Larry + Joe can change the world | Opinion
Written by John Job for the Oakridger
11.04.25
On every continent around the world, hidden forces are compelling millions of people to give up their native homes to flee into the uncertainty of incredibly dangerous treks, voyages, and flights.
These seething galaxies of humans become the huddled masses described by a Jewish poetess as “yearning to breathe free,” cowering in the face of gangs, cartels, and “holy” brigades, diving headlong into the alphabet maelstrom of ICE, DHS, FBI, CIA, and DOJ.
They plunge into the shark infested waters of child abusers, slave traders, opioid traffickers, and soul thieves of all types. The shark-infested waters become retention ponds of the deadly runoff from murders, rapes, kidnappings, and assaults of every degree.
This phenomenon manifests in countries around the globe. It’s not only about the Americas. It’s about the Sudan, Yemen, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Somalia, and vast areas across the African continent that are deemed simply ungovernable by any nation.
Has anyone suggested to you that Africa is the top concern of all the so-called super powers right now? If you think things are unstable in the American hemisphere, Africa will blow your mind. Even the Holy Bible’s tales pale by comparison. Then stir in Myanmar. Afghanistan. Syria. Iraq. Ukraine. And Venezuela ...
Add them up. The global total of forcibly displaced people is absolutely staggering, on the order of 125 million-130 million this year, but those are only the ones we can see. Under the radar, the real number could be twice that. The global mosaic reveals its spreading interconnectivity.
Two and a half years ago, in March 2023, two guys stepped into the soft afternoon light that bathes the sanctuary at St. John’s Cathedral in Knoxville, and in their debut at the Big Ears Festival as “Larry + Joe”, they took on the storms of prejudice, misconception and fear surrounding waves of transient populations on our continent.
No small task because, at that time, the numbers were in the millions, and no one could dare guess what the exodus was signaling. Moses was nowhere to be seen.
To this day, no one can say what all this chaos has meant. But I can tell you what Larry + Joe mean. They are two interwoven folk music traditions, Joe Troop from North Carolina and Larry Bellorin from Venezuela. They call their music "Latingrass," but its power is far beyond anything so pedestrian.
They are a perfect expression of cross-cultural harmony. And according to their managerial compass, Kayla Oelhafen, in the last two and a half years since their Big Ears debut, Larry + Joe have performed somewhere between 350 to 400 concerts, from Portland, Maine to Santa Monica, California. From Portland, Oregon to Savannah, Georgia.
That number is dumbfounding on several levels, but mostly it shows an incredible dedication to the mission of their performance touring, which hopes to pull everyone back from the precipice, take a deep breath, sing what comes to your heart, and make music that conveys your dreams.
Larry + Joe show their audiences the power of fusion. Larry Bellorin’s earnest Latino folk perfection and Joe Troop’s equally earnest Appalachian folk perfection are, in being fused, a musical revelation. And you can see them for yourself Friday evening, Nov. 7, at the Laurel Theater in Knoxville.
I can’t exaggerate how important it seems, for this concert to land at the Laurel at this particular moment.
There were moments in Larry + Joe’s Big Ears debut at St. John’s that I’ll never forget. From my second row pew seats, it seemed that the figure of Jesus was floating right over Larry’s shoulder.
And in March 2025, in their Knoxville Museum of Art concert at Big Ears, they answered a challenge most performers cringe in the face of ... performing in daylight. The concert venue at the KMA is the big exhibition space occupied by Oak Ridge native Richard Jolley’s glass sculpture. It’s windows on three sides, and marble on the fourth. It was filled with about 250 enthusiastic listeners in mid-afternoon. And the fence-spanning Larry + Joe gave the best performance I think they’ve ever done.
At the Laurel Theater this Friday evening, see this amazing musical adventure face to face. It’s two incredibly skilled natural-born musicians from two nominally isolated cultures coming together to be a force for change, a force for understanding and appreciation, and, most of all, a force for the wonder of music.
Larry Bellorin’s manual ballet on the harp, coupled with Joe Troop’s incredible vocal range, is a force of nature God in Heaven must get a kick out of.
See Larry + Joe to heal your soul from the ravages of the political spasms of the last 12 months. See them to clarify how you feel about everything related to immigration, legal or illegal, local or global. And see them to have a really great time in the presence of uber-talented artists enjoying the time of their lives.
Larry + Joe can also be heard at noon on Friday on WDVX 89.9 FM’s “Blue Plate Special.” Don’t miss them!!
John Job is a longtime Oak Ridge resident and frequent contributor to The Oak Ridger.
