Tuesday, February 18, 7:30 p.m., Orcas Center
— from Bethany Marie for Orcas Center —
Che Apalache is a four-man string band based in Buenos Aires with members from Argentina, Mexico and the United States. The group’s founder is Joe Troop (fiddle), a North Carolinian multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and composer who moved to Argentina in 2010. While patiently carving out a niche in the local music scene, Joe taught bluegrass and old-time for a living. That’s how he met Pau Barjau (banjo), Franco Martino (guitar) and Martin Bobrik (mandolin), his most dedicated students. They quickly became picking buddies and in 2013 decided to hit the stage.
Che Apalache began as a bluegrass band, but eventually incorporated Latin American styles into their repertoire. Combining instrumental prowess with tight vocal harmonies, they have curated an authentic blend of genres to reflect the nature of their lives, evoking images from Appalachia to the Andes. Their most recent album, 2019’s Rearrange My Heart, was produced by banjo legend Béla Fleck and was nominated for a Grammy™ award in the Best Folk Album category.
Come see the band that Rolling Stone Country says”merges cultures to smash through the boundaries often set up around many types of folk music.”
Che Apalache plays on Center Stage, Tuesday, February 18 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $15-$47 and are available at www.OrcasCenter.org.
I had the pleasure of spending some time with Che Apaleche at the Strawberry Music Festival in late 2018. They played the festival and spent some time in our camp conversing and playing music. In addition to being among the most creative and talented musicians I’ve ever met, they are just the nicest people and absolutely fun to be around! Their inspiring music is a completely original take on both bluegrass and Latin music. Freshly Grammy-nominated, to be able to see and hear them on the island is such a treat!