Rosie Flores is a 2024 National Heritage Fellow, an honor recognizing her six decades of devotion to exploring and performing American roots-rock music and how it intersects with her Latina heritage. In this program, Flores shares her journey in the music industry leading up to receiving the prestigious award. Moderated by the Museum’s Michael McCall, this program was recorded on October 27, 2024, in support of the exhibition “Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock,” presented by City National Bank. It was made possible in part by the Academy of Country Music.

Flores discusses establishing her first band, Penelope’s Children, in the 1960s and her experiences in other bands—including the Screamin’ Sirens, Rosie & the Screamers, and the Pleasure Barons—before she embarked on a solo career. She also talks about her enduring admiration and respect for rockabilly luminaries such as Wanda Jackson and Janis Martin, whose careers she helped revitalize and whose music she exposed to a new generation. Flores showcases her songwriting capabilities with performances of her original songs “Bandera Highway,” “Crying Over You,” and “Drive Drive Drive.”

Born in San Antonio, Texas, Flores moved with her family to San Diego, California, where she began leading bands as a guitarist and singer while still in high school. Over the decades, she has brought attention to rockabilly pioneers while exploring Americana, blues, country, rockabilly, and Tejano music. In addition to her 2024 National Heritage Fellowship, Flores became the first Latina to crack the “Billboard” country music chart and won a 2007 Peabody Award for her narration of the NPR rockabilly documentary “Whole Lotta Shakin’.”

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