Stephanie Bergara headlines the tribute group, Bidi Bidi Banda, that consistently hits the high notes for Selena Quintanilla-Pérez fans who lost the Tejano music phenomenon in Corpus Christi in 1995. The intensity and size of the crowds that pack venues have blown the band away.
Lifestyle
Selena Tribute Act Bidi Bidi Banda Features Austin City Employees
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Photo: Facebook/Bidi Bidi Banda
By day Bergara (who moonlights as Selena for the band) is an employee of the music division of the Economic Development Office in Austin, here in the Texas Hill Country. Singing with the group for the past three years, Bergara has her alter ego’s name tattooed in red on her forearm. Another member of the band includes City Hall employee Coby Ramirez, an Austin Housing Department supervisor. Bidi Bidi Banda’s modus operandi traditionally draws hundreds of guests to its shows. “Playing in front of huge crowds like we do, the energy is so high—it’s unusual to experience that for local musicians,” lead guitarist Rene Chavez told the Austin American-Statesman,
Photo: Facebook/Bidi Bidi Banda
Bergara’s parents raised the 31-year-old Austinite on Selena’s music and she will soon set out with the band on its largest national tour to date, including performances at the Union Club in Los Angeles, the Mandalay Bay House of Blues in Las Vegas, and Slim’s in San Francisco. Having fallen in love with all that Selena represented at the tender age of 8, Bergara told the Statesman, “I was watching the Tejano Music Awards in 1994—it was when Selena had on the red bustier with the criss-cross stripes in the front. I saw her and I was like: I want to do that.”
Photo: Facebook/Bidi Bidi Banda
Having always had a driving desire to be a performer, Bergara hopes the Selena act will eventually transition her to a solo career. Preparing for her first baby in November, she explained that she’ll play approximately 65 shows while pregnant, take a winter break, and come back prepared for the crowds at South By Southwest as well as events scheduled for Selena’s birthday in April. What started out as a one-time gig for Austin’s Pachanga Latino Music Festival has grown “into something bigger than any of us imagined,” she said. “This band has been my boyfriend and my husband and my friend and my shoulder to cry on and my outlet for three years now,” she told the Statesman. Doing convincingly well and continuing to give Selena fans an outlet through which to express their admiration, Bergara and Bidi Bidi Banda are on point.
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