs have on people.

“When I found out she was going to perform near Houston, I was like, I’ve got to get a front row seat. It was my third time seeing her. I wanted to stand out. I wanted a way to say, ‘Hey, me, I’m your biggest fan.’

“She always gets flowers from her fans. So I decided to go above and beyond. I got her this huge bouquet. When I entered the venue, security took the flowers and said they would give them to her. I was a bit disappointed. I wanted her to see me in the front row, and to hand them to her on stage. So that maybe, just maybe, her pinky would touch my pinky.

“When she finished her first song, she stopped the show and said, ‘Where’s Christopher?’ And my jaw just dropped. I’m like, she’s talking about me. Those are my flowers on the piano. So I stood up, and she asked, ‘Why’d you give me all these flowers?’ I was star struck. I just said, ‘Because I love you.’

“When she performs her big hit song, ‘Lady Marmalade,’ she asks for four gentlemen from the crowd to come on stage. I was a little timid. But she straight up asked, ‘Where’s Christopher?’ And I was like, OK, there’s no way that the 3,000 people in here are going to let me just sit this one out. So I went up there with the three other guys.

“When I belted out a note, everybody just went crazy. And she gave me this look like, wow. I thought, OK, if the best singer in the world in my eyes can give me that kind of look, then I must have something going on. I’ll always be humble, but it definitely boosted my confidence.

“Fast forward a couple years to another show, and there I was in the front row again. She always brings five or six flowers that she gives out to people in the crowd. I saw her look at me, she saw my red shirt, and I got one of her flowers. I almost started crying. That was everything to me. It was an experience of a lifetime.”

— Chris Champion

Check out Chris’ music.

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“One of my favorite songs is ‘The Change’ by Garth Brooks. Basically, the lyrics say, I might not be able to change the world. But if I start with one person at a time, maybe I can make a difference. I feel that’s life for me. That’s one of the things I want to be remembered for: trying to make a difference.

“I consider myself very blessed. I’ve always had a family who loves me and accepts me for who I am. I’ve always had a decent group of friends. And life has always made some kind of way for me to keep pushing for what I want. There are times when I get down or I’m struggling. But things always have a way of working out.

“I realize that’s not the case for everyone. There are people less fortunate and others who don’t have an appreciation for what they do have. I just encourage everybody to try to find a place of happiness, and share it with others.

“I see lots of negativity in the world. Negativity is very contagious. But I believe that positivity is, too. I try to show positivity in my actions and in my music. I can post all day saying, ‘Hey, today’s going to be a good day. Cheer up.’ But people have heard those cliches before. They’re like, ‘You’re not going through what I’m going through right now. So it’s easy for you to say that.’ I feel that’s where music comes in. It has a way of really touching people.

“I wrote a song called ‘Mountain High’ back in 2018. It basically says that no matter what life throws at you, you’ve got to keep pushing to get to where you want to be — which is that place of happiness. Someone told me it was his favorite song of mine. He memorized all the words. He didn’t come out and say he was suicidal, but he kind of hinted at it. And he made it apparent that my song definitely helped him look at life a little differently, considering what he was dealing with at the time.

“Knowing that my music can have a positive impact on someone’s life in that way, it means the world to me.”

— Chris Champion

Chris’ latest music video is “Play Pretend.”

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• Patti LaBelle fan enjoys ‘experience of a lifetime’

• ‘I feel like this time, it’s really forever’

The post Singer tries to spread positivity appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“My parents were immigrants from the tiny island of Saint Lucia. They came to Baytown in the late ‘70s. We were very poor. We lived in a trailer park. I was the last of three kids. My mom had a home birth, so I was born in our trailer.

“When I was growing up, materialism and your place in society — like how much money your parents made — was very important to some people. And if you didn’t measure up, they truly didn’t care to get to know you. Not because of anything you did, but they just didn’t want to be associated with you.

“I was being made fun of really bad, mostly in middle school and high school. No matter what I tried, nothing worked. They were not shy in telling me, ‘Oh, you’re always going to be poor. You’re never going to end up doing anything in life.’ And I would think, at that young age, how could you possibly know? The audacity of it all. I just couldn’t imagine.

