Larry & Joe

Oct 31 2025

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Location: R.A. Fountain

A Halloween spectacular, featuring Larry & Joe, a costume contest, and a parade of ghouls up Freeman Vines Alley before a howling at the moon beneath our burned out street light.

Larry & Joe is Joropo maestro Larry Bellorín, from Monagas, Venezuela, and GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass and oldtime star Joe Troop, from Winston-Salem. These two virtuosic multi-instrumentalists fuse their respective Venezuelan and Appalachian folk traditions on the harp, banjo, cuatro, fiddle, upright bass, guitar, and maracas to prove that music has no borders. Their engaging bilingual program includes English & Spanish storytelling, humor and singalongs, as well as original & folk music that might just get you dancing. From the Kennedy Center to Telluride Bluegrass Festival, this duo has played some serious stages, & we’re thrilled to welcome them to RAF.

They’ll both be fully costumed for performing & along with costume contest winners will be leading our 2nd Parade of Ghouls at intermission, 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place prizes for adults & also for 12 & under, who, as always, are admitted free.

Please note the 7 p.m. start time, to accommodate an extended intermission

• • •

Larry & Joe were destined to make music together

Larry Bellorín is a legend in Llanera music, played principally on a harp and with maracas and characterized by its lively, fast pace. Forced into exile from his native Venezuela, he sought asylum in North Carolina and began working construction in the Raleigh area to make ends meet.

Meanwhile, Joe Troop had spent a decade in South America teaching bluegrass and oldtime music and performing, but he got stranded back in North Carolina during the pandemic, leaving behind his acclaimed “latingrass” band Che Apalache, which he had formed in 2014 in Buenos Aires. Without a band and with all the local venues closed, he shifted into action working with asylum-seeking migrants.

Which is how Larry met Joe.

Currently based in the Triangle, both 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, maracas, guitar, upright bass, and whatever else they decide to throw in the van. They blend musical inheritances and traditions with storytelling about the ways that music and social movements coalesce.

And they have a lot of fun.

• • •

Larry & Joe estaban destinados a hacer música juntos.

Oriundo de Monagas, Venezuela, Larry es una leyenda de la música llanera. Proveniente de Carolina del Norte, Joe es un músico de bluegrass y oldtime que fue nominado para un GRAMMY. Larry tuvo que exiliarse a Carolina del Norte y es solicitante de asilo. Joe, después de una década en Sudamérica quedó varado en su tierra natal por la pandemia. Larry trabajó en construcción para llegar a fin de mes. Cuando el ascenso de su renombrada banda Che Apalache se detuvo, Joe pivotó para trabajar con migrantes solicitando asilo. Entonces Larry conoció a Joe.

Actualmente basados en el Triángulo de Carolina del Norte, ambos hombres son multi-instrumentistas versátiles con una misión de mostrar que la música no tiene fronteras. Como dueto tocan una fusión de folklore de Venezuela y de los montes Apalaches en arpa, banjo, cuatro, violín, maracas, guitarra, contrabajo y cualquier otra cosa que decidan subir a la camioneta. Como músicos su programa ofrece una mezcla única de sus diversas herencias y tradiciones, y cómo cuentacuentos demuestran cómo la música y los movimientos sociales interactúan.