GUILFORD — Under the maple trees at the Historic Springs Farm, 49 Carpenter Hill Rd., in Guilford Center, the award-winning duo Larry & Joe play Latin music and bluegrass on Saturday, June 24, at 7 p.m. Concert-goers are invited to bring picnics with friends and family.
Larry & Joe is the duo of Joropo maestro Larry Bellorín (Monagas, Venezuela) and Grammy-nominated bluegrass and old-time star Joe Troop (Winston-Salem, North Carolina). These two multi-instrumentalists fuse their respective Venezuelan and Appalachian folk traditions on the harp, banjo, cuatro, fiddle, upright bass, guitar, and maracas. Their bilingual program includes storytelling, humor, and singalongs.
Bellorín, a legend of Llanera music, was forced into exile and is now an asylum seeker in North Carolina. Troop, after a decade in South America, got stranded back in North Carolina during the pandemic. Bellorín worked in construction to make ends meet, while Troop's acclaimed “latingrass” band Che Apalache was forced into hiatus, and he shifted into action working with asylum-seeking migrants. Then Larry met Joe, and a collaboration was born.
Currently based in the “Triangle” of North Carolina, both men are multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters, and the program they offer features a distinct blend of their musical inheritances and traditions as well as storytelling about the ways that music and social movements coalesce.
The suggested admission is $10–20, with no one turned away. Children are admitted free. There is limited parking at the farm for anyone who needs close-in access. Otherwise, park off Carpenter Hill Road at the library, lower field, or playscape.