PCAL Calendar

Louisville School Partner Luncheon 

• Larry & Joe are a musical duo currently based in the Triangle of North Caroline. Larry Bellorín hails from Monagas, Venezuela and is a legend of Llanera music. Joe Troop is from North Carolina and is a GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass and oldtime musician. Larry was forced into exile and is an asylum seeker in North Carolina. Joe, after a decade in South America, got stranded back in his stomping grounds in the pandemic. Larry works construction to make ends meet. Joe's acclaimed "latingrass" band Che Apalache was forced into hiatus, and he shifted into action working with asylum seeking migrants.

• Both men are versatile multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters on a mission to show that music has no borders. As a duo they perform a fusion of Venezuelan and Appalachian folk music on harp, banjo, cuatro, fiddle, guitar, maracas and whatever else they decide to throw in the van. 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.

• Schedule:

• Thursday August 31st, 2023

• 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Free Public Workshop 1 - FAC Recital Hall (189) - 1.5 hours for demo and 30 minutes for questions

• Larry & Joe will teach students “El Gavilán Tocuyano de Pablo Canela,” something like the “Orange Blossom Special” of the Venezuelan fiddle tradition. This class is oriented towards intermediate/advanced fiddlers and cellists, but anyone that plays a melodic instrument can participate by learning the melody. Larry will also teach the chords to students wishing just to strum along. Joe will interpret.

• 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm Free Performance on Campus - FAC Recital Hall (189)

• Friday, September 1st, 2023

• Workshop 2: 3:00 pm -5:00 pm - BG Rock Academy - FAC Recital Hall (189) - 1.5 for demo and 30 minutes for questions

• Larry & Joe will teach students a two-chord gabán, a fundamental rhythmic and harmonic structure of la música llanera in 6/8. Students will learn how strings are used percussively through muting and golpes to create the iconic joropo feel. Though they will use the cuatro (an instrument intrinsically bound to the Venezuelan identity) as a teaching tool, this language is translatable to other string instruments like the banjo.

Discover WKU Louisville 

Reimagining their two musical traditions, Llanera superstar Larry Bellorín (Venezuela) and Latingrass GRAMMY-nominee Joe Troop (North Carolina) play harp, banjo, fiddle, cuatro, maracas, guitar, upright bass, and sing to inspire joy and unity. Program en ingles y espańol

Admission is free, no tickets necessary, seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.