TEXAS COUNTRY REPORTING: Iconic show comes to San Benito

By RAY QUIROGA
publisher@sbnewspaper.com

For the better part of a half-century, Texas Country Reporter (TCR) has graced the airwaves and screens of millions of homes in the Lone Star State and beyond.

In recent weeks, the TCR crew traveled to the Resaca City to film an episode of the iconic show at the Texas Conjunto Music Hall of Fame & Museum, which coincidently celebrated its second anniversary at its home, the legendary Azteca building on historic Robertson Street in San Benito.

After spending a day filming at the museum, the crew, including host J.B. Sauceda, were invited by the Avila family, who operate the museum, to dine on authentic Tex-Mex food at El Gallito Restaurant on Business 77, another San Benito institution.

There, an entire section of the restaurant was reserved for well-wishers and fans who welcomed the crew while listening to live Conjunto music.

But for Sauceda, coming to San Benito wasn’t just a business venture but a homecoming of sorts, as his father, Juan, was a native son of the Resaca City. Sauceda still has family here, including the Saucedas from Sauceda Precision Grind on Business 77.

In October 2023, Sauceda took the helm of TCR, for the one-of-kind Bob Phillips and his wife, Kelli, who retired from the show after hosting it for almost four decades.

The show is the longest running, independently produced program in the country, airing in every media market across Texas and nationally. Sauceda, who was raised in La Porte, Texas, was asked to host the show and he jumped at the opportunity, having gained recognition by “Texas Monthly” for Texas-centric social media endeavors.

The photographer and designer turned social media influencer and e-retail entrepreneur had earlier found success in other media, including combining two of his passions, photography and piloting small aircraft, to produce a stunning coffee table book of aerial photographs from across the Texas landscape. However, nothing so far as tickled his fancy as this latest dig, because, at heart, Sauceda said he’s a storyteller.

“Deep roots here in San Benito, just from my dad. I called him today when the band was playing and put him on FaceTime. He wishes he could be down here more, but I still have a ton of family here,” said the host. “My grandmother, when she died, was living on Milam, off of Stenger, so I used to come down here every summer.”

Sauceda said that while operating a logistics firm in Austin, Texas, he had a contingent of employees from the San Benito area. That also influenced his decision to create more features in the Valley.

“I’ve got a lot of connections here, so when I took over the show, it was important for me to do more stories down here and just cover more of the Valley,” Sauceda explained.

Thus, this isn’t the show’s first foray in the Valley. On this latest trip, TCR has filmed in Brownsville, San Benito and the Upper Valley. It also just so happens that his wife’s family is from Sharyland.

“We just came back from reruns. This season will run through May. We’ll take the summer off and then we’ll start the next season,” Sauceda explained, adding that they are currently filming for season 54. “This morning’s segment will go in this season but we’re about the start filming for what will go into September and on.”

When asked what he learned from his time at the museum that he may not have known about Conjunto music prior, Sauceda answered the Avila’s passion for not only keeping the genre alive, but for making their father’s dream of archiving and documenting the music into a reality.