Close your eyes and Vic Love will work his magic and get you lost in the 1950’s when radio played “In the Still of the Night” and many other of yesterday’s oldies.

The difference is that Vic started singing those tunes when they were the Top Ten hits of the day.

Vic, who was born Francisco Víctor Gutiérrez, in Rosenburg, Texas grew up in San Antonio where his mother, Guadalupe, would take him to see Pedro Infante, Miguel Aceves Mejia, El Piporro and countless other Mexican singer-actors perform at the Nacional or Alameda movie theaters.

You haven’t been blown away until you’ve listened to Benny Harp play harmonica and sing.

If a harmonica company would manufacture an instrument that could make anyone sound as good as Harp, it would have to be called a harpmonica.

“My grandfather, Tomas Alvarado Sr., played piano and accordion. My father, Tomas Alvarado Jr. used to fool around with a bajo sexto; and my uncle Robert Alvarado played accordion in the 1950s, so conjunto music was in my blood, but not in my calling,” Harp said during an interview at Barriba Cantina.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the photo montage of 51 images taken by photojournalist Ramón Hernández on this page should serve as a 51,000 word article.

These photos, which are presented in chronological order, are a documentation of circa 50 supporters who endured a 36-hour trip (each way) to participate in the aforementioned press conference.

First on the agenda was a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol Building where all the aforementioned congressmen and women orated. Other speakers included Víctor Gutiérrez, from New York; Chairman of the Bexar County Democratic Party, Manuel Medina; advocate Jaimé Rios, Professor Joseph M. Fonseca Jr. plus Dreamers Yessica and Stephanie Vázquez.