Basking in the Limelight: Ricky Valenz followed his dream to become a Tejano star and he is well on his way. Here he is accepting his award at the 32nd Annual Tejano Music Awards.
SAN ANTIONIO, TX — In less than eight months since his relocation to San Antonio, Tejano music artist Ricky Valenz (Ricardo Villarreal) has won Best New Male Artist of the Year , the most prestigious award in the Tejano music industry “Best New Male Artist” of the Year. Valenz is a Lansing Everett High School graduate.
Valenz’s first Tejano project, album titled “El Tiempo Ha Llegado” is projected to be complete late summer or early fall of 2012. It includes working with veteran Tejano producers Eddie Perez, Mario Ortiz, Gabe Zavala, Valentino Maltos and Rolando Revilla.
“I believe I made it this far by staying true to my dreams,” said Valenz. “I’m going to continue to move on my visions until my hearts stops, hopefully, others are inspired to do the same” Valenz continued.
His father, Roberto Villarreal, a now retired General Motors employee, was one of Michigan’s top guitarists. In the early 70’s, Roberto played with super band “Latin Sounds” which showcased a variety of Funk, Latin Funk, and Tejano Music. His biological mother Armilla Villarreal (Hernandez) was a lead vocalist for the band “Power Play” out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Valenz’s dedication and passion for music has taken him on a journey from Lansing to San Antonio, the Tejano capital of the world. He has performed with several Tejano artists such as Stefani Montiel, La Calma, La Differencia, AT Boyz and Multi Grammy Award winner Cacy Savala. He has released 3 songs “Cosas Del Amor”, “No Te Puedo Olvidar” and “Me Abandonaste”.
During his early years Valenz grew up watching and idolizing the original “Ritchie Valens” of the movie “La Bamba” that was based off of a true iconic story. Ritchie Valens was a Mexican American artist that moved to California to try and break into the rock-n- roll scene when there was no other Mexican artist playing the music that he was playing.
Well Valenz decided to dedicate himself to his career and made his move to San Antonio. Like Ritchie Valens, Valenz is a Mexican-American artist, but the difference is Valenz isn’t on the rock-n-roll scene but he has exploded onto the Tejano scene.
Valenz is one of a kind of his time. All the way back to when he was in the mirror putting on concerts all by himself or with cousins, Valenz had dreams of having a movie made about his life back when he was a young boy, and dreams of selling out arenas such as Madison Square Garden just as one of his idols Marc Anthony or the great Selena who sold out the Houston Astrodome.
Frank Salazar, Chairman of Texas Talent Musicians Association, producers of the annual Tejano Music Awards said, “We congratulate Ricky Valenz for his win of the 2012 Tejano Music Awards Best New Male Artist. He represents the future of Tejano music and this amazing awe-inspiring young man is destined to go places in the future. He proved why he was voted the Best New Male Artist when he put on a tremendous show for the crowd. We wish him all the luck in his career.”
There is no telling what the future will bring for Valenz and his son, but we know the Valenz journey is only beginning, and fate will once again reveal itself into his life. Some people live with limitations. Valenz believes there is no limit.
Valenz said, “There is no timeframe, only life. There is only what we want to do, and how we want to live today. The only person that has to be satisfied with the movie about yourself when the credits are playing is yourself, so live your life how you want to live it and fulfill yourself and God.”
This was printed in the August 26, 2012 – September 8, 2012 Edition
