Episode 5: Love at First Sigh, Featuring Larry & Joe.
MUSIC: Warming up
NARRATION: I’m at Women’s Audio Mission Studios in downtown San Francisco, and Larry Bellorin walks in with a cowboy hat and cowboy boots lugging a massive harp.
Right behind him is Joe Troope, in a silky embroidered shirt, with a banjo slung over his shoulder.
Joe: It’s rolling? Cool / ¿Está grabando? Bien.
NARRATION: Right away they are ready to play.
MUSIC: Song Starts
NARRATION:
Larry is a legendary musician of Venezuelan Llanera music, who fell in love with bluegrass after seeing the passion of the people at festivals in Appalachia, and Joe is a lightning fingerpicking bluegrass man who himself fell in love with Llanera after a decade of living in Latin America. Together these two are a sum is greater than it’s parts kind of team. Telling a story about what is possible between communities when we really truly listen to each other. This episode is mostly Larry’s story, but you will hear Joe’s voice as the translator, and of course in the music.
My name is Meklit and this is Movement: music and migration, remixed.
Meklit: Can we start with you both introducing yourselves? / ¿Podemos empezar con ustedes dos presentándose?
Joe: Sure. Claro
Larry: Mi nombre es Larry Bellorín
Joe: My name is Larry Bellorin..
Larry: Soy de Venezuela
Joe: I'm from Venezuela,
Larry: Del estado Monagas,
Joe: from the state of Monagas,
Larry: Oriente
Joe: the eastern part of the country, and my name is Joe Troupe. I'm from North Carolina.
Oriente, y mi nombre es Joe Troupe, soy de Carolina del Norte.
Meklit: and, I mean, now I'm just curious. Can you tell me a little bit about, Larry, can you tell me about Monagas
Joe: Y ahora, me gana la curiosidad, Larry, ¿podrías decirme un poco acerca de, cuéntame acerca de Monagas?
Meklit: what did it look like? What did it feel like? Tell me about
Joe: ¿Cómo era, cómo se sentía? Cuéntame acerca de tu lugar.
Larry: Monagas es una tierra que está, tiene mucha riqueza porque posee el plano y posee montañas.
Joe: Monagas is a very rich land because it has planes and it also has mountains
Larry: Y nuestra tierra pues es un suelo muy fértil.
Joe: and it's a very fertile soil mango.
Larry: Mango,
Joe: We've got all kinds of mango,
Larry: Aguacate,
Joe: Avocado,
Larry: Y comidas,
Joe: And all kinds of food.
Larry: Mi punto favorito [risas]
Joe: My favorite part
Larry: Era como, casi obligatorio, pasar frente a casa de un vecino y te decía ‘Ey, ven tómate un café conmigo’.
Joe: It was almost obligatory to go in front of a neighbor's house and then say, come on, come have a coffee with me.
Larry: Así era mi pueblo y su gente.
Joe: And that's how my town was, the people in it.
Larry: Poco alumbrado, muy pocas luces en las calles.
Joe: Very few lights in the street.
Larry: Podrías mirar el cielo, las estrellas, las podías contemplar porque la luz era bastante tenue.
Joe: And you could contemplate the stars because the light was so low.
Meklit: How did you start to play music? / ¿Cómo empezaste a tocar música?
Larry: Mira, me contó mi mamá, que en paz descanse,
Joe: My mother, she rest in peace, used to tell me
Larry: Que mi maestra del kinder
Joe: And my kindergarten teacher
Larry: Le dijo a mi mamá ‘Debes llevar a Larry a la escuela de música’.
Joe: Told my mother, Josefina, you should take Larry to music school.
Larry: Pero, ¿qué hace Larry de especial para saber que la música le gusta?
Joe: And so mama said, what can Larry do that's so special that to confirm whether he loves music or not?
Larry: Y decía la maestra que cuando llamaba a hacer algo, se subía a la mesa y empezaba a cantar.
Joe: And the teacher said, well, when Larry is called to do stuff, he gets on top of a table and starts singing.
Larry: Fui a un sitio donde estaba un maestro de música.
Joe: I went to a place where there was a music teacher.
Larry: Entonces, tenía que hacer una prueba.
Joe: And you had to do a test.
Melkit: Mm-hmm.
Larry: Me dijo canta.
Joe: All right, so he said
Larry: Yo canté
Joe: And I sang.
Melkit: What did you sing?
Joe: ¿Qué cantaste?
Larry: Hay una canción en específico.
Joe: This is a specific song that says,
Larry: Yo siento que te he querido y te quiero más
Joe: I feel that I have loved you and now love you more.
Larry: Es algo que necesito para vivir.
Joe: It's something that I need to live.
Larry: Mi vida no sería vida si tú no estás.
Joe: My life wouldn't be life without you.
Larry: Todo lo veo más bonito solo por ti.
