Little Joe Y La Familia
Little Joe Y La Familia is one of the most popular Tex-Mex bands in the music industry.
Little Joe has been entertaining for more than 35 years, and has been described as the "King of The Brown Sound."
He also helped pioneer "Tejano" music, a mix of traditional "norteno" music and country, blues and rock styles. And, he secured his eighth Grammy nomination in 2008.
Jose Maria DeLeon Hernandez "Little Joe" was born to Salvador "La Cotorra" Hernandez and Amelia DeLeon Hernandez in a three-wall dirt floor car garage in Temple on a cold and stormy night on October 17, 1940. He was the seventh of 13 children.
In 1953, Joe's cousin, David Coronado, who fronted a band called "David Coronado and The Latinaires" recruited Joe for guitar, Cino Moreno for drums and Tony Matamoros on saxophone to join his band.
In 1955, Joe would make his first paying performance in Cameron for $5 at a high school Sock Hop. He was so excited. He realized that picking a guitar beat picking cotton and he still got paid for it.
What followed was a career going on six decades, including taking over as the bandleader after the departure of Coronado, the death of his younger brother and bass player Jesse in 1964 and the formation of what would become his own record label.
At Jesse’s funeral, Little Joe made a vow to his brother to take the music as high as he could take it.
He made good on that vow – earning the highest honor the music industry has to offer. Joe earned his first Grammy award in 1992 in the Best Mexican Performance Category for "Diez Y Seis De Septiembre." He has been nominated for the Grammy award eight times.
Recently, Joe signed a co-venture deal with his company "DeLeon Publishing" and "Peer Music Limited Publishing" in an effort to bring a major publishing outlet for Texas songwriters extending publishing work to 33 countries.
Forty years and more than 50 albums later, Joe is touring the world, looking forward to new challenges, breaking down the cultural and musical barriers and innovating his musical style.
4:30 p.m., Sunday, April 27, 2008, Dodge Real. Texas. Music. Stage.