INTERVIEW: Betsayda Machado y La Parranda El Clavo to play Afro-Venezuelan music in NJ
Venezuelan singer Betsayda Machado will play a special concert Saturday, July 22 at 7 p.m. at the Pettoranello Gardens Amphitheater in Princeton, New Jersey. The evening of music will also feature Machado’s band, La Parranda El Clavo, plus a special set from Sammy Figueroa and His Latin Jazz Experience.
The concert, presented by Blue Curtain in cooperation with the Princeton Recreation Department, is free for all attendees.
Audience members should expect to hear some of Machado’s Afro-Venezuelan heritage. She comes from the small village of El Clavo, Venezuela, and her band develops their songs around the politics and stories of their community. The instruments at Machado’s concerts are quite diverse, ranging from the tambora to the tumbadora to the culoepuya drums to the cumaco.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Machado’s representative. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What can fans expect from your concert in Princeton, New Jersey?
A high energy concert and also a journey through different regions and sounds of the Venezuelan coast. You will see drums and dancing.
I started singing when I was 5. My dad was a musician, and all of us sang or played instruments. We are 15 siblings, and music was the common language of our house. I didn’t decide I wanted to be a professional musician until my 20s though. I studied to be an administrator/accountant but couldn’t escape music. It was my calling.
Everyone plays music in El Clavo, mostly because of our calendar of popular festivities. It’s part of the local culture to sing and dance, be it for Christmas, Cruz de Mayo, the festivities of St. John, our mother saint Santa Rosa or other traditional festivities. We build our own drums as well with a tree called lano and with bamboo. Music is everywhere.
When I was kid, the town was going through a much better moment. The country was going through a better moment. We had a library then, plenty [of] stores, local business and humble bed and breakfasts. They projected films every once in a while. None of that exists today. Then some of the greatest bands in Venezuela would stop and play in El Clavo, and some great musicians were born there. It was inspiring and beautiful.
Honest, joyous, based on true life experiences and hot as fire.
We are here, but our mind is there, thinking about about our families and children, their health and food. It’s not easy what Venezuela is going through. All that is happening in Venezuela today is heartbreaking, and we are all directly affected by it. We are concentrating all of our energy and desire on a better future.
What’s it like to work with those instrumentalists on stage?
They are my childhood friends, my family. It’s a group of families. There’s a mother and a son, a couple of brothers. My sister is also involved. Every day that passes we accumulate more experience. It’s been 30 years celebrating our traditions. To be able to do it today [in] a more formal way, [on] so many stages, sharing our culture and traditions with the world, is priceless.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Betsayda Machado y La Parranda El Clavo will perform Saturday, July 22 at 7 p.m. at the Pettoranello Gardens Amphitheater in Princeton, New Jersey. She joins Sammy Figueroa and His Latin Jazz Experience on a double bill. The concert is free. Click here for more information.
