Chencho Flores at Public Hi-Fi Studios in 2013 (Photo by John Anderson)
Chencho Flores, the charismatic accordionista, singer, and emcee who performed all over Austin beginning in the Forties, died Sunday, Jan. 10, at the age of 91. Friends say he’d been in hospice after contracting COVID-19.
Born on June 2, 1929, “between the Bastrop and Travis County line” by his own account, Flores began an eight-decade career playing guitar alongside Manuel “Cowboy” Donley, who died June 28, 2020, and Domingo Villarreal in the trio Conjunto Cielito Lindo. The group put out a 78rpm record on San Antonio’s Corona label, which featured Flores-led bolero “Te Amare.” Their earliest performances consisted of shyly entering cafes and bars on Sixth Street and going from table to table playing for tips.