Che Apalache was an Argentinian-American string band based in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

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. Their style has attracted fans such as banjoist

Béla Fleck Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, playing music from bluegrass, jazz, classical, rock and various ...

who produced their

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-nominated album '' Rearrange My Heart''.

Biography

Che Apalache was formed in Buenos Aires in 2013. After living abroad in a number of countries including Spain and Japan, Joe Troop moved to Argentina in 2010 to teach bluegrass music. Troop grew up in Winston-Salem in the Piedmont region of North Carolina and was inspired to play bluegrass after hearing a

Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. He won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His ...

concert as a child. In Argentina, he helped develop the small local scene and eventually formed Che Apalache with some of his best students. Troop notes that for their first five years they played only Appalachian music, and "that seemed amazing avant-garde to have a bluegrass band in the city of Buenos Aires." However, they later began to incorporate some of the latin styles they had grown up with in Argentina and Mexico. They initially played with an upright bass but eventually settled on the lineup of Martin Bobrik and Franco Martino, from Buenos Aires, and Pau Barjau, from Mexico. In 2017 they received assistance from the Virginia Folklife Program and PineCone, the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music, to tour the United States. From February to May of that year they recorded an album in Argentina to prepare for their first US tour. That summer they won the prestigious Clifftop old-time music contest in the neo-traditional band category. The band's name is composed of "Che", a casual greeting ('buddy' or 'man' in Spanish) and "Apalache", the Spanish word for Appalachia.

Influences

The band was known for the many influences they incorporated including: Uruguayan

murga Murga is a form of popular musical theatre performed in Argentina, Panama, Spain and Uruguay during the Carnival season. Murga groups also operate in the Buenos Aires Carnival, though to a lesser extent than in Montevideo; the Argentinian murga ...

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flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

, mountain gospel, Spanish Sephardic Jewish music, and classic bluegrass in the style of the

Stanley Brothers The Stanley Brothers were an American bluegrass duo of singer-songwriters and musicians, made up of brothers Carter Stanley (August 27, 1925 – December 1, 1966) and Ralph Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016). Ralph and Carter perf ...

. They sing in English, Spanish, and Japanese. They are also notable for their intricate percussive rhythms, often played right on their instruments, and other extended techniques not traditionally used in acoustic music. Their uncommon style caught the attention of Bela Fleck who decided to produce their second album, ''Rearrange My Heart'', in his home studio. "These guys are just so unique and fascinating that it was impossible for me to say no," Fleck said. "Music should be about human expression and these guys are expressing it in spades." The album was released on August 9, 2019 on

Free Dirt Records Free Dirt Records is an American independent record label and label services company founded in 2006 by John Smith and Erica Haskell that releases folk and Traditional music, roots music. The label's releases have received three Grammy Award, Gram ...

. '' Rolling Stone Country'' notes "the group merges cultures to smash through the boundaries often set up around many types of folk music." ''

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'' "All Things Considered" called the band "a big hit." ''NPR''

Alt.Latino ''Alt.Latino'' is a radio show and podcast about Latin alternative music and Latinx culture, produced by NPR. The show launched in 2010 and is hosted by Felix Contreras and Anamaria Sayre. It features music and interviews with Latino musician ...

column praised the "brilliant mash up of bluegrass and various form of Latin music. They went on, "From beginning to end, Rearrange My Heart is a Must Hear." Che Apalache was forced to disband in 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Discography

*'' Rearrange My Heart'' (2019),

*''Latin Grass'' (2017), self-released

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Che Apalache American folk musical groups American bluegrass music groups Old-time bands Musical groups from North Carolina Musical groups from Buenos Aires American musical quartets Argentine musical quartets Musical groups established in 2013 Musical groups disestablished in 2020