All contemporary photos by Alan Mercer
During the mid-'90s, Rick Trevino emerged as one of the first popular Hispanic singers in Country Music since the mid-'70s, when Freddy Fender and Johnny Rodriguez were having hits. Beginning with 'She Can't Say I Didn't Cry' in 1994, he racked up several hits over the next few years with his inspired blend of new country and album rock.
Rick Trevino was born into a musical family; his father was a member of a local Tejano group. Both of his parents fostered his musical interests, and as a child, he listened to a variety of music, including Tejano, Country, Classical pianist Van Cliburn, and mainstream pop/rockers like Elton John and Billy Joel. Soon, he was taking classical piano lessons and studying the clarinet. After graduating from high school, he was offered a baseball scholarship to Memphis State University, but he declined the offer to study music.
In 1993, he released his first album, the Spanish-language ‘Dos Mundos.’ It was accompanied by a single release of "Just Enough Rope," which was released in English, Spanish, and a bilingual version; it was the first traditional country single to be released in both Spanish and English.
In 1994, Ricko released an eponymous album, which featured English versions of most of the songs from ‘Dos Mundos,’ plus a few new cuts. Rick Trevino became a hit, producing the Top 40 '"Honky Tonk Crowd' and the Top Ten singles 'She Can't Say I Didn't Cry' and 'Doctor Time.'
Rick's second album, ‘Looking for the Light,’ was released in 1995; it was accompanied by a Spanish version. Like its predecessor, ‘Looking for the Light’ was a hit, and spawned one Top 40 hit, the number six ‘Bobbie Ann Mason.’ ‘Learning as You Go,’ Rick's third album, was released in 1996; Rick Trevino continued to tour and released a Spanish-language album, 'Mi Son,' that contained only ballads and had little hint of his country music roots in 2002.
During this time Rick began collaborating with Raul Malo, former front man of country band The Mavericks. The two had met while working on the second Los Super Seven album. Their collaborations helped bring Rick to the attention of producer Paul Worley, who helped him get a contract with Warner Brothers.
For his next album, 'In My Dreams,' Rick wanted to do a country record that had a Latin flavor to it.He wrote or co-wrote every song on the album except for the final track, a cover of the Bryan Adams song "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" The title track, 'In My Dreams' became a single and remained on the charts for twenty weeks. The planned release of the ‘Whole Town Blue’ album was cancelled but was subsequently released in 2011 on one CD with his previous album on Warner label as In My Dreams / Whole Town Blue.
Rick Trevino now wants to focus on recording single songs and creating videos to go with them. His latest recording is a single release with the legendary Flaco Jimenez titled ‘I Am A Mexican.’
Alan Mercer: I was listening to your first album again and really enjoyed the Spanish lyrics. Then I heard Columbia recommended you record in Spanish and you weren’t wild about the idea.
Rick Trevino: I just didn’t want there to be any confusion as to who I was as a singer or songwriter or artist. I didn’t want anybody to think I was a Tejano Artist crossing over to Country when I’ve always been a straight-ahead Country singer. They wanted me to do the record in Spanish. I wasn’t going to say no if that’s what they wanted to do. It wasn’t hard to do.
AM: Did you grow up in Texas?
RT: I was born in Houston and raised in Austin.
AM: You didn’t grow up speaking Spanish, did you?
RT: No, I’m a third generation Texan. My parents both spoke English. The folks I know that are my age that speak pretty good Spanish had parents that couldn’t speak English. My parents and grandparents all spoke English and Spanish. I wasn’t in an environment where I was forced to speak Spanish.
AM: So, did you learn it easy for the recordings?
RT: I always had the tongue and the pronunciation since I’m around it a lot, but in terms of being able to converse, it’s always been a bit challenging. I can write and spell in Spanish. It’s pretty easy for me and to be able to pronounce the words is pretty natural.
AM: I think of you as a multi-genre artist. Would you agree with that?
RT: Yeah, growing up I was exposed to everything from pop music to my Dad’s love of Tejano. He was a Tejano musician.
AM: Were you exposed to a lot of different types of music?
RT: The music I was exposed to was everything growing up. My dad came from that 1960’s era with the big Tejano bands like Little Joe Y La Familia, Ruben Ramos and the original Tejano band, Neto Perez and the Originals.
AM: I love all that music now! You must have learned a lot from your father.
RT: My dad was part of that sound when it was first created. He played with Neto for many years then he got out of the music business and raised his family in Austin. So, I was always exposed to so much music. What they played back in the 60’s wasn’t just original music; they were a cover band who did a lot of Top 40 music. The Tejano musicians of the 60’s had the big horn sections. My Godfather played saxophone for the band. They played everything from Tejano stuff to Santana, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago. Just everything. I’ve always had an appreciation for all types of genres. Of course, for me growing up was listening to the radio that had Pop music and Country music.
