Traditions intertwine in South Texas

For David Wicker, Tejano music and Whataburger are inseparable. 

In the early nineties, David was living in West Virginia, working as an air traffic controller. While on a trip to Idaho, he happened to hear Letty Guval’s music and was blown away. 

Letty was studying mariachi in college, handing out tapes of her music everywhere she could — including to radio stations in Idaho, where her family travelled from their home to work on beet farms. 

After travelling to Corpus Christi, Texas to meet Letty and see her perform, David decided to start a company, help get Letty’s first album made, and become her manager. 

“I did it because I loved it,” David said. “I just fell in love with the music.” 

Burgers with the band 

As contemporaries in South Texas during the golden age of Tejano music, they had occasional encounters with Selena Quintanilla and her band, Los Dinos. Selena was known to love Whataburger, famously proclaiming, “Whataburger for everybody!” at the 1989 Tejano Music Awards. 

According to David, that sentiment was shared among many groups in the tight-knit Tejano music community. 

“I don't think you can separate Whataburger from Tejano music,” he says. “That's where the groups would go after the shows.” 

Naturally, those late-night food runs spawned stories. One night, David let another artist, Reno Perez, drive his car to the Whataburger drive-thru. Reno pulled up a bit too far past the window, then opened his door and backed up — accidentally taking out the drive-thru window in the process. 

“We still got our food,” David says. 

Letty’s music took them all across the U.S. and Mexico. They were even invited to perform at the White House for Hispanic Heritage Month. 

When they were on the road, they’d settle for whatever else was available. But as soon as they saw the “Flying W” again, everybody wanted to go. 

“We always knew what to expect,” David says. “We were going to get the right service, and the food just hit the spot.”