About
La Parranda El Clavo and their clarion-voiced leader Betsayda Machado have inspired international acclaim for the exuberant sounds of their Afro-Venezuelan heritage. The New York Times declared them "the kind of group that [music] fans have always been thrilled to discover: vital, accomplished, local, ... deeply rooted."
The music of the Barlovento region on Venezuela's Caribbean coast is based in African sounds and rhythms, nurtured and adapted by cacao-plantation workers and their descendants over centuries. Notable among these traditions is the parranda, a troupe of singers who serenade neighbors house-to-house at Christmas time. With intricate call-and-response harmonies, polyrhythmic percussion, and vibrant dancing, the parranderos weave tales of local history, make pointed social commentary, and celebrate life's passages.
Founded thirty years ago in tiny El Clavo (population approx. 1,500), Parranda El Clavo has become the sound of the town's cultural life year-round, playing parties, saints' days, weddings, and funerals. Betsayda Machado and her siblings grew up at the center of the parranda: the Machado house was the parranderos' home base. Betsayda left El Clavo for the capital, Caracas, at age 18, starting a career as one of the country's best-loved Afro-Venezuelan singers. She is celebrated today across Venezuela as "the Black Voice of Barlovento," carrier of a deep knowledge of this nearly lost traditional music she first learned as a member of the parranda.
Now Betsayda has embarked on a multifaceted project to bring the joyous and compelling music of El Clavo to the world. Following a wildly successful first international tour in 2016, the 12-member group is exploring the history of their town and their music: this year they are taking DNA tests, and planning a tour of their ancestral points of origin in Africa. They are also working to harness global interest in their story and their music to develop sustainability projects for El Clavo and other villages in Barlovento, building a vibrant future out of the power of their cultural legacy.