Album Review: Manos Panamericanos

Reviewed by Devon Léger for Songlines Magazine
1.31.25

The story of this unlikely duo, Larry & Joe,  is a powerful indictment of US immigration. A renowned musician and teacher in Venezuela, Larry Bellorin, was an asylum seeker in America and lived undocumented, ruining his hands on construction sites. Grammy-nominated bluegrass visionary Joe Troop, met Larry in North Carolina, and the two embarked on a strange pairing, bringing Larry's musica lanera harp together with Joe's work fusing Latin American roots into bluegrass (with his earlier band Che Apalache) on their new album, Manos Panamericanos. Here, banjo and harp meld together and Larry's crying vocals fly over the top. Colombian old-time fiddle, a famous Venezuelan waltz meets Peruvian percussion, and bluegrass reigns throughout. Together, the two are like lightning in a bottle, and the music is virtuosic, jaw-dropping at times when played live, but also full of heart and love. There's only one band like Larry & Joe, but they'll change the way you see American folk music.

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