“I was angry a lot. But I knew that once I was older and able to get away from that environment, things would get better. I thought, if I could just get to college, things would be different. And they were.

“I had a great college experience. I found folks who were interested in who I was as a person, and not how much money I made, what kind of clothes I wore, or how my hair looked.

“I earned my undergraduate degree and master’s degree in vocal performance. I started working and living in Houston. I created a path for myself as a professional singer. I didn’t forget about my past. But I did not let it weigh me down, because there weren’t people constantly in my life reminding me about it.

“It’s a shame that there are people who seem to thrive on feeling like they’re better than you. I don’t know if that’s something taught at home or what. I just wish the people who bully were a little more understanding. I wish they made an effort to know someone for who they are and not for what they may be lacking.”

— Julie Jackson

One of the people Julie met in college was her husband, Ali, a professional tuba player and teacher. Learn more about Julie, the singer.

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• Powerful voices draw her to opera

The post She overcomes bullying to prove others wrong appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“I’m very outgoing. I’m a very extroverted person. So when it came time to choose electives in sixth grade, I wanted to be in something where there were a lot of people. I also wanted to take the elective that went to Splashtown. That elective was choir.

“I could sing along with the radio and not be off key. But it didn’t occur to me that I was a particularly good singer. Until my middle school choir director was like, ‘Hey, you’ve got a really good voice. This could be your ticket to college.’

“I don’t come from a musical family. One side is straight educators. The other side is more sciency-medical. So my singing made me feel really unique.

“The first opera I ever performed in was in college. I remember being in rehearsal with the principal characters. Hearing and feeling someone make a sound bigger than their body, bigger than a whole orchestra, was just incredible. The fact that all that sound and all that power came from a person who had no mic on — I couldn’t believe it. And I thought, I have to do that.

“I love the drama that comes with opera, as well as the heroic and just Herculean singing. The only thing that kind of gets in the way of people sometimes fully appreciating opera is that it’s in different languages. It helps if you’re able to read a little about the show beforehand. You get your own idea of what to expect. Then when you go into the theater and see what that company and that director and that lead singer bring to the story, it’s this whole other dimension. Like, wow, I didn’t know it could be like this. I just love it.”

— Julie Jackson

Julie recently won the Young Singers of Color Audition Video Scholarship sponsored by Opera Project Columbus. Her performance as Holly Hogrobrooks in “Unsung Activist” premiered on Oct. 1. It’s Opera in the Heights’ contribution to Decameron Opera Coalition’s digital opera shorts project, “Heroes.”

Hear samples of Julie’s singing.

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• She overcomes bullying to prove others wrong

The post Powerful voices draw her to opera appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“To get my book out there, I was told that I needed to perform my poetry. And I was like, ‘Um, no.’ I’ve been performing since I was 3, singing at church, in the school choir, and for different events through the years. I was comfortable with that. But I never wanted to physically give voice to my poetry.

“I’ve been through a lot in life. I thought that performing about it would make what happened even more real. But I’m in my 40s now. I’ve grown into myself. And I’ve learned that if you give it to the world, they can’t use it against you. I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve experienced.

“From that first moment I got on stage to perform my poetry, I just laid it all out there. The response after the shows was really positive. It led me to believe that it was greater than me being afraid to talk about what I’d been through.

“When I started, I was just Raquel Segura. In the poetry world, that’s too boring. So they call me Da Truth. I speak about real life stuff. God has blessed me to be able to write. I always thought my singing voice would be the way to share myself with the world. But I’d pick up a pen to write a song, and it would turn into poetry.

“I hosted at Houston Improv for two years as part of one of the first poetic groups to perform at that comedy club. I auditioned and was selected to do four shows for Super Bowl Live when the game was held in Houston. I also perform for a lot of private events, and I’ve done a few things at churches. Overall, I’d say that I’ve been pretty blessed to have such a big stage.”

— Raquel Segura

At Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital, where Raquel is a senior human resources representative, patients have requested her to sing at their bedsides. During the pandemic, her singing has helped to boost co-workers’ morale.

