The border country of Texas is a rich tableau for multicultural traditional music.  Belen Escobedo grew up in San Antonio listening to a savory stew of Norteño, Tejano, mariachi and classic Texas country music.  The old songs left an impression in her mind as she learned violin in school and the local traditional fiddle styles on the side.  Many of the songs she plays are an eclectic mix of waltzes, polkas and other traditional forms brought by early German and East European settlers to Texas, in which the fiddle playing the melody lines came to be replaced in more conventional versions of this music by the accordion. 

Today, Belen is one of the few remaining practitioners of authentic fiddle-based Conjunto music, and Sugar Maple is excited to present her and her band, Panfilo’s Güera, for their first appearance in the Upper Midwest.  Belen was presented the Master of Texas Fiddling Award at the 2017 Festival of Texas Fiddling in recognition of her significance in maintaining this distinctive Texas musical style.  She and her band were recently featured in concert at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.  Panfilo’s Güera includes Ramon Gutierrez on tololoche (bass) and Virginio Castillo on bajo sexto.  Their new self-titled live album showcases 17 traditional songs of the Texas borderlands.

~written by Brad Wolbert