Tish Hinojosa

Leticia ("Tish") Hinojosa (born December 6, 1955, San Antonio, Texas) is a folksinger recording in both Spanish and English. Hinojosa was the youngest of 13 children. Hinojosa's parents were Mexican immigrants. Known for singing both traditional Mexican folksongs and her own original songs, both in Spanish and English, Hinojosa accompanies herself on guitar, which she plays right-handed although she is naturally lefthanded. Influenced by traditional Mexican, folk, Tejano, conjunto, and country musics, Hinojosa considers her music to be music of the US/Mexico border.

Hinojosa has recorded numerous albums and has charted twice on the Billboard country charts. Her 1992 album Culture Swing won the National Association of Independent Record Distributors (NAIRD) Indie Folk Album of the Year.

Using music to bring awareness to cultural issues, Hinojosa hopes to bring into focus the plight of migrant workers and children of the poor. Additionally, she often performs children's music of her culture to help children develop an understanding of the Southwest's Hispanic traditions.

As of 2021, Hinajosa lives in both Austin, Texas and Tubac, Arizona. In the 1970s and 1980s she also lived in Taos, New Mexico and Nashville, Tennessee. In 2005, Hinojosa moved to Germany, and in 2013 returned to Austin.

Awards and honors

 * White House performance for President Bill and Hillary Clinton
 * NAIRD Indie Folk Album of the Year Culture Swing
 * Las Primera (The Firsts) award from MANA, the largest organization of Latino women
 * Performances at presidential and gubernatorial inauguration events.

Television

 * VH 1
 * ABC-TV special: Alma Awards
 * MTV
 * The Nashville Network
 * Austin City Limits (three separate appearances)
 * Fox Television Bravo Awards
 * Good Morning America
 * Onyx TV Germany
 * WDR TV Germany
 * SWR TV Switzerland
 * VPRO TV Netherlands

Humanitarian activities

 * Spokesperson, National Latino Children's Agenda
 * Spokesperson, National Assoc. Of Bilingual Education
 * United Farm Workers of America

Self

 * 1987 Taos to Tennessee, Self-release; re-released 1992;
 * 1989 Homeland, Fonatana A&M Records, re-released 2006? w/ bonus track
 * 1990, 1991 Memorabilia Navideña, EP: self released cassette; Watermelon Records re-released CD 1992
 * 1991 Aquella Noche, Watermelon Records
 * 1992 Culture Swing, Rounder Records
 * 1994 Destiny's Gate, Warner Bros. Records
 * 1995 Frontejas, Rounder Records
 * 1996 Cada Niño/Every Child, Rounder Records
 * 1996 Dreaming From The Labyrinth/Soñar del Laberinto, Warner Bros. Records
 * 1996 Soñar del Laberinto, Warner Bros. Records
 * 1997 The Best of the Sandia: Watermelon 1991–1992, Rounder Records compilation
 * 1998 ...a Music and Information Digest, Warner Bros. Records promotion-only CD
 * 2000 Sign of Truth, Rounder Records, Rounder Records
 * 2003 Best of Tish Hinojosa – Live, Rounder Records
 * 2003 From Texas for a Christmas Night re-release of 1990-1991 Memorabilia Navideña, with five additional newly-recorded songs; Lone Star Records/Texas Music Group
 * 2005 A Heart Wide Open, Valley Entertainment
 * 2006 Retrospective, Varèse Sarabande
 * 2008 Our Little Planet, CRS (Varèse Sarabande)
 * 2013 After the Fair, Varèse Sarabande
 * 2018 West, Tish Records
 * 2019 My Homeland, Tish Records

The Texicana Mamas (Patricia Vonne, Tish Hinojosa, Stephanie Urbina Jones)

 * 2020 The Texicana Mamas, self-released, internet only

Further reading and listening

 * Ragland, Cathy, "South Texas culture: Austin's Tish Hinojosa has made the jump to a major label", Folk Roots; Nov. 1994, pp. 42–43
 * Dexter, Kerry, “A Home in Music." Dirty Linen: Folk & World Music, no. 141 (May 2009): 24–27.
 * Hansen, Liane. "Interview: Tish Hinojosa, Singer-Songwriter, Discusses Her Life, Music and New CD". 2000. National Public Radio.
 * Rodemann, Katharyn. 2005. "Tish Hinojosa." Texas Monthly 33 (12): 124–26.