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“Dad used to sing solo hymns at St. Mark’s Methodist Church, so we kids grew up singing. Sometimes when he would sing in the shower, neighbors would pull out their lawn chairs for the concert. ‘Danny Boy’ was a favorite of his to sing, and we would sing along.

“My brother, Robert, loved to sing. He would go to piano bars to sing. There was one in Kemah called Webb’s Cove, and he would sing there on weekend nights. Usually on a Sunday night, a certain guy named Red Adair would stop in to listen. Red really liked Robert’s voice, and he would always request that he sing either ‘How Great Thou Art’ of ‘Danny Boy.’ Red would insist on giving Robert a $100 tip, which he’d split with the piano player.

“‘Danny Boy’ was a favorite of Robert’s. When he sang it, it was really powerful, and it would bring listeners to tears. It was also a favorite of mine to perform. But it’s a difficult song because of its vocal range.

“In 2019, I was in Dublin, Ireland, with my daughter and her husband. We toured the Irish Whiskey Museum that was near Trinity College on land that was once owned by my ancestors around the year 1100. After the tour, there was karaoke in the bar. So we stopped for a moment and sang a few songs.

“Then I asked the karaoke host if he thought I could sing ‘Danny Boy’ as an American, and if it would be OK with the locals. I didn’t want to show any disrespect. He said to go ahead, so I dedicated it to my brother, who passed away in 2000. I knew that Robert would have loved to have been there. The wind was blowing something awful outside, and I just thought it was now or never to honor him since I was in the land of our ancestors with his favorite niece. So I mustered up my courage, and just lived in the moment to remember him and my dad.

“It was such a fun time. By the end of the song, we were all in tears and the whole room was singing along. I swear that I could feel Robert there in spirit as I sang this incredible Irish tune.”

— Lou Ann Stanley

The post Singing ‘Danny Boy’ stirs memories of brother, dad appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“I always thought I would pursue music. It never really worked out. But I play piano and I sing.

“I actually got to sing the National Anthem at an Astros game several times. The first time, I was 18. I had sent in a VHS tape, and they called to let me know. It wasn’t a great experience. There was a three-second delay, and I had never dealt with anything like that. I just kept slowing down because I couldn’t hear myself.

“I told myself that I’d do it again after that, but I never had the courage until I sent in another audition many years later. My daughter, Lyla, was 4, and I felt that I needed her to see me do something that I love after the (spinal cord) tumor removal. She had come to the hospital and laid in bed with me. She saw me struggle. She was with me when I had to learn how to walk again.

“So I contacted the Astros and asked how to send in a video now. I assumed they no longer did VHS tapes. They told me what I needed to do, and later they called and said I could sing.

“It was really special for Lyla to see a different side of me. I had wanted to back out so bad. I was so scared that I would forget the words or that I would be feeling too much pain to do well. But I figured even if I bombed, she’d have seen me try. And I did fine. I guess I’m super stubborn. I just keep trying.”

— Sheryl Duncan

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The post Daughter sees different side of her mom appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“When I was in Austin, there was this country radio station right across the freeway from where I lived. I would call in and get through a lot, and I got to know the afternoon DJ. One time he said, ‘You want me to come pick you up in the Hot 93 van, and we’ll go to a club and pass out some CDs? You can be my helper.’ I said, ‘Hell, yeah, dude. That sounds awesome.’ After that, he told me about an open mic Friday at the station, where you bring in your acoustic guitar and sing a song that you’ve written. So I left the tape deck ready to record my performance, and then ran across the freeway with my 12-string. On the air I said to my friend back at our place, ‘Start taping, Kevin.’ The morning crew, Lisa and Ernie, got a chuckle out of that. When they asked if I was ready to sing, I got a little nervous because they said there were thousands of people listening. But I sang my song, and it went pretty well. It was called ‘On the Run.’ It’s an Old West kind of thing. It’s about a guy who says he was framed for shooting somebody, and he’s on the run. It’s based on a true story, an experience I had years ago. 

