ARTICLE
After receiving his high school diploma and the Temple Education Foundation Distinguished Alumni Award in 2022, Little Joe was inspired by an idea to donate his time to perform a fundraiser benefiting the teachers and students of Temple ISD. He approached Dr. Bobby Ott, TISD Superintendent, and after a few conversations the idea was a go and then after one concert, Little Joe announced from the stage, “let’s do this concert again, TEF!” The second annual Little Joe Benefit Concert & Dance will be hosted by the Temple Education Foundation on Friday, August 9 at the Frank W. Mayborn Convention Center. The gate will open at 7 pm and the concert will begin at 8 pm with 80H Project playing as the opening act before Little Joe takes the stage. General admission tickets are available on the TEF website at www.templeeducationfoundation.org for $30 and VIP tickets for $45. A dance floor will be open for all ticket purchasers. Proceeds from the concert will be donated to TEF to support student scholarships and teacher grants. The 80H Project is known to have “a smoothly vocal heavy positive groove crew with an amazing feel,” according to the band’s website. Ady Hernandez, Band Leader and Little Joe’s son, is said to “play like Carlos Santana and sing like Stevie Wonder.” Little Joe Hernandez is the leader of Little Joe y La Familia, one of the most popular Tex-Mex bands in the music industry. Described as the “King of the Brown Sound,” Little Joe helped to pioneer Tejano music, a mix of traditional norteño music and country, blues, and rock styles. He was named the 2023 National Heritage Fellow, the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, and is highlighted in a new film series by National Endowment for the Arts. He has been nominated for fifteen GRAMMY Awards and has received five GRAMMY Awards. With more than sixty years of experience as a musician, Joe continues touring the world, trailblazing, looking forward to new challenges, breaking down cultural and musical barriers, and innovating his musical style. As always, Joe strives to bring people together to make a more peaceful and harmonious world. It has always been Little Joe's nature to come to the aid of communities throughout his world travels but this one will come close to home for him. "I've done so much community work for other organizations, but the truth is, one of the most important things for our youth is to support them in their goals of reaching their dreams of furthering their education after high school. What goes hand in hand with this goal? Teachers! Teachers need our help and support, and so, I desire to do my part for my hometown heroes, our teachers,” said Little Joe. “We are humbled and touched by the generosity of Little Joe to give of his time, talent and energy to TEF and our community,” said Kathy Denton, Executive Director of the Temple Education Foundation. “The care and concern for his hometown is admirable and we are blessed by his thoughtfulness.” Denton said, “Our vision is to bring the community together to maximize TISD student and classroom success and we are committed to supporting Temple ISD teachers and students to enrich, inspire, and encourage learning.”
After receiving his high school diploma and the Temple Education Foundation Distinguished Alumni Award in 2022, Little Joe was inspired by an idea to donate his time to perform a fundraiser benefiting the teachers and students of Temple ISD. He approached Dr. Bobby Ott, TISD Superintendent, and after a few conversations the idea was a go and then after one concert, Little Joe announced from the stage, “let’s do this concert again, TEF!”
The second annual Little Joe Benefit Concert & Dance will be hosted by the Temple Education Foundation on Friday, August 9 at the Frank W. Mayborn Convention Center. The gate will open at 7 pm and the concert will begin at 8 pm with 80H Project playing as the opening act before Little Joe takes the stage. General admission tickets are available on the TEF website at www.templeeducationfoundation.org for $30 and VIP tickets for $45. A dance floor will be open for all ticket purchasers. Proceeds from the concert will be donated to TEF to support student scholarships and teacher grants.
The 80H Project is known to have “a smoothly vocal heavy positive groove crew with an amazing feel,” according to the band’s website. Ady Hernandez, Band Leader and Little Joe’s son, is said to “play like Carlos Santana and sing like Stevie Wonder.”
Little Joe Hernandez is the leader of Little Joe y La Familia, one of the most popular Tex-Mex bands in the music industry. Described as the “King of the Brown Sound,” Little Joe helped to pioneer Tejano music, a mix of traditional norteño music and country, blues, and rock styles. He was named the 2023 National Heritage Fellow, the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, and is highlighted in a new film series by National Endowment for the Arts. He has been nominated for fifteen GRAMMY Awards and has received five GRAMMY Awards. With more than sixty years of experience as a musician, Joe continues touring the world, trailblazing, looking forward to new challenges, breaking down cultural and musical barriers, and innovating his musical style. As always, Joe strives to bring people together to make a more peaceful and harmonious world.
It has always been Little Joe's nature to come to the aid of communities throughout his world travels but this one will come close to home for him. "I've done so much community work for other organizations, but the truth is, one of the most important things for our youth is to support them in their goals of reaching their dreams of furthering their education after high school. What goes hand in hand with this goal? Teachers! Teachers need our help and support, and so, I desire to do my part for my hometown heroes, our teachers,” said Little Joe.
“We are humbled and touched by the generosity of Little Joe to give of his time, talent and energy to TEF and our community,” said Kathy Denton, Executive Director of the Temple Education Foundation. “The care and concern for his hometown is admirable and we are blessed by his thoughtfulness.”
Denton said, “Our vision is to bring the community together to maximize TISD student and classroom success and we are committed to supporting Temple ISD teachers and students to enrich, inspire, and encourage learning.”