When you think of Venezuelan music, perhaps salsa or merengue come to mind. But have you delved into joropo, or llanera music, from the western portion of the country?

When you think of string band music like bluegrass, does anything far outside the region of the southern United States jump out as having a parallel makeup, or a kinship that might lend itself to fusing with that tradition?

I freely admit to never dreaming that combining bluegrass with a Latin style was possible, let alone a good fit. Enter Larry & Joe to put these stylistic puzzle pieces together from a distance of thousands of miles, and across cultural divides that make their partnership jump out that much more. Larry Bellorín grew up in Punta de Mata in the state of Monagas, Venezuela, and is a master of the harp and 4-string cuatro, while Joe Troop is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter from North Carolina. Joe is also known from his work in the GRAMMY-nominated string band Che Apalache. Their story is as remarkable as their music.

I spoke with Larry and Joe at the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, NC, ahead of their performance for the Scruggs’ Center’s Center Stage series in July 2024. They are also part of the lineup at the upcoming Earl Scruggs Music Festival in Tryon, NC over labor day weekend 2024. In our conversation, we talk in depth about the duo’s synthesis of musical styles and cultures, we discover why the harp became so popular in Venezuela, and we get into how their music often has themes of social justice with songs and lyrics about immigration and border issues in particular, and their conviction that cultural differences can be overcome without violence and discrimination. Plus, a tutorial on how to roll your r’s! That, and more music from Larry and Joe is all ahead in this episode. 

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Larry Bellorin (left) and Joe Troop (right) in WNCW’s Studio B performance January 18, 2024. photo: Brenda Craig

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Songs heard in this episode:

“Gabanjo” by Larry & Joe, performed live on WNCW 01/18/24

“Love Along the Way” by Larry & Joe, performed live on WNCW 01/18/24, excerpt

“Border Wall” by Larry & Joe, from Nuevo South Train, excerpt

“Runnin’ From the Weather” by Larry & Joe, from Manos Panamericanos

Thanks for visiting, and we hope you will follow this series on your podcast platform of choice, and also give it a top rating and a review. When you take a moment to give great ratings and reviews, Southern Songs and Stories and the artists it profiles become much more visible to more music, history and culture fans just like you. You can find us on Apple here, and Spotify here — hundreds more episodes await, including performers at The Earl Scruggs Music Festival like Rissi Palmer, as well as our collaboration with music journalist Craig Havighurst of WMOT, host of the excellent podcast The String, both from last year’s event, as well as our recent episode on a 2024 headliner, Marty Stuart. Speaking of Earl Scruggs, we are especially fond of our episode titled “The Humble Genius of Earl Scruggs”.

This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to the staff at MerleFest for their help in making this episode possible. Thanks to everyone on staff at the Earl Scruggs Center for their hospitality, and to WNCW intern Will Prim for helping prepare me for the interview. Thanks also to Jaclyn Anthony for producing the radio adaptations of this series on WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs — you can link to his music here. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick