Photo by Chad Edwards
Larry & Joe are a duo from North Carolina. Joe Troop plays traditional bluegrass instruments, and Larry Bellorín plays a variety of instruments from his home country, including a 33-string Venezuelan folk harp, the cuatro — a small, percussive four-string relative of the Baroque guitar — electric upright bass, and maracas. They have released two albums, Nuevo South Train and Manos Panamericanos. They are getting ready to release a third album, and many of the songs they play this Thursday will be from the forthcoming record. Larry is currently seeking asylum from Venezuela.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Joe Troop the other day about the challenges of the current immigration system in the United States, the duo’s music, and the music industry in general. I look forward to meeting Larry and Joe this Thursday at Natalie’s Grandview at 8:00 PM. [Click here for tickets.]
I’ve attached an excerpt from the interview and a video of their latest single, “Where Would I Go Running.” The song was written while they were on tour, watching the ICE raids in North Carolina unfold from a distance.
How long have you and Larry been recording together?
Joe Troop: We formed this duo at the tail end of 2021. We recorded our first album in 2022 and a second in 2024. We’re currently working on a third — a lot of the material we’ll be playing on this Midwest run. We’re debuting a bunch of new music before we record it later this year.
You were previously in Ché Apalache. What happened there?
Joe Troop: We went into hiatus with the pandemic. It was a band based in Argentina, and I wound up back in the States and never made it back, so it got complicated. In that moment of flux is when I met Larry.
The press describes Ché Apalache as “Latin grass.” How does that compare to what you’re doing with Larry now?
Joe Troop: Ché Apalache is a bluegrass band — banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin — but we played a mix of genres from across Latin America on top of the bluegrass instruments. That’s where “Latin grass” came from. Larry and Joe is different, because Larry is a virtuosic practitioner of Venezuelan folk music — he plays música llanera, but he’s also a very good salsa musician. On his side of the stage: a 32-string arpa llanera and a cuatro, plus electric upright salsa bass and maracas. On my side: banjo, fiddle and guitar. When we come together, we play a little of this and a little of that, and then whatever else comes out. I’d say it’s something uniquely neither this nor that. Just something new.
Is Larry still seeking asylum, and is that a challenge in this political environment?
Joe Troop: Yeah, he’s still seeking asylum. He hasn’t been granted it, but every year he’s able to renew his Temporary Protected Status. We talk about it in our set — what immigrants are facing. It’s draconian. These policies are sadistic. We talk about it, but we’re not up there proselytizing or preaching.
How do you handle the pressure around Larry’s safety, given how open you are about his case?
Joe Troop: Hiding it wouldn’t make him any safer. It’s the first thing on our website. And truth be told, Larry’s more likely to get hassled at a Home Depot in his own neighborhood than he is out on the road with me at a venue. North Carolina has had a major ICE and Border Patrol presence at certain moments during this whole clown show. We’ve enacted a new law, SB 153, which allows local law enforcement to collaborate with ICE — if someone’s identity is found to be undocumented, they can be turned over directly. There’s an infringement on human rights happening on a statewide, governmentally sponsored scale.
How does that come out in the music — is it the feel, or is it lyrical?
Joe Troop: You could check out our latest song, “Where Would I Go Running.” We wrote it as a response to the raids in North Carolina last fall — we were in St. Louis, watching it unfold in real time on the internet. It’s a flip-the-script song that asks, lyrically, where would we go if it happens to us? I think we’ve been baited to think it’s them, not us — but we’re next in line. We released it as a single on International Refugee Day. But we’re also up there having a joyous time and exploring this beautiful music — I think that rising above says more than any act of playing.
What should someone expect walking into a Larry and Joe show for the first time?
Joe Troop: They’re going to experience cross-cultural joy — there’s a mix of music, storytelling and dance. It’ll be a seated show at Natalie’s, but we’re going to get the audience up at some point.
