BISD employees perform as Grupo Rondalla Voces y Guitarras

Their voices resonate with a musical eloquence that quickly captivates the listener.

Grupo Rondalla Voces y Guitarras rendition of "Piel Canela," with its upbeat and playful guitar licks skipping joyfully into a chorus of rich vocals, introduces the group's first CD, "Parece que fue ayer." That number is followed by a beautiful rendition of Jose Alfredo Jimenez's "Paloma Querida" and then the title track, a delightful love song by Armando Manzanero of the Yucatan.

While the nine musicians in Grupo Rondalla Voces y Guitarras have refined their talents to a high degree of expertise, it's no ordinary musical group. They are employees of the Brownsville Independent School District's Transportation Department who decided about a year and a half ago to start making music together. Since that inception the musicians, who include bus drivers, a dispatcher and a bus monitor, have developed their techniques so well that they were invited to perform at the Texas Folklife Festival June 12-14.

"It's a great experience for us," said Miguel Salinas, a bus driver who plays upright base for the group.

"We played at different stages and different times," said the 47-year-old Salinas. "We enjoyed the trip and all the festival. It's a short time that we have played together, but we make a lot of things in one year."

Salinas and the other band members work every day to keep the bus routes moving, but they also find time throughout the work week to practice.

"We try to practice on the break, sometimes 10 a.m to noon, a couple of hours every other day," said Rafael Garcia, 42, another bus driver. The Matamoros native also plays lead guitar for the group.

How did he learn to play guitar?

"A little bit from my own, a little bit from friends, and a little bit from here and there," he said with a laugh.

Salinas said the group practices in a small room at the bus barn. They prefer that people not come and watch them practice.

"We don't recommend that because we need the privacy to practice the songs and make the arrangements and everything," he said.

The group has been playing at BISD events and represented the district at the last two Charro Days. During one of its BISD performances, Grupo Rondalla caught the attention of a visitor.

"I don't know how, but one of the people from San Antonio came here for one event at BISD and he saw the group," Salinas said. "He recommended us to the people from the festival there in San Antonio, and they sent an invitation and we went there."

Garcia was quite surprised upon arrival to find that people knew about Grupo Rondalla.

"Some people, as soon as we got there, they started asking, ‘Hey, are you the bus drivers from Brownsville?' " he said. "It was a good experience. It was the first time performing out of the Valley."

The crowd, he said, gave a warm reception. "People treated us nice over there," he said. "It's a good experience."

Making music for BISD has been such a good experience that Grupo Rondalla produced their CD about a month ago. The CD includes another Jose Jimenez number called "Amaneci Otra Vez," plus "Jacarandosa," "Popurri Mexicano" and "Soy Puro Mexicano."

"We chose the songs that people would like the best," said Salinas.

However, the group's repertoire includes many more songs than those on the CD, said Luis Garcia, a dispatcher for BISD.

"Normally we play different songs, romantics, music that makes you move your body," said Luis Garcia, no relation to Rafael Garcia. "That's how we decided ‘this song, it's OK.' My favorite is ‘Mexico Lindo y Querido.' "

The CD is currently being sold only by band members for $10. Anyone interested can call Salinas at 372-4216.