Joe Troop is a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. During his decade in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he formed the group Che Apalache with three of his students. The band’s second album, Rearrange My Heart, was produced by legendary genre-bender, banjoist Béla Fleck and received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Folk Album in 2020. Unfortunately, the pandemic has made international touring all but impossible, forcing Che Apalache into hiatus.
Working in a style dubbed “latingrass,” Joe melds music from the Appalachian foothills with traditional soundscapes from across Latin American. He composes wry and well-traveled acoustic music, sung in English and Spanish. Wrenching old-time music into the world of contemporary global politics, Joe creates spaces for sympathy, solidarity, and a little humor. His new solo album featuring Charlie Hunter, Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn, Tim O’Brien and many more superb musicians will be released in late summer.