Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Day One: Heat, Humor, Protest Songs…

Written by Mike Moran for Grateful Web (Excerpt)
08.10.2026

My first Main Stage set of the day came from Larry & Joe, the duo of Venezuelan harpist Larry Bellorín and North Carolina musician Joe Troop. Their music represents a fascinating meeting of two traditions that might initially seem worlds apart: Appalachian music and Venezuelan folk. Bellorín's harp immediately gives their sound a character unlike virtually anything else at the festival, while Troop provides the Appalachian side of the equation. Throughout the set, Joe also translated remarks from Larry for the audience, and the two spoke openly about immigration and the experience of migrants in America. At one point, the audience heard how current immigration enforcement has affected even something as basic as Larry's comfort with traveling. That gave their migrant songs considerably more weight. Whatever side of the political spectrum someone happens to occupy, hearing these stories directly from the person living them is different than seeing another headline flash across a screen. Personally, I think America needs those voices right now. This country is largely a nation of immigrants, and at a time when the Trump administration has made immigration enforcement such a central part of its agenda, Larry & Joe's music felt especially relevant. The duo lightened things up with a song familiar to plenty of Colorado music fans, "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad." Joe asked whether there were any Deadheads in the crowd. In Colorado? Of course there were. Their arrangement filtered the old standard through both Appalachian and Venezuelan traditions and was an early highlight of my day.

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