Joe: Everything is more beautiful because of you.
Larry: El escuchó.
Meklit: And it's like you were talking to music.
Joe: Es como si estuvieras hablando con la música.
Larry: Yeah.
Joe: Yeah. Yep.
Larry: Entonces el profesor miró y me dijo,
Joe: So the teacher looks at me and he says,
Larry: ‘Yo creo que mejor has de hacer otra cosa’.
Joe: I think you should do something else
Larry: ‘Porque yo no veo que tengas talento para eso’.
Joe: Because you don't have talent for that. I don't see it.
Larry: Con mi corazoncito hecho pedazos [ríe]. Dije, ‘bueno, vámonos’.
Joe: My heart was broken and I said, okay, let's go.
Larry: Un día en mi escuela estaba sentadito en una acera.
Joe: And one day at school I was sitting on the sidewalk
Larry: Simulando que estaba tocando y cantando.
Joe: Pretending like I was playing and, and singing along.
Larry: Entonces pasa un profesor.
Joe: And a teacher walked in front of me
Larry: Y escucha.
Joe: And he listened.
Larry: Así como que, no fue adrede él se paró ahí, así.
Joe: You know, pretending like he wasn't doing it on purpose.
Larry: Y yo cantando.
Joe: And I was singing, playing air Cuatro.
Larry: Cuando terminé de cantar, él se acerca.
Joe: And when I finished singing, he came up to me
Larry: Recuerdo su nombre claro.
Joe: And I,
Larry: Se llamaba José Antonio Ruiz.
Joe: And I remember his name as clear as day, Jose Antonio Ruiz.
Larry: Y me dijo, ‘¿Cómo te llamas?’ y le digo ‘Larry’
Joe: He said, what's your name? And I said Larry
Larry: ¿Te gusta la música?
Joe: You like music?
Larry: Sí.
Joe: Yeah.
Larry: ¿Y quieres tocar?
Joe: You wanna play?
Larry: Sí.
Joe: Yes.
Larry: Okay. Ven te voy a llevar a un sitio especial.
Joe: Come on, I'm gonna take you to a special place.
Larry: Cuando me llevó a su aula.
Joe: He took me to his classroom
Larry: Estaba repleta de instrumentos.
Joe: And it was full of instruments.
Larry: Y fue como que, llegué a donde quería estar.
Joe: And it's as if I had gotten, finally gotten to where I'd always wanted to be.
Larry: Me dijo, ‘¿qué te gustaría tocar de aquí?’
Joe: And he said, what would you like to play?
Larry: Y agarré el cuatro.
Joe: And I went and I grabbed the cuatro.
Larry: Me enamoré de la música de cuerdas.
Joe: I fell in love with string instruments.
Larry: De la mandolina, de la guitarra,
Joe: The mandolin, the guitar,
Larry: Del bajo,
Joe: The bass,
Larry: Y del harpa.
Joe: The harp
Larry: Ya comenzaron a llamarme.
Joe: Bands and orchestra started to call me.
Larry: Literalmente mi carrera comenzó cuando cumplí 12 años.
Joe: The, literally, my career started right before I turned 12.
Meklit: Can you tell us what brought you to leave Venezuela?
Joe: ¿Puedes decirnos qué te hizo partir de Venezuela?
Larry: Bueno, mira. Yo en Venezuela tenía una vida bastante exitosa dentro de la carrera musical.
Joe: Look at in Venezuela, I had a pretty successful life in my musical career.
Meklit: Yes.
Larry: Ya para el 2011 ya tenía lista y registrada mi escuela de música privada.
Joe: By 2011, I had my own music school
Larry: Vivía de la escuela de música
Joe: and I lived off of that music school
Larry: Era cantante profesional.
Joe: I was a professional singer.
Larry: Estaba bastante cómodo.
Joe: I was pretty comfortable.
Meklit: Hmm.
Larry: Y cerramos la escuela en el 2012.
Joe: And we closed the school in 2012,
Larry: La razón, la debacle económica de mi país.
Joe: And the reason was the economic debacle of my country.
Meklit: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Larry: Yo quería, y quiero, un futuro para mis hijos.
Joe:And I wanted, and I still want a future for my children,
Larry: Eso me hizo venir a este gran país.
Joe: And that's what made me come to this great country.
Meklit: How did you arrive in North Carolina? Why did you choose North Carolina?
Joe: ¿Cómo llegaste a venir a Carolina del Norte? ¿Por qué elegiste Carolina del Norte?
Larry: Mira, curioso.
Joe: Look at, it's pretty interesting.
Larry: Porque mi cuñada, la hermana de mi esposa, Ana Lucia, vino a Carolina del Norte, cinco o seis veces.
Joe: My sister-in-law had come to North Carolina five or six times.
