Welcome to The Rocks Off 200, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community -- a lot more than just musicians, but of course they're in there too. See previous entries in the Rocks Off 100 at this link.
Who? His birth name is Pedro Herrera, but to the world at large he is known as Chingo Bling --and also the Versace Mariachi, the Ghetto Vaquero and a long list of other self-assigned nicknames. The Houston-based artist/entrepreneur has been performing since the early 2000s. Herrera also acts and does some comedy, which he says goes hand in hand with his character.
Home Base? Herrera was raised in the Ingrando Park neighborhood of Houston. He performs all across the country, be it Illinois, Washington, California, Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona, and "wherever the Mexican diaspora can be found." His offices are on the Southside of H-Town near Beltway 8.
Why Do You Stay in Houston? "I was born and raised here" states Herrera. "We have a great independent music scene, as well as lots of excellent places to eat!"
Good War Story?: In his own words:
I put together a show at the House of Blues and had been rehearsing with the band for weeks, on top of promoting the show. After much preparation, we packed the house. Day of the show, the air conditioning at venue had gone out, and people were packed in like sardines, so they stopped letting people in.When it was our turn to go on, the DJ's CD player wasn't working. What a nightmare, but the show went on without a big chunk of the music playing under the band.
Story continues on the next page.