Alfredo Guerrero | Photo:: Lupe Moya
Tortilla Factory is celebrating 50 years in the music industry this year. The legendary band, now led by Alfredo Antonio Guerrero, son of founder Tony “Ham” Guerrero, who passed away in 2011, plans to release an anniversary album as a tribute to five decades of iconic music.
After a series of tragic losses for Alfredo, including his daughter and granddaughter in an auto accident in 2020 and the passing of legendary Tortilla Factory singer “El Charro Negro” Bobby Butler in 2016, Alfredo tells Tejano Nation he was ready to quit music.
“I was going to retire from music, never going to do music again but God came to me in a dream telling me he was going to heal me through music,” he said. “Ironically, Tortilla Factory turned 50 years old in January. I wanted to do a 50th-anniversary album dedicated to my babies in heaven and also to Charro and my dad.”
Tortilla Factory was honored with a Texas State Proclamation from Governor Greg Abbot celebrating 50 years of music, proclaiming February 17, 2023, as Tortilla Factory Day in Texas.
Founded in 1973 by Tony “Ham” in San Angelo, Texas, the trumpeter built the three-time Grammy-nominated band on red-hot rhythms, white-rock influence, and brassy Tejano melodies into one explosive sound. After his death in January of 2011 from diabetes, his son, Alfredo Antonio Guerrero, inherited the leadership role of Tortilla Factory evolving the band’s sound to a type of urban Tejano.
The planned Tortilla Factory 50th-anniversary album will feature guest artists and is scheduled for release in late spring or early summer.
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