Larry: Un año, 2015, ella dijo, ‘Tengo una idea para ti’.
Joe: And in 2015, she says, I got an idea for you.
Larry: ‘¿Por qué no nos vamos a Estados Unidos?’
Joe: Why don't we go to the United States?
Larry: Y yo le dije, ‘Ana, porque yo no tengo nada que hacer en Estados Unidos’.
Joe: And I said, Anna, because I have nothing to do in the United States.
Larry: Como si me fuera para China.
Joe: It's as if I went to China or something.
Larry: Y entonces le digo, ‘¿cómo crees que me gustaría?’
Joe: And so why do you think I would like it, I tell her?
Larry: Porque a ti no te gustan las ciudades grandes.
Joe: Because you don't like big cities
Larry: Porque te gusta lo tranquilo.
Joe: Because you like tranquility.
Meklit: Mm-hmm.
Larry: Okay. Todo eso lo hay donde yo he ido.
Joe: And well that every, every bit of that is where I have been
Larry: Yo le digo, ‘¿y dónde es eso?’
Joe: And I said, where is that?
Larry: En Carolina del Norte
Joe: In North Carolina.
Meklit: Wow.
Larry: Recuerdo que llegué a Carolina de noche, a las 11 de la noche.
Joe: And I remember getting to North Carolina at 11 o'clock at night
Larry:Y yo parecía un perrito en un carro.
Joe: And I felt like a little dog in the car
Larry: Solo mirar, solo mirar.
Joe: Just looking around.
Larry: Ganó la batalla.
Joe: She won the battle because
Larry: Porque me enamoré de Carolina del Norte.
Meklit: Yeah. You fell in love with.
Larry: Me enamoré
Joe: I fell in love with it.
Larry: Es como mi segundo hogar.
Joe: It's like my second home.
Meklit: Hmm.
Larry: Cuando alguien me pregunta, ‘¿De dónde eres?’ De Carolina del Norte
Joe: Now, when people ask where I'm from, I say I'm from North Carolina.
Larry: No con eso sin dejar de decir que soy, con orgullo, venezolano.
Joe: Not without saying that I'm very proud to be Venezuelan.
Larry: Pero estoy feliz de vivir en Carolina.
Joe: But I'm happy to live in North Carolina.
Meklit: Yes. And there's room for both in your heart.
Joe: Y hay lugar para ambos en tu corazón.
Larry: Sí
Joe: Yeah.
Larry: Una de las cosas que hoy en día, hoy tengo más claro, gracias a vivir en Carolina del Norte, tengo estabilidad junto con mi hermano mellizo, Joe Troupe. Así es el bromista de Larry.
Joe: One thing I'm sure about is now thanks to living in North Carolina. I have stability along with my twin brother Joe Troupe. This is Larry being funny.
Meklit: There's so many things I wanna talk about. I, you know, I read a little bit about you all and I read that you were doing construction for a time and this ensemble is how you've come back to music
Joe: Hay muchas cosas de las que quisiera hablar. Lei un poco acerca de ustedes y lei que estuviste trabajando en la construcción por un tiempo y ahora con este dueto regresas a la música
Larry: Sí, cuando recién llegué aquí, entré a trabajar en la construcción.
Joe: When I first got here and I started working in construction
Larry: En la primera semana, como al tercer día.
Joe: Like in the first week, on the third day.
Larry: Había un frío pero riquísimo, me encanta el frío.
Joe: It was beautifully, wonderfully cold. I love cold
Larry: Así como un oso
Joe: I like it like a happy little bear.
Larry: Entonces, estaba trabajando, colocando la tapa de un bloque.
Joe: I was trying to put a block in the right place.
Larry: Un compañero estaba arriba y yo abajo.
Joe: One of my coworkers was above me and I was below.
Larry: Cuando estamos colocando la tapa, le digo ‘no vayas a soltar la ta…’ Y la soltó
Joe: And I, and as I was about to place it, I said, please don't drop the top. And he dropped it.
Larry: El resto de la palabra la hizo la misma tapa.
Joe: And the end of the word was completed by the same block top. Yeah. Top block.
Larry: Y esta uña se arrancó.
Joe: And my nail got ripped off.
Larry: En ese frío.
Joe: And in that cold
Larry: El dolor era...
Joe: And the pain
Larry: Increíble.
Joe: Was incredible
Larry: Me dolía todo el cuerpo. De lo que sentía.
Joe: It hurt my entire body.
Larry: Y eso afectó mucho emocionalmente mi persona porque,
Joe: And that really emotionally affected my person because,
Larry: Si hay algo que yo he cuidado en mi vida,
Joe: Because if there's one thing I've taken care of in my life,
Larry: Han sido mis manos.
Joe: It was my hands.
Larry: Y cuando miré esto, no lloraba por fuera, o sea, por dentro estaba desgarrado.
