Exclusive Interview: New Artist Heather Jolene Alcantar; Tejano, Talented, and Trans

Interview with Heather Jolene Alcantar
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From the West Texas city of San Angelo, meet Heather Jolene Alcantar, a new Tejano artist who has sang ever since she can remember and whose diverse early musical exposure came courtesy of her parents.

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Her father, from Guanajuato, favored powerhouse ranchera singers like Pedro Infante and Jose Alfredo Jimenez, while her mother, a native Texan, shared with Alcantar the upbeat, danceable pop music, which served as the soundtrack of her youth in the 1980s. Whatever the genre, music played a constant presence in Alcantar’s upbringing, she said.

“It was always everywhere,” Alcantar said. “We played music. My dad was a musician. My mom sang in church, and then, I started singing in church, too.”
Her first favorite vocalist was none other than the incomparable Mexican singer/songwriter Ana Gabriel, an accomplished interpreter of diverse styles of Latin music.

“The first artist that I ever listened to by choice was Ana Gabriel,” Alcantar recalls. “So, it was interesting to see a little four-year-old wanting for her parents to put Ana Gabriel ‘s tape on or video. I had an interesting start when it came to music. I mean it was very eclectic, but also very Mexican.”

Motivated by her ever-supportive parents, Alcantar began voice lessons at age 12 at the local college, followed by the recording of her first demo at 14. Her training led her to sing more classically, in a more operatic style. She recorded and performed regularly, discovering she enjoyed R&B, pop, Christian, and Tejano music.

“My mom was like, ‘If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it right,'” Alcantar said, hence the formal training.

However, amid the lessons, recording, and performing, Alcantar secretly and simultaneously battled an inner struggle that she can now speak about with confidence and honesty. Beyond her aspirations of a career in music, Alcantar holds a groundbreaking distinction, one that although she never asked for, she does not shy away from either. Alcantar confirmed that she is a transgender woman, the first, in fact, in the Tejano music industry.

“I am the first,” Alcantar said. “Oh, I am, yes, I’m the first. And, that’s going to be my thing forever.”

The positive and determined singer said she knows that most people have never dealt with issues of gender identity in their own lives, but that it’s definitely time to talk about these important albeit unfamiliar topics. Alcantar revealed that her own internal journey proved lengthy and difficult.

“You see it, you hear about it, but you don’t actually interact with that (subject),” Alcantar said. “You may not have anybody in your family that is what I am, which is a trans woman, and you know, I’m part of the LGBTQ+ community. It’s something that for me, for the longest time, it took me forever to really accept that about myself and to be okay with it, you know?”

Transgender people often face misguided judgments or even, mistreatment, because of a lack of understanding, awareness, and education, according to various websites. In fact, the month of June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month, which focuses on this very dilemma and celebrates the contributions and accomplishments of the LGBTQ+ community.

“It’s a struggle,” Alcantar said. “It’s always a struggle. We don’t have it easy. Nobody has it easy, but you know, there’s an extra layer of struggle there, and fear of discrimination.”

Despite these concerns, Alcantar said she never considered living a lie simply to avoid scrutiny or hardship. “For me, I just couldn’t live with myself anymore faking who I was,” she said. “I wanted to be who I was.”

So, Alcantar, now 36, endured both the pressure and anxiety of coming-out as gay while in her 20s, then, at age 30, again gathered the courage within herself as she informed her family and loved ones that she was transgender.

“At first, it was a shock to a lot of people,” Alcantar said. “They all saw me as a confident person before, as somebody who enjoyed doing what they were doing, enjoyed it genuinely. But, nobody knew the struggle that I was going through behind closed doors and within my own being.”

Her mother and close friends readily accepted Alcantar’s gender identity declaration, with her mom, even embracing the news. “Mom was super supportive,” Alcantar said. “She was excited, because she wanted to take me shopping. She wanted to do all the stuff that you do with a daughter. She adapted so quickly. Props to my mama, because she adapted so quickly. “

Initially, the announcement proved tougher for her father and some male friends to comprehend, but her father now fully supports her. “It was one of those things…I knew that if it was hard for me to accept, accept myself, you know what I’m saying, that it was going to be hard for certain people to accept, as well,” Alcantar said. “Unfortunately, that just comes with the territory.”

Denial never occurred as an option for Alcantar. “It’s something that is a part of me, so I can’t deny it,” she said. “And, I’m not going to sit here and try to hide it, because that’s not going to happen.”

While the talented artist does not deny the fact that she is transgender, she does not want it to define her either. “I just happen to be trans, but I’m a Tejano singer,” Alcantar said. “And I sing music that comes from the heart. I write music that comes from the heart.”

