Before coming to Nashville, my only exposure to bluegrass had been the musical Bright Star and Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel”—neither of which are, in my opinion, especially groundbreaking. However, Tennessee has exposed me to more folk and bluegrass genres in the past months than I’ve heard in my lifetime: from the Fletcher Brothers in Dollywood to my new current obsession: Latingrass.
The “Latingrass” fusion genre was coined by duo, Larry & Joe. Their subgenre blends the high energy vocals and instrumentation of bluegrass with Venezuelan folk’s complex rhythms and fast-paced, technical playing styles. I was introduced to Latingrass when my faculty VUceptor invited our class to see Larry & Joe perform at the Blair School of Music. It was my third week on campus, and I’d promised myself I would say yes to everything. I hitched a ride with my instructor to the Blair campus and found myself alone, among a sea of middle-aged couples, in the middle of the front row. I had no idea what to expect. On the stage were 7 instruments: harp, ukelele, maracas, banjo, guitar, fiddle, and what I later learned was called a cuatro. I was puzzled. There was no way that all these instruments were here for just two people.
At 7:30, a short, pudgy Venezuelan man and a tall southerner with tortoiseshell glasses and a neon blue button-up took to the stage. They were introduced as “Larry Bellorín, a master of Venezuelan Llanera music, and Joe Troop, a Grammy-nominated bluegrass and old-time musician.” I stared curiously at the duo, fascinated to learn how a group so different in musical background could possibly blend their unique sounds into something coherent.
For the hour and a half following the first plucked chord on Larry’s harp, I was so captivated by their skill that I had to remind myself to blink. They were completely in sync as they played polyrhythms that I could barely track as an audience member. If their precision and speed on each instrument wasn’t impressive enough, their ability to fluidly shift tempi in unison––without even a glance at each other––blew me away. Each song illustrated a new soundscape, each creating unique combinations of the seven instruments. Larry and Joe’s body language revealed deep emotion and concentration, illuminating how every piece pushed the artists to their technical and creative limits.
With each finished song came new anecdotes and wisdom from the duo. Larry predominantly spoke Spanish, and as Joe translated, his North Carolina twang coated the stories. Their interactions on stage felt like a continuous conversation between old friends, and as they poked fun at each other, the concert felt like a comedy routine (i.e. Larry spent about thirty seconds “tuning his maracas” while Joe gave him notes on his banjo).
Their setlist included a blend of originals and classics that interwove musical elements of Venezuelan, Columbian, and American folk music. Yet, to say they covered the standard folk repertoire would do them a disservice; they completely reinvented the once-familiar songs. When they performed a Venezuelan favorite, “Una Casita Bella para Ti,” Joe off his five-string banjo skills. When they performed the traditional “Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad,” Larry’s Venezuelan maracas gave the song an energetic dimension that I never even realized the original lacked. They also changed each verse to include their own personal experiences and troubles: “That boysenberry latte was subpar, oh lord, and I ain’t gonna be treated this way!”
The show took a somber turn when Joe introduced an original song, “The Dreamer.” He spoke about his friend Moises, who does not have a clear path to citizenship at 40 despite having lived in the States for 38 years. Joe also shared Larry’s story: in seeking asylum from Venezuela, Larry had to give up his musical craft for seven years in order to provide for his family. Their heartfelt performances and storytelling anchored me in the experiences of immigrants seeking refuge here in the states. Joe said something that night that resonated with me: people like Moises and Larry “bring so much art and culture and sazon — so much flavor — to our society.”
At the end of the concert, Larry & Joe invited the audience to get up and dance for their last song, which terrified me. Surrounded by couples in the front row, I had no choice but to clap alone to the rhythm until some students in a conga line saved me from my awkward swaying. Soon, I was dancing, laughing and singing with complete strangers newly connected by music.
I’m not afraid to admit I wasn’t much of a bluegrass fan before the show, and I was generally unfamiliar with Latin American folk. I’m so grateful that Larry & Joe exposed me to a whole new world of sound complete with cultural perspective, connection and appreciation for my unlikely new favorite genre: Latingrass.
Cover image includes… Bluegrass Jam Cambridge 1981 photo credited to TONY 1212 [via Wikimedia Commons]. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
AND… Casa de músicos photo credited to Gabriel Molina [via Wikimedia Commons]. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
