The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts presents Larry and Joe, from 7-9 p.m., Friday, May 16 at the Turner Center Art Park, 605 North Patterson St. 

The concert is the last of 10 free live performances in the 2025 Levitt AMP Valdosta Music Series, sponsored by the Mortimer and Mimi Levitt Foundation, The Price-Campbell Foundation, WALB News 10, Lamar Advertising and the Valdosta Daily Times.

Larry and Joe were destined to make music together.

Larry Bellorín hails from Monagas, Venezuela and is a legend of Llanera music. Joe Troop is from North Carolina and is a Grammy-nominated bluegrass and old-time musician. 

Larry was forced into exile and is an asylum seeker in North Carolina. Joe, after a decade in South America, got stranded back in his stomping grounds in the pandemic. 

Larry worked in construction to make ends meet. Joe’s acclaimed “latingrass” band Che Apalache was forced into hiatus, and he shifted into action working with asylum seeking migrants. 

Then Larry met Joe.

Currently based in the Triangle of North Carolina, both men 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. The program they offer features a distinct blend of their musical inheritances and traditions as well as storytelling about the ways that music and social movements coalesce.

The public is invited to bring blankets and lawn chairs to the concerts. The opening act are the ABAC singers, with food and drink vendor Jessie’s Restaurant and Catering. Community partners are REMINISCENT SGRL/“Tillie.” 

Admission and parking are free. 

Visit turnercenter.org for more information. Patrons who need special assistance may contact the center at 229-247-2787 to make those arrangements.