FALLING FORWARD
Norteño band Siggno works through tragedy to hit emotional high of RodeoHouston
Jesse Turner cried when he found out his band, wildly popular norteño act Siggno, was performing at RodeoHouston.
The day of the announcement in January, he posted a teary-eyed clip on Instagram.
“De felicidad,” he said as a tear rolled down his left cheek. “Of happiness.” The clip has been viewed more than 11,000 times.
Turner has carried that feeling through the days leading up to the band’s Sunday debut on the rotating stage alongside Banda El Recodo as part of the rodeo’s Go Tejano Day.
“The minute that I hit that stage, I’ll be in a very emotional state. It’ll be a very emotional day for us for many reasons,” Turner says.
“When we get up onstage … I close my eyes and I see the things that I’ve gone through, and I remember the stories. I hear people singing with me and I hear a certain connection. It’ll be an emotional day for us because in Houston we won our first and only Latin Grammy (for best norteño album) at the Toyota Center in 2008.”
Most importantly, the city provided a temporary home for Turner’s family.
His son and Siggno bassist, Jacob Turner, was in a near-fatal car crash in February 2016 in Harlingen that left him in a coma for more than four months. He suffered severe brain damage and spent several months at TIRR Memorial Hermann.
“I feel like I owe nothing but my energy and my love on that stage to the city of Houston,” Turner says. “We dedicate every