Joe: And when I took a look in my hand, I didn't cry on the outside, but inside I was sobbing.
Larry: Decía, 'se acabó’.
Joe: It's like it's over.
Larry: Ya no más música.
Joe: There's no more music.
Larry: Solo puse un pedazo de venda y continuamos trabajando.
Joe: I wrapped a bandage on it and we kept working.
Larry: Te confieso que, por mucho tiempo, llegué a pensar que mi vida iba a trabajar en la construcción.
Joe: And I must confess that I had pretty much concluded that for the rest of my life I'd be working in construction,
Larry: Pero un día me sorprendió cuando conocí a una muchacha que conocía a Joe
Joe: But then I'm, I met this lady who knew Joe,
Larry: Ella me preguntó ‘¿Le puedo dar tu número a un amigo?’
Joe: And she asked me, can I give your phone number to a friend of mine?
Larry: ‘A él le gusta la música venezolana’.
Joe: He likes Venezuela music.
Larry: ‘Claro, no hay problema’.
Joe: Yeah, sure, no problem.
Larry: Cuando me llama
Joe: And when Joe called me
Larry: Era un argentino.
Joe: He was an Argentinian.
Larry: ‘¡Ey ché!, ¿cómo está?’
Joe: What's up man?
Larry: ‘Sí, yo soy Joe, y hago música y no se qué’
Joe: My name's Joe, I play music, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Larry: Y yo decía para mis adentros:
Joe: And I was saying
Larry: ‘¿Pero este es gringo o es argentino?’
Joe: Is this guy Gringo or is he Argentinian?
Larry: ‘Porque me dice que nació aquí, pero habla como un argentino’.
Joe: Cause he said he was born here, but he speaks like an Argentinian.
Larry: Pero así pasó.
Joe: But that's how it happened. When I met Larry, it was, you know, winter of 2021 and then I didn't know what I / Cuando conocí a Larry era invierno, en 2021 y no sabía.
Meklit: Like a year and a half ago?
Larry: --
Joe: Yeah. The thing is, I didn't know what I was doing with my life. I was floating around and the pandemic had completely decimated my operation and everything I had worked to build and I was just, I was lost.
So I met him and I said, oh, that's it. The universe gave me, an opportunity that I was not gonna pass by this time.
Meklit: Mm.
Joe: I don't think I've ever worked as hard as I've worked to learn this music.
Meklit: Mm.
Larry: Así nace el dueto Larry y Joe.
Joe: And that's how the duo, Larry and Joe was born.
Larry: ¿Y sabes por qué nace?
Joe: And you know why it was born
Larry: Porque cuando subimos a la tarima por primera vez,
Joe: Because when we got on stage for the first time,
Larry: Y tocamos el primer tema,
Joe: we played the first song together.
Larry: Todo el público se puso de pie.
Joe:They gave us a standing ovation.
Meklit: Wow. I just wanna reflect that there have been two moments of tears
Joe:Yeah.
Meklit: In this conversation. And the first was your teacher who was walking by and saw you playing the Air Quatro
Joe: Hay dos momentos de lágrimas en esta conversación. La primera cuando tu maestro pasó caminando y te vio tocando el cuatro.
Larry: Sí
Meklit: And the second was when you two met
Joe: Y el segundo fue cuando ustedes se conocieron.
Meklit: And neither was planned.
Joe: No. Y ninguno fue planeado
Larry: No
Meklit: But it was, but both of them were like, it's like fate knocking at your door.
Joe: Pero fue, pues fue como el destino tocando a su puerta.
Meklit: Saying it's time to play now.
Joe: Diciendo, es momento de tocar
Larry: Yo considero eso, como le he dicho a él, nuestra música, nuestro dueto es amor musical a primera vista.
Joe: And I, and like I've told him many times, I consider our music, musical love at first sight.
Larry: Y hoy, feliz de ser El Dueto Larry y Joe.
Joe: And now I'm happy to, to have this duet, Larry and Joe,
Larry: De llevar esa imagen de integración.
Joe: And to take this image of integration
Larry: Queremos brindarle a todas las personas sin distinción de colores ni de religiones.
Joe: And bring it to everybody, irregardless of their race or religion, their color,
Larry: Y que podemos amarnos como personas.
Joe: That we may be able to love each other as people.
Larry: De eso se trata Larry y Joe.
Joe: That's what Larry and Joe stands for.
As you can hear, Larry has also learned Joe’s traditional music, bluegrass. He was finally able to quit his construction job in January of 2023, and the duo is now touring the country full time. Larry’s asylum case is active and in process.
Movement is produced by Ian Coss and myself, Meklit Hadero. Our co-creator and podcast godmother is Julie Caine. Our broadcast partner is The World. We are supported by the Mellon Foundation, the National Geographic Society and distributed by PRX.