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| Rosa y Joe at the 409 Gallery Noche de Peña |
Rumbo al' Anacua Rosa y Joe Pérez Olmito, Texas
Natives of Premont, Texas, graduates of Texas A&I University in Kingsville, Joe and Rosa currently reside in Olmito
on the outskirts of Brownsville. They have lived in the Rio Grande Valley since 1980, relocating from Austin to accept teaching
jobs in the border area, first in McAllen and then in Brownsville.
Self-taught musicians, Joe and Rosa perform as a vocal and guitar duet they have named Rumbo al’ Anacua.
In a rustic style that speaks of a “voces y guitarras” heritage as it has been preserved among
people living north of the Rio Grande, the spirit of Rumbo al’ Anacua keeps the tradition of music performed
under backyard anacua trees throughout South Texas. Playing 6-string and 12-string guitars, the duet performs
old música ranchera plus original compositions of music and poetry. They like to say, “Music
is too much fun to leave to the professionals.”
Rosa and Joe are founding members of the Narciso Martínez Writers’ Forum in San Benito. The
Forum provides a venue for Valley writers to express their bi-lingual/bi-cultural literary interpretations of the region.
They also produce and host North of the Border, a radio program of Mexican roots music that previously aired
on KMBH FM 88, the NPR affiliate in the Rio Grande Valley, from 2001 - 2006. A former
drafting and English teacher, Joe works as a technical writer. Rosa taught English and Mexican-American
Studies at Hanna High School in Brownsville from 1984 until her retirement in 2001. She is a former Board Member of the Narciso
Martínez Cultural Arts Center. Both have been volunteers at the NMCAC in San Benito and at the Casa
de Cultura Carlotta Petrina in Brownsville.
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