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$25,000 in instruments stolen from band with Corpus Christi ties

Posted at 6:38 PM, Jul 31, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-31 19:38:39-04

The Krayolas, a popular critically acclaimed rock-and-roll band with Corpus Christi ties, recently became victims of a burglary heist. $25,000 worth of equipment and memorabilia was stolen. Now the band is asking for the public’s help in getting some of their prized posessions returned.

Hector Saldana, the lead singer and songwriter of The Krayolas, and his brother grew up in Corpus Christi. Saldana’s father bought him his first guitar in Corpus Christi when he was seven years old.

“It was this big guitar that was bigger than my body,” Saldana said, “and I wasn’t even sure quite what to do with it.”

That guitar started a long and successful career when his family moved to San Antonio. That’s where he and his brother started The Krayolas in 1975. The band eventually became known as the Tex-Mex Beatles.

“We were up-beat, energetic,” Saldana said. “We played the style of music that we loved which was like Beach Boys and The Beatles.”

Known for their fun, colorful up-beat style, The Krayolas toured the country playing their hits. They made records with Grammy-winning artists like Flaco Jimenez and Augie Meyers.

The Krayolas has been featured in Texas Monthly, The New York Time and The Washington Post. The band was also inducted in the local South Texas Music Walk of Fame in 2014.

Fast forward four years later, on June 8, a storage unit in San Antonio rented by the bend was burglarized in the early hours of the morning.

“You don’t want to hear what you’re hearing. You know, you’re stunned,” Saldana said. “And then I was realistic, I thought, ‘oh my goodness, I bet you they took the guitars.’”

The same guitar that Saldana learned to play on as a child was part of the stolen property. That also included other instruments, amplifiers and studio equipment. Saldana says only a handful of people knew his instruments were there.

“This was something that seemed very planned, and they made sure no one was going to be around,” Saldana said. “I have a feeling that we were targeted.”

Also lost was 40 years of collected band and family memorabilia – including that first guitar, the same guitar used by Saldana and his brother to play at their father’s funeral last year.

“I mean yes, that stuff has value, but it’s more about the sentiment behind it,” Saldana said. “I would love to get that first guitar back, but they’ll never take away what they represent,” he added.

The San Antonio Police Department believes the valuables are still in Texas. Crime Stoppers is offering an award of up to $5,000. Saldana is also offering a personal award for any information about the incident.