Tish Hinojasa
Tish Hinojosa was born December, 6, 1955, in San Antonio, Texas. Her parents
were Mexican immigrants. Hinojosa recalls that the radio in her family’s
kitchen was tuned constantly to Spanish language radio. As she grew older in
the 1960s, Hinojosa and her 13 brothers and sisters started tuning the radio
to pop stations, listening to the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and others.
“By the time I was 14,” Hinojosa has said, “I couldn’t wait
to get my hands on a guitar. The first time I held one, it just came so naturally.”
By the age of 15, Hinojosa had a job at her local radio station singing songs
in Spanish for advertisements. Not until her twenties, though, did Hinojosa
begin writing her own music. After many rejections from record companies, Hinojosa
released her first major label album, titled Homeland, in 1989. In 1996, Hinojosa
performed at the White House. Her music, described at once as folk, country,
pop, and Hispanic, crosses almost every musical and cultural boundary in contemporary
American music.
Hinojosa has recorded in both Spanish and English, for adults and for children.
Her 1996 award winning record Cada Nino/Every Child, in which each song is sung
bilingually, helped establish the artist as an activist. She has served as a
spokesperson for the National Latino Children’s Organization and for the
National Association of Bilingual Education.
1. Read the 1999 newspaper concert review of Hinojosa’s performance at the Lubbock Arts Festival. What adjectives does the writer use to describe Hinojosa, her music, and the atmosphere at the show? Individually, or in a group, come up with a list of these descriptive words, then use them to write your own review of a favorite song by any artist. Ask yourself this question: when limited by word choice, are you limited in what you can say? Can words be placed and handled so that they have different meanings in different contexts?
2. In “Magnolia,” from the children’s record Cada Nino/Every Child, Hinojosa sings Autumn leaves are falling/ wintertime is calling under the magnolia tree/ My sister and me we sit and have some tea here under the magnolia tree/ Fallen leaves creating taco shells with filling under the magnolia tree/ Hmmm and friends they come to call/ Hmmm John, Ringo, George and Paul/ We laugh and watch magnolia dance for free/.” Imagine you know nothing about Tish Hinojosa, yet you had to describe her life and her influences based on these lyrics. What would you guess about her? What are your three most important pieces of evidence and what do they tell you about the artist?
3. Hinojosa’s activism as an advocate for children is an important part of her message. Look in your newspaper for stories about young children and the issues involving them in your community. If Hinojosa used these same stories, what song titles might she invent? Write lyrics for one or two these songs, remembering that the songs will be sung for children.