“There was another time where one of my songs won an award on KILT in Houston. It was the Lone Star Band Search Contest. It was a song called ‘Bubba.’ The chorus goes, ‘Bubba was an everyday, red-blooded redneck, beer-drinking, wishful-thinking, All-American man.’ It’s a real fast boogie-woogie song. They called me a couple weeks later and said I won. I got a $1,000 gig playing at Traders Village. I paid myself $500 and split $500 with the other guys in the band. That was around the time Garth Brooks, Brooks and Dunn, and all of them started coming out, and country music changed. It wasn’t crying in your beer with a lot of pedal steel. It was more guitar, and it was rocking. I saw that style was getting popular. So I thought, I don’t care, I’ll sell out. I want to become famous. I’ve got to play ball with the record companies and do whatever the hell they want. I’d watched other guys try to get signed. But they wouldn’t play ball, and guess what? They’re probably as poor as I am right now.

“I never did realize that big dream. It’s been like 10 or 15 years since the band was active. We were supposed to do a reunion gig recently, but I couldn’t make it because I had to work. I’ve got to do something to pay the bills.”

— Holt Maggard

(Note: Holt Maggard died as the result of a traffic accident on June 18, 2021.)

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The post Music memories keep the dream alive appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“As I dealt with being molested when I was very young and even more recently, I found solace in singing. I’m not the best singer in the world, but I love to sing.

“I was in theater class in school. One of the things my teacher said was to project your voice. So that was one way for me to scream out how I was feeling. All the pain, everything, just let it all out.

“And it helped. It still helps. I love going to karaoke. I love it when people clap and I see how they react to me. It helps a lot because I was very closed off for a long time. I was always dressed in black. I was always covered up. I didn’t want anyone to see me. I had the whole emo hair style thing going on, with only one eye showing. But after a while, when I began to realize how singing made me feel better about myself, I started pulling my hair back. I started wearing different clothing, different colors.

“Then, with the most recent thing that happened, I felt like I kind of got pulled back down. But I’m not going to let it defeat me again. I suffered through way too many years of that. It still bothers me. But it’s not going to be something that holds me back again.”

— Andrea Alvarado

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• Talking about sexual abuse a step in right direction

The post Singing helps her ‘scream out how I was feeling’ appeared first on The Baytown Project.

M

The youngest of the kids, Jesus “Chuy” Rodriguez Jr., was the most intrigued. Maybe it was because his dad and musician friends would treat him to mariachi performances on his first few birthdays.

“One time, the guys were over at the house for a party or something, and there was this trumpet. I’m told that I grabbed it and started making funny noises with it,” Chuy said. “I think that really got my attention. I guess it was a sign of things to come.”

When Chuy was 4, his mother brought him and his sisters to a restaurant where his dad was playing with his mariachi band. Although she was shot and killed a few years earlier, Selena’s music was still very popular.

“My dad set me up on a table, and I sang one of Selena’s songs. That was my first gig,” Chuy said.

Now 25, with countless performances and lots of hard work and planning to his credit, Chuy is on the verge of realizing a dream.

Thanks to the popularity of a music video for a song from his first album, Chuy grabbed the attention of Enrique Guzman Yanez. Known as Fato, he is regarded as today’s top composer and producer of Latin American music.

Fato is helping Chuy record an album of alternative mariachi music, and he will soon begin his first major tour. 

“I can honestly say this is the happiest I’ve ever been in my life,” Chuy said. “A moment like this only comes around once, so I plan to take full advantage of it. I feel super blessed to have this opportunity.”

Father’s influence

If not for his father, Chuy knows his story would be different. 

When Chuy was young, his dad logged long, hard days working construction jobs to support his family. To supplement that income, he performed with mariachi bands at private parties and restaurants on nights and weekends.

Jesus Sr. was injured while working on the Fred Hartman Bridge project, and it forced him to retire. That’s when his musical talents took on greater importance.

In addition to playing with mariachi bands, he gigged by himself for tips at restaurants. Chuy began tagging along.

“I was 6 years old. That was the point when I started learning what it was to help take care of the family. We really began to rely on the money we made from music.”

They played for hours on weekends. It wasn’t big money, but every little bit helped.

Chuy began playing a Mexican vihuela, whose sound falls somewhere between a ukulele and nylon-string guitar. He later picked up the accordion and trumpet, and he continued playing trumpet in middle school.

