BY KAREN BOSSICK
Imagine “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” with Latin rhythms!
That’s what you will get with Che Apalache, which will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, at the Liberty Theatre in Hailey.
The four-man string band from Buenos Aires, Argentina, plays Latingrass, a blend of South American music and American bluegrass.
They fuse Latin rhythms with a cappella mountain gospel songs in four-part harmony, occasionally adding banjo, guitar, fiddle and bass accompaniment.
“This group is so unique that I thought they’d be absolutely perfect for our Performing Arts Series,” said Kristine Bretall, director of Performing Arts at The Sun Valley Center for the Arts. “They are truly a group unlike any other.”
She’s not their only fan.
They’ve also knocked the socks off Bela Fleck, the banjo legend who produced their most recent album “Rearrange My Heart.”
“This blend of Appalachian and Latin music took me completely off guard and won me over instantly,” said Fleck. “This is a band to watch!”
The band features guitarist Franco Martino and mandolin player Martin Bobrik from Argentina. Banjo player Paul Barjau hails from Mexico and founder and fiddle player Joe Troop moved to Argentina from the United States in 2010.
They named their band “Che,” which means “brother,” “sis” or “homie,” and “apalache,” which means Appalachian. Consequently, the name can be translated as “my Appalachian homeboy,” symbolic of their hopes of achieving unity in the Americas.
They sing in both Spanish and English and have occasionally been known to inject a little Japanese in their repertoire.
In addition to performing Friday night, Che Apalache will perform for more than 240 Blaine County high school students at the Liberty Theatre as part of The Center’s student enrichment mission.
Their residency is supported by Joyce B. Friedman in honor of Norman Friedman; Robin Leavitt and Terry Friedlander, Lloyd Construction, Inc.; Jane Rosen and Scott Miley, Kay Tenney and Bozo Cardozo, Bex Wilkinson and the Marshall Frankel Foundation, and Neil Zussman and Cathy Whinnery.
Tickets to Friday’s performance are $30 and $55 for Center members, $40 and $65 for nonmembers and $15 and $27.50 for students.
They can be purchased online at www.sunvalleycenter.org, by calling 208-726-9491 or in person at The Center box office at 191 Fifth Street East in Ketchum.