AM: Was it expected and natural that you would be a musician?
RT: It was natural for me to play music and entertain as I had been doing it since I was very little. My dad saw that I was interested in music, so he said if I was interested, let’s get piano lessons started. So, I started taking piano lessons when I was five.
AM: I can’t believe you had the discipline to practice at that age.
RT: I would learn music off the radio, but I took the formal, typical piano lessons once a week. Sometimes I didn’t want to do it, but dad always made it fun because he was a musician. He told me if I didn’t want to practice my piano lessons that week, just tell him what record I wanted, and he would get it for me, and I would learn how to play the music on the record.
AM: He was so smart.
RT: Yeah, it never felt forced. He also suggested I ask my teacher to buy sheet music for my favorite songs. He always said don’t get bogged down with all the exercises so that’s why I stuck with it. He always helped me feel like I was not being forced to practice.
AM: I have to tell you I love the three Los Super Seven albums. They are so good. How does it feel to have a Grammy?
RT: It feels wonderful to have a Grammy. They’re great records. I look back fondly on those days. We still do occasional satellite shows that are off the radar. I’ll get together with The Los Lobos guys, Flaco and some of the guys that are members of Los Super Seven. Looking back, it’s something I was very fortunate to have been a part of.
AM: I can imagine that’s how it would feel.
RT: To be able to make music with folks like David Hidalgo, Flaco Jimenez, Cesar Rosas and Raul Malo, that’s where I met Raul.
AM: The album he produced for you is incredible. I love it.
RT: Thank you, up to that point I’d only been exposed to some wonderful musicians in Nashville making records the way the record industry does in Nashville.
AM: Did you ever live in Nashville?
RT: No. I did record all my Country music albums there. Up to that point I had only recorded my three albums with Sony. Los Super Seven was a departure from that way of making records. It was a real learning experience to go from making records in Nashville to making records with Los Super Seven. It was two completely different things.
AM: I’m sure there was so many opportunities.
RT: I got to start writing songs with Raul and Alan Miller and I still write with Alan Miller. He and I wrote the latest video that’s out now called, ‘I Am A Mexican’ with Flaco.
AM: That was my next question. How that all came about.
RT: I started writing the song with Alan back in 2005 and we’ve been really close friends ever since. We don’t get to see each other very often because he is in San Diego, Nashville and Brooklyn, but we’re on the phone. We write everything on i-phones the last seven years.
AM: Did you just ask Flaco if he would record it with you?
RT: About five or six years ago I played a Superbowl party in Arizona with Los Super Seven before the Superbowl. We had just done the show with Flaco and were at the hotel having a few beers and I said, “Flaco, check out this song.” I started playing it. I had actually written it more as a polka, a little faster, but when we recorded it Flaco asked about trying it a little slower as a bolero.
AM: Of course, he did...brilliant!
RT: I have to give Flaco credit for producing that one.
AM: I love that.
RT: I recorded it on my phone as a polka and then recorded it in the studio exactly the same. We had trouble getting Flaco into the studio as he was having some medical issues at that time, but we finally got him in there to record it and then to we got him to Burnet, Texas for the video.
AM: I love the video of course.
RT: It seems to be getting a pretty good response.
AM: What is next for you?
RT: As long as I have something to say musically, I’d like to continue to write the story of who I am as a Singer/Songwriter. Right now, I’m at that point. It’s up to me to keep writing that story.
AM: You could certainly rest on your laurels and just do some shows. You’d still be a hit.
RT: Right I could, but I am fully engaged and passionate. I feel like I did when I left Warner Bros. after the Sony days. When I left, I wanted to make a record by myself., me and the piano, me and the guitar. That’s when I started writing my last three singles, ‘Cowboys Like Me,’ ‘I Am A Mexican’ and my newest which will be a video later called ‘Cinco De Mayo.’
AM: Are you just releasing singles for a while?
RT: I think so. Right now, I like the idea of doing videos. That’s probably how we are going to proceed. Going back to your question about what’s next, as long as I’ve got something to say, I enjoy writing and producing and continuing to evolve.
AM: Would you like to produce other artists?
RT: Sure, if it was something I was passionate about, absolutely.
AM: Rick, you are a true Texas music legend.
RT: Thank you, I appreciate that. Like I tell acquaintances of mine, I hope the story is still being written.
AM: Yes of course, but in this day and age it’s almost impossible to be around as long as you have. Obviously, the people love you and still want to see you.
RT: That’s something I do not take for granted. Every time we go out and do a show, and the people come out, I go Wow, this is 27 years we’ve been doing this, and its new music, not just the 90’s hits. I add in the Los Super Seven stuff and it seems to work.
To learn more about Rick Trevino visit his web site http://www.ricktrevino.com