KUT 90.5 | By Jerry Quijano
Published September 26, 2024 at 10:05 AM CDT
Rosie Flores has been singing and making music for more than a half century, tackling many styles along the way including rockabilly, country and punk rock.
The San Antonio-born artist learned to play rhythm guitar in her teens and formed her first band in high school after her family relocated to San Diego. That’s where Flores cut her teeth in the local nightclub circuit working with her band Rosie and The Screamers, rising up the ranks at the same time as other acts like Los Lobos and Lucinda Williams.
She also spent time as part of other groups like the Screamin’ Sirens, an all-female cowpunk band, and Las Super Tejanas, a Latina group of musicians and mariachis.
In addition to the music she’s produced with others, Flores boasts a baker’s dozen worth of solo albums beginning with her 1987 self-titled album all the way up to her most recent effort, 2019’s Simple Case of the Blues.
Her bonafides in rockabilly go beyond her ability to produce music in the genre; Flores won a Peabody Award in 2007 for her narration work on the rockabilly documentary Whole Lotta Shakin’ produced by KCRW.
Flores was selected this year as a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage fellow.
She’ll be performing Friday at KUTX’s first Rock the Park event of the fall season, taking the stage at 6:30 p.m. and followed by San Gabriel.