In our exclusive interview (posted on this page), Alcantar explains how this, her first-ever media appearance, came after much deliberation with trusted members of her team, including her promoter, Rosie Allison Villa of Rosie Allison Promotions, who not only distributes Heather’s music to radio in the Tejano music market, but grows the vocalist’s following through social media.

Heather has already released her first single, “No Me Vayas A Dejar,” which flows fast, fresh, and modern, with a feel-good, upbeat vibe sparked by the powerful emotion of love and is based on an actual relationship.

“It has an island feel to it, it has like a reggae feel to it ,” Alcantar said. “It’s a cute flirty song about how this boy makes me feel.”

Heather Jolene Alcantar — No Me Vayas A Dejar
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Alcantar said she often draws on events in her life as the source of her music. Throughout her life and as she evolved as a performer. All of her musical influences were women. “I was always drawn to the female singers,” Alcantar said. “Selena was one of my biggest influences. As soon as I found out about her, I dropped all the other singers. I was like, ‘All I need is Selena.'”

Selena’s work ethic, family values, and all she achieved at such a young age, greatly impressed Alcantar. While she will always draw inspiration from the undisputed Queen of Tejano Music, eventually new influences entered her life and sparked her drive for singing, namely Tejano’s cumbia vocal stylist, Stefani Montiel. Alcantar was just seven years old when she attended her first concert to see Montiel, and the petite performer with the polished, pop voice immediately captured her attention.

“That first song, “Celos,” that’s the one that I first heard, and I was like, ‘Who is that?’ Alcantar said. “I was like, ‘I love it. I love it.'”

Instead of fear and anxiety that almost caused Alcantar to quit her pursuit of music, it was Montiel, along with Alcantar’s family support and her own determination that breathed new life into Alcantar’s professional plans.

“I really like the fact that her music appeals to a younger crowd,” Alcantar said. “It was new. It was fresh. It had a pop feel to it, but it was also very, very, very Tejano. It had a lot of the traditional Tejano elements, but her voice was so pop. It just drew you in.”

Alcantar and Montiel eventually connected in person and through social media, with Montiel even mentioning Alcantar’s new music during a podcast interview.

Another artist who has voiced support for Alcantar is Tejano icon Shelly Lares, who told Villa, Alcantar’s promoter, that she was both proud and excited for Heather, because of the unprecedented role she was undertaking in the Tejano industry that would be opening doors for others.

It wasn’t until Alcantar, already a fan of Lares, heard what the veteran singer said about her, that she truly realized the importance of her role in the industry.

“My first goal is to make music, and to use my talent to do that,” Alcantar said. “I think that it’s going to open doors for other people. It’s something that takes a lot of courage. It takes a lot of courage to be who you are, to be true to yourself, and especially in a genre that’s very male dominated.”

Tejano music needs to keep up with the changing times, Alcantar said, as other genres have.

A quick Internet scan showed that other Latin genres have indeed already embraced LGBTQ+ performers.

A Billboard article from June 2022 titled, “The Next Generation of Latin LGBTQ Stars: 10 Artists Blazing New Trails,” mentions recording stars such as Puerto Rican reggaeton and Latin trap music artist Villano Antillano, who happens to be a trans woman, and the hugely popular, Kali Uchis, an American-born bisexual artist whose sensual, soulful, and often Spanglish sound can be heard on the hit, “Telepatía,” which not only won Top Latin Song at that year’s Billboard Music Awards, but made Uchis the first solo female artist to hit No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart in nearly a decade.

In Tejano music, Alcantar said female artists often still face challenges. “The women are still struggling now,” Alcantar said. “Then, we put a trans woman in the mix. But, it’s how you evolve as a genre. All of the other genres have evolved. They have moved forward. We’re in 2024. And, I feel like a lot of times in our genre, you want to stay in 1991. We’re not there anymore. We’re a whole different world.”

Alcantar hopes her arrival in the industry can initiate a much-needed dialogue about gender, identity, and moving forward with the future. “You don’t talk about it, especially not in our, in the Tejano industry, you know, you don’t talk about stuff like that,” Alcantar said. “Just in general, you know, people are so, like, ‘Oh my Gosh, can we say it? Can we talk about it?’ You know? ‘Why not? Sure, talk about it. I mean that’s the only way anybody’s going to learn, right?'”

Alcantar’s first single, “No Me Vayas A Dejar,” is currently available on all streaming platforms, with her next single, “Quiero Saber,” another romantic, rhythmically pleasing cumbia scheduled for release later this month.

NOTE: Our interview with Heather Jolene Alcantar and the article about her unintentionally coincided with LGBTQ+ Pride Month celebrated in June to recognize the impact and accomplishments of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals. The coincidence does provide the opportunity for those unfamiliar with issues of gender identity and more to explore and educate themselves with online resources and even local events. Pride month in June is often described as the celebration of present and future contributions and should not be confused with LGBT History Month in October.

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