SAN ANTONIO — Born and raised in southwest San Antonio, off Nogalitos and Brighton, Eva Ybarra grew up with music in her blood. At 4, while other kids her age were pining for action figures or play sets, she began playing her first instrument.
"I didn't play with dolls," she said. "I played with my 'doll' accordion."
She glances toward the accordion she plays today, years later, which she's affectionately named Adan. And while Ybarra has learned to make music with more than a dozen other instruments over the years, there's a reason her followers have given her the nickname La Reina del Acordeón, or "Queen of the Accordion."
Ybarra, a singer, writer and composer, has fostered a reputation for evolving the Texas-Mexican style of conjunto music. The Texas Commission on the Arts took notice, and has crowned the Alamo City native Texas State Musician of the Year—the state’s highest accolade for excellence in music.
Though the recognition has distinguished alumni – George Strait and Willie Nelson among them – Ybarra said there's a weight that comes with wearing the crown.
Discovering a musical calling
One of nine siblings, Ybarra remembers early memories of watching her brother, Pedro, play the accordion in their home. She quickly became fascinated.
So what was it, specifically, that attracted her and made her want to pick it up for herself?
"Well, the sound of it," she says.
Ybarra's desire to learn the instrument, however, was met with some resistance.
"My mom told me, 'You're going to hurt yourself. You're gonna hurt your lungs by pushing and pulling,'" the musician recalled. "She said she didn't want me famous."
Her mother's wish was for her to sing or play the piano instead.
"Maybe she thought it was a man's instrument," said Ybarra. "[My mother] said, 'It's bad for you, a lady playing. You can play for [the family].'"
It was her father who ultimately gave his blessing for Ybarra to pursue her passion.
"My dad got me privately and said, 'Eva, hear me. Your key is the accordion...stay with the accordion.'"
So she did.
She taught herself by listening to the radio. But soon, what she was hearing wasn't quite enough to satisfy her.
"Growing up, I didn't want simple polkas. I was 10; I wanted difficult polkas."
From that point she started to to compose her own music, tunes using unconventional chord progressions in the style of conjunto—a melody mixing German and Mexican cultures with the accordion as the lead instrument, backed by the bajo sexto and acoustic base guitar.
Ybarra performed with her brothers at restaurants across the U.S. and eventually landed a deal with Rosina Records.
She even went on tour with Flaco Jimenez, the famous Tejano and Norteño musician also from San Antonio.
From New York City and Chicago to Puerto Rico, audiences stood on their feet for her music. Even now Ybarra's melodies play on with five-member group Eva Ybarra Y Su Conjunto.
"As conjunto, we sold a lot of records. Michigan, out of town."
Fans eventually crowned her "La Reina Del Acordeón."
"Once I'm on stage," she said. "I feel angels around me."
'I love to sing, even for nothing'
Reality tends to wear down that angelic euphoria, especially for one of the few women in conjunto to play the accordion professionally. The road gave her a rough run, even as she continued to cement her status.
"This man, he treated me wrong. He paid me, but he treated me wrong," said Ybarra, reflecting on her time performing in Puerto Rico. "He just wanted to, I think, rape me."
The industry, she believes, has its own way of violating her.
"Audiences like me, but the industry of agencies, they don't give me the respect," she explained. "They don't want to see a lady being the leader of a group."
Along with the state musician of the year honor, Ybarra earned a lifetime achievement award from the South Texas Conjunto Association. She was also named a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2017, and has been inducted into three music halls of fame.
(The below video is used with permission of the performer, and the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress.)
But honors and awards don't pay the bills. She says her time slots on stage also don't pay very well.
"They just put me in bad spots. 4 o'clock, 3 o'clock. What's going on?" she asked. "I cry. Sometimes I cry. I cry because they don't treat me right...I'm gonna die poor."
But through the challenges and tears, Ybarra still dreams of being a headliner—and of continuing to develop the passion she discovered at just 4 years old.
"I go in restaurants. I play for tips. I love music," she said. "I love to sing, even for nothing. I'm going to die playing."
---