Texas Music News — July 24, 2026
San Antonio’s Flaco Jiménez tribute exhibit closes July 31, one year after his death, with a new song premiere. The ceremony happens that evening at Alamo Colleges’ Common Ground Gallery. It includes a community conversation and remarks from invited speakers. Then Pete Astudillo, with former Selena y Los Dinos guitarist Chris Pérez, will debut a new song and video. Louie TheSinger and Los Texmaniacs round out the bill.
The exhibit, “From the West Side to the World: Un Homenaje a Flaco Jiménez,” opened at the gallery earlier this summer. It traces Flaco’s path from a hitch in the Korean War to his rise as a global conjunto ambassador. His son, Arturo Jiménez, approached Alamo Colleges administrator Eric Castillo about the show. That happened after the gallery bought a Flaco portrait from artist Vincent Valdez. Arturo then gathered decades of family photos, video, and stage wardrobe for the display. One case holds Flaco’s favorite instrument, an Orange Hohner Corona II accordion. It’s sealed behind glass, like a saint’s relic in a chapel. The exhibit joins San Antonio’s new Totally Tejano Hall of Fame & Museum in keeping that legacy alive.
A Family Story Told in Glass and Sound
Castillo, who grew up in San Antonio, said the exhibit changes how people see Flaco. “You see him as a man, as a father, as a grandfather,” he said. Then, he added, visitors learn about his international reach too. Vintage photos show Flaco’s father, Santiago Jiménez Sr., playing beside him at the Tejano Conjunto Festival. Concert footage loops nearby, next to glass cases holding pieces of his stage wardrobe. Castillo said the details bring back Flaco’s presence. “It makes it feel like Flaco is here with us,” he said.
Friday’s ceremony marks more than an exhibit’s end. It works like a torch passed hand to hand across San Antonio’s West Side. Flaco earned six Grammys and played alongside everyone from the Rolling Stones to Dwight Yoakam, yet he never left his roots. The new song premiering Friday grew from those same streets. So when the gallery lights dim on July 31, San Antonio’s conjunto sound won’t go quiet with them.
Details at Texas Public Radio
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