Country, Hip Hop, and 70s Music highlights weekend of entertainment
March 10-11
GRIN Staff
Gila River Indian News
Country music artist Rick Trevino headlined the Mul-Chu-Tha concert on Saturday night, along with Flaco Jiminez on the concert stage at the fairgrounds.
Jiminez is a seven-time Grammy award winning Tejano music artist, Trevino has also won a Grammy from a collaboration with Jiminez and others. Both are Texas natives.
Trevino has had 14 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Song charts and has recorded seven albums in his career. His single, “Running out of reasons to run,” was his first single to reach the top of the charts.
“I thought it was great,” said Trevino after the concert. “We left Austin (Texas) this afternoon, flew straight to Phoenix, from Phoenix drove straight here, from here got dressed and straight on stage, so it’s been kind of a whirlwind. The fans made it worth it.”
Trevino said he is not a stranger to performing in Arizona and no stranger to performing in Native American communities, despite being in such small and rural settings.
“It doesn’t matter how big the city is for us, we enjoy getting energy from the fans whether it’s a small town or big city,” Trevino said. “Being from Texas, we know that you can go into a town of 200 but there are 800 people at the show. The size of the city doesn’t matter but that is one of the fun things about being in the music business and getting to tour. You get to see all of these interesting towns and cities and get to play for the fans.”
Trevino and Jiminez met in 1995 in El Paso. Trevino said that Jiminez has a paternal influence over the him referencing how professional Jiminez has been and still performing at the age of 79. Trevino said that Jiminez is a good example to any music artists.
Jiminez has enjoyed a career that has spanned over six decades. He has been influential in having conjunto and Tejano music crossover into mainstream pop and country songs. He has collaborated with many artists throughout his career, including the Rolling Stones and Carlos Santana.
“The impression I got was that these fans love country music, tex-mex music, they love good music,” said Trevino of the Community. “There are fantastic people here who just love music.”
Sunday
Hip Hop band Arrested Development headlined this year’s Mul-Chu-Tha entertainment, closing out three days of excitement in the Gila River Indian Community.
The grand finale of the 56th Mul-Chu-Tha brought the hip hop combo, Arrested Development to the main event stage, who was proceeded by Shining Star: A tribute to Earth, Wind and Fire and local blues outfit Smokestack Lightning.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, the bright lights of the fair rides pierced the night air and music from both ends of the fairgrounds brought joy to families looking to get in that last bit of entertainment.
Across the fairgrounds, a battle was going on, but it wasn’t fist to cuff, but a battle of the bands competition and dance contest.
Bands like Pickup Kings, O’otham Tradition and Native Creed played on as audience members got their feet moving and their hips swinging.
Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis and and Lt. Gov. Robert Stone greeted the audience, hoping they had a fun time at the fair and sending blessings of safety as they return home.
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire and that is what Smokestack Lightning was doing when they hit the main stage with their string of blue tunes.
Shining Star took everyone back in time with the funky EWF hit, such as “Sing a Song,” “Got to Get You into My Life,” and “After the Love Has Gone,” which at the time of their release made the top 10 hit list.
Arrested Development played some chart toppers, like “Tennessee,” “Everyday” and “Mr. Wendel” to get crowd signing along and their hands reaching for the sky.