Art&Seek presents This Week in Texas Music History. Every week, we’ll spotlight a different moment and the musician who made it. This week, Texas music scholar Gary Hartman meets a Tejana singer who began fronting bands at the age of 9.

You can also hear This Week in Texas Music History on Friday on KXT and Saturday on KERA radio. But subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss an episode. And our thanks to KUT public radio in Austin for helping us bring this segment to you. And if you’re a music lover, be sure to check out Track by Track, the bi-weekly podcast from Paul Slavens, host of KXT’s The Paul Slavens Show, heard Sunday night’s at 8.

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Shelly Lares was born in San Antonio on Nov. 13, 1971. In 1980, local bandleader Jimmy Jimenez invited the 9-year-old Lares to front his popular Hot Tamales Band. By 1985, Lares was leading her own group, recording and touring throughout the Southwest. She worked with a variety of prominent Tejano artists, including Chris Perez, future husband of Tejana legend Selena Quintanilla. During the 1990s, Lares had such hits as “Enamorada” and “Tu Solo.” Shelly Lares went on to win several Tejano Music awards and record for the major label Sony Discos.