Óscar Reyes does not forget the anger that he and his brothers put their father through when they decided to interpret cumbias.
“He was very upset,” said Óscar, a member and founder of the California Show, a group that is based in southern California but started in San Jerónimo Ocotitlán, in the Mexican state of Puebla. “He even told us that what we were doing was not music.”
The parent’s discontent reached such a degree that he told his children that as long as they dedicate themselves to interpreting tropical music, they would not have his support. And things got so serious that he had no contact with them for a while.
And it is that the fury of the father of the Reyes brothers was not for less. He and other family members were classical orchestra musicians and he wanted his children to do the same. He had also invested time and effort in teaching his children that musical genre.
“We grew up listening to classical music and we went to music school,” Óscar said in a telephone interview. “But we wanted to deviate a little from what my whole family was doing and we tried other things, and the truth is that we really liked it.”
Then the offers to entertain private parties began to arrive, and although things looked good, the members of the group began to emigrate to the United States to look for better opportunities. For almost 30 years the band has been operating from California —hence the name—, and currently, after a break, the members decided to resume their career, but now with some new members, including Óscar’s own son, Óscar Reyes Jr. ., who takes the reins of the band since in addition to being a composer, he is also the vocalist of the combo.
Precisely the song that brings them back to the ring, “I don’t care”, is the author of Óscar Jr., who was inspired by situations of love and heartbreak to write this song.
This single is the first of several that the California Show has in the pipeline. There are plans to release a complete album in a few months, and there is also a tour on the horizon. In September they will visit cities in New Jersey and New York, where there is an important community from Puebla that follows them. They will also play concerts in San Jose, San Diego and Fresno and some clubs in and around Los Angeles.
Now, Óscar’s father is very happy with the band’s career, and when he visits his children in the United States—he still lives in Mexico—he even accompanies them on their tours. He is now a proud dad who shows off the career of his children every time he can.