BACAS OF FAYETTEVILLE. The first Baca Family Band—a Czechqv musical group—was formed in 1892 in Fayetteville, Texas, by Frank Baca. Prior to this, Frank had been a member of the Fayetteville city band and a member of an informal family band. These groups performed traditional Czechpolka and waltz music. In addition to attracting the talents of all thirteen of Frank Baca's children, the Baca Family Band drew participants from around Central Texas. Upon Frank's death in 1907 his son Joe, who had won local and national cornet competitions, assumed leadership of the band. Demand for the group throughout the area as entertainment for festivals and special events increased. Among the most notable of their appearances was the band's participation in an enormous celebration at the Fayetteville SPJST (Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas) at the end of World War I.qv
In 1920 Joe Baca died and his brother John assumed leadership of the band. Under John, the Baca Band played on Houston radio station KPRC in 1926, and made phonograph recordings on the Okeh, Columbia, and Brunswick labels during the 1930s. By 1937, two other Baca bands had appeared apart from the original group led by John Baca. Ray Baca's "New Deal" Band and the L. B. Baca Band entertained audiences across the state. Although the Baca Band had already made plans for a national tour in 1907 (canceled by the death of Frank Baca), the band did not make its first out-of-state appearance until 1967, when Gil Baca, son of Ray, performed with his band at the Smithsonian Institution's American Folklife Festival. The Gil Baca Band toured Czechoslovakia in 1972 and also performed at the United States Bicentennial celebration in Washington D.C. in 1976. Gil Baca continued to perform into the early 2000s. John Baca's son Clarence formed his own band in 1962 and continued to play until 1998. The Bacas of Fayetteville remain the state's best-known family Czech folk band in Texas.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. Phil Hewitt, The Czech Texans (San Antonio: University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures, 1983). Clinton Machann and James W. Mendl, Krasna Amerika: A Study of the Texas Czechs, 1851–1939 (Austin: Eakin Press, 1983). Texas Polka Bands (http://www.angelfire.com/folk/polka/bands.html), accessed January 23, 2008.
Brandy Schnautz
