Fermin Canales Biography

One of the first musicians to perform conjunto music in Germany, bajo sexto player and vocalist Fermin Canales has continued to excite crowds with his accordion-driven dance music since returning to the United States in 1982. Born in Realitos, a small town along the Texas-Mexican railway, Canales moved 40 miles southwest to Alice, TX, as a child. The son of a guitar player, he began to learn the instrument at the age of 13. Enlisting in the Air Force in 1956, he remained in the service for 23 years. After serving two tours of Viet Nam between 1969 and 1972, he was stationed in Germany, where he was quickly recruited for the “singing sergeant” Manuel Guerrero’s all-Air Force band. During the two and a half years that they played together, they alternated performances of traditional conjunto music and performances of traditional mariachi music.Although he was stationed in the United States from 1978 until 1980, Canales returned to Germany and formed his own conjunto group, Los Tejanos del Sur, with four Air Force musicians and his wife, Angie. Returning to the United States, after retiring from the Air Force in 1982, Canales temporarily settled in San Antonio before returning to his childhood home in Alice, TX. Performing with Los Coyotes de Elma y Goyo in 1984, he joined Los Luceros del Norte the following year. He continued to perform with this group for the next eight years. Forming his own band, Los Talisman, in 1992, Canales became a much in-demand wedding musician. When the band’s original members elected to leave music and spend more time with their families, in 1993, Canales re-formed the group with accordion player Andy Viera, bassist/vocalist Marcos Ybanez, and drummer/vocalist Adan Vela.