Through high school and college, Chuy played with his dad in mariachi bands at parties and other events. 

They played traditional mariachi ranchera music, which became popular in 1940s-1950s Mexican cinema. Chuy was further exposed to it while watching his dad’s collection of Pedro Infante movies on VHS tapes.

“There were several really good actors who also were singers. There were Jorge Negrete, Jose Jimenez and Miguel Mejia. But Pedro Infante was my idol. He was a phenomenal singer and actor,” Chuy said.

“I would see these guys like heroes. So whenever I would play with my friends, and they would be Batman and Superman, I would come out with, ‘I’m Pedro Infante.’ They thought that was kind of strange.”

College and beyond

Chuy’s love for mariachi music helped him get accepted to University of Houston’s entrepreneurship program. He recorded a video with a mariachi band, and he talked about his passion for the musical genre.

While attending classes, Chuy reached out on Facebook to one of the most respected trumpet players in the mariachi world, Crescencio “Chencho” Hernandez. Chuy asked if he could take lessons from him, and it worked.

“One day I was telling him how I always wanted to be like Pedro Infante. I said, ‘Maestro, my biggest dream is to be a singer.’ And he said, ‘That’s all I wanted to hear. I can produce an album for you.’”

They started working on the album in 2013, but production slowed while Chencho battled prostate cancer. With two songs still to be recorded, he passed away in July 2017. 

Chencho’s brother, Jose, helped Chuy finish the album this March. It has yet to be released.

To help promote the music, Chuy decided to make a video. A friend was able to rent the National Theatre of El Salvador, which is the oldest theatre in Central America.

“The people from El Salvador treated me like a king. They were proud that somebody was coming to record something that was such a special part of Mexican culture and their country,” Chuy said.

Since launching the video for “Por Cien Caminos” on Cinco de Mayo, it has received more than 330,000 views.

Enter Fato

While Chuy was thrilled with the reaction to his music video, he was stunned when his manager called to say that it caught the attention of Fato. 

“He tells my manager, ‘I like the way he sings. I like his presence. Why don’t you all come down to Mexico. I’d like to give him a song.’”

When they arrived at his home in Mexico City, Fato began playing his guitar and singing some of his songs. Then he handed the guitar to Chuy, and asked him to play and sing.

“When I finished he said, ‘You know what? I’m not going to give you a song. I’m going to give you an album. I’m going to produce an entire album.’ At that moment, I just froze. My manager and I looked at each other like, what just happened?”

He was handed an opportunity of a lifetime to make a name for himself in alternative mariachi. Compared to traditional ranchera, the alternative music has more of a modern, pop feel. 

Chuy recently returned from a session at Fato’s studio in Guanajuato, Mexico. They recorded two songs for the album, including one that Fato had set aside for about 12 years. “Other artists have been asking him for this song for a long time, and he gave it to me. That’s quite an honor,” Chuy said.

A few more sessions are needed to complete the album. In the meantime, Chuy is preparing to launch his tour on July 28 in California. Final details will be announced, but the tour will include stops at various cities in the U.S. and Mexico.

“I’ve been selling cars, but I put in my two weeks’ notice,” Chuy said. “It was a no-brainer. This is my dream.”

Lessons learned

Friends and family are excited about Chuy’s future, and he is grateful to all his supporters.

“Everything has been possible because of God’s will, my family’s support, hard work and the public who has believed in me,” he said.

Chuy’s father has been in his corner since the early days. “He always saw that I had a big passion for this.”

And wherever his career takes him, Chuy will hold his dad’s guidance close.

“He’s always been a role model for me. One of the big things I learned from watching him is that if you want something bad enough and you work for it, you can achieve it,” Chuy said. 

“He came from very humble beginnings. He was never able to attend school because he needed to stay home and help support his family. But he achieved a certain level of accomplishment in life that is just a product of hard work and wanting it bad enough. That’s an important lesson that I carry with me.”

Follow Chuy Rodriguez on Facebook and Instagram, and on his website.

https://youtu.be/e1k06SqfFo0?rel=0&amp

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