Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

North Park hipsters don’t bother Zydeco musician Ruben Moreno

“Reminds me of parts of Houston today. Minus the southern cooking.”

Ruben Moreno leads the Zydeco Revolution.
Ruben Moreno leads the Zydeco Revolution.

Zydeco musician Ruben Moreno admits that, strictly speaking, he doesn’t live anywhere — or at least not for very long. But he proudly counts the Sun Dog City as one of his somewheres.

“I live in North Park,” he enthuses, “When I can pay my rent on time. I like the vibe there. Open-minded people, nice businesses, and the hipsters don’t bother me yet. Reminds me of parts of Houston today. Minus the southern cooking.”

Past Event

Bon Temps Social Club

Over the past two years, Moreno’s music took him from L.A. to Houston to Costa Rica to Europe. “I haven’t had more than six weeks to sit still anywhere.” But he’s bringing his peripatetic Zydeco Revolution band to the Bon Temps Social Club on Saturday, February 9, letting in him check in on a few of his favorite haunts.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Performing at Centro Cultural de la Raza was an honor,” he recalls. “The people and the energy were magical. I once played a Zydeco dance in Balboa Park. We left this lady in a crazy trance. Totally into the show and music. She didn’t want to let us leave to the next town. Eventually we got away without being harmed!”

Moreno grew up part Latino and part Creole in Houston, Texas beating the summertime heat, “The same way the other Mexicans do. We use our melanin. We work in the sun, play in the sun, and live in the sun. Some of us even worship the sun.”

He logged long hours in his grandmother’s bar, connected by a secret door to the family home. In and around the bar he heard “Zydeco, Cajun, Blues, Tejano, Conjunto, Salsa, Afro-beats, and so much more.”

He heard zydeco first “in the womb,” but got his primary education in the music starting age eight, at Pe-Te’s Cajun BBQ House, and the Texas Crawfish Fest. “The accordion and washboard drew me in at first… I remember every Sunday morning jams in my grandmother’s backyard where I learned the most. Sixteen years of those jams. All these old musicians were famous accordion players, guitar players, percussionists, full bands really. Tons of drinking and jamming. Sharing stories and music and their art.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

How to Get Legal Assistance When Your Car Accident Insurance Claim is Denied?

Next Article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Ruben Moreno leads the Zydeco Revolution.
Ruben Moreno leads the Zydeco Revolution.

Zydeco musician Ruben Moreno admits that, strictly speaking, he doesn’t live anywhere — or at least not for very long. But he proudly counts the Sun Dog City as one of his somewheres.

“I live in North Park,” he enthuses, “When I can pay my rent on time. I like the vibe there. Open-minded people, nice businesses, and the hipsters don’t bother me yet. Reminds me of parts of Houston today. Minus the southern cooking.”

Past Event

Bon Temps Social Club

Over the past two years, Moreno’s music took him from L.A. to Houston to Costa Rica to Europe. “I haven’t had more than six weeks to sit still anywhere.” But he’s bringing his peripatetic Zydeco Revolution band to the Bon Temps Social Club on Saturday, February 9, letting in him check in on a few of his favorite haunts.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Performing at Centro Cultural de la Raza was an honor,” he recalls. “The people and the energy were magical. I once played a Zydeco dance in Balboa Park. We left this lady in a crazy trance. Totally into the show and music. She didn’t want to let us leave to the next town. Eventually we got away without being harmed!”

Moreno grew up part Latino and part Creole in Houston, Texas beating the summertime heat, “The same way the other Mexicans do. We use our melanin. We work in the sun, play in the sun, and live in the sun. Some of us even worship the sun.”

He logged long hours in his grandmother’s bar, connected by a secret door to the family home. In and around the bar he heard “Zydeco, Cajun, Blues, Tejano, Conjunto, Salsa, Afro-beats, and so much more.”

He heard zydeco first “in the womb,” but got his primary education in the music starting age eight, at Pe-Te’s Cajun BBQ House, and the Texas Crawfish Fest. “The accordion and washboard drew me in at first… I remember every Sunday morning jams in my grandmother’s backyard where I learned the most. Sixteen years of those jams. All these old musicians were famous accordion players, guitar players, percussionists, full bands really. Tons of drinking and jamming. Sharing stories and music and their art.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.