The professional career of Ritchie Valens lasted a period of eight months, during which time he recorded some very influential songs of the 1950s rock and roll era. Brought up hearing traditional Mexican mariachi music, as well as flamenco guitar, R&B and jump blues, by the age of 5 he expressed an interest in making music of his own. He was encouraged by his father to take up guitar and trumpet, and it is also known that he later taught himself the drums. When he was sixteen years old, he was invited to join a local band named The Silhouettes as guitarist. Later on, the main vocalist left the group and Ritchie assumed this position as well. In addition to the performances with The Silhouettes, he would play solo at parties and other social gatherings. A completely self-taught musician, Valenzuela was an accomplished singer and guitarist. At his appearances he often improvised new lyrics and added new riffs to popular songs while he was playing. This is an aspect of his music that is, sadly, not heard in his commercial studio recordings. Due to his high-energy performances, Valenzuela earned the nickname "The Little Richard of the Valley". In early 1959, Valens was travelling the Midwest on a multi-act rock and roll tour dubbed "The Winter Dance Party". Accompanying him were Buddy Holly with a new line-up of the Crickets, Tommy Allsup on guitar, Waylon Jennings on bass, and Carl Bunch on drums. Conditions for the performers on the tour buses that were used were abysmal, and the bitter Midwest weather took its toll on the party; Carl Bunch had to be hospitalized with frostbitten feet, and several others including Valens and The Big Bopper caught colds. The performances, however, were deemed to be some of the greatest in rock and roll history. Buddy Holly, fed up with the conditions on the buses, decided to charter a small plane for himself and the Crickets to get to the next show on time, get some rest, and get their laundry done. After the February 2, 1959 performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly, Richardson (who pleaded with Waylon Jennings for his seat because he was stricken with flu), and Valens (who had won Tommy Allsup's seat after a coin toss), were taken to Clear Lake airport by the manager of the Surf Ballroom. The plane, a four-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza, departed into a blinding snowstorm and crashed into farmer Albert Juhl's cornfield shortly after takeoff. The crash ended the lives of all three passengers, as well as the 21 year-old pilot, Roger Peterson.