Appalatin’s foot-stomping, hip-swinging sounds organically unite Appalachian folk and high-energy Latin music. The name, Appalatin, reflects the unexpected meeting in Louisville, KY of Kentucky-raised musicians and masterful Latin émigrés from Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. Their all-acoustic performances of traditional stings of guitar, mandolin, upright bass, and charango, indigenous Andean flutes, hand percussion, harmonica and vocal harmonies have brought joy and happiness to listeners of all ages.
In May of 2013, the band released its second studio album, Waterside. The album features original music and interpretations of traditional songs from their native regions of Kentucky, Central America, and the Andes. On the new album, Appalatin follows their instincts with a bilingual shift between languages, styles, and vibes. From the seriously Americana-inflected title track "Down by the Waterside" and “Danville Breakdown”, to upbeat acoustic Latin “La Linea”, to the outright Andean traditional tune “Alpa Mayo” and Fernando Moya’s Quechua contribution, “Ñuka Shungo,” Appalatin’s infectiously danceable tunes spring from the band’s shared love of roots music.
After starting out playing a weekly show at a local coffee shop for free coffee in 2006, the band has since performed at some of their region’s most prestigious stages and venues. Since the release of their first album in 2011, the band has shared the stage with Red Baraat, Sam Bush, Claire Lynch, The Black Lilies, La Santa Cecilia, and Ben Sollee. They have performed at the RiverRoots Music and Folk Arts Festival (IN), CityFolk Festival (OH), Worldfest (KY), Culturefest (WV), and in May of 2013, they had the honor of performing before 10,000+ people in Louisville’s Yum! Center at the Dalai Lama’s Public Talk. They have also appeared on radio shows such as Michael Jonathon's Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour, Red Barn Radio, 91.9 FM WFPK’s "Live Lunch", Kentucky Homefront, and were featured on West Virginia Public Radio’s “Inside Appalachia.” In addition, the track “Alpa Mayo” from their Waterside album has appeared on PRI’s “The World.”
In 2014, the band was awarded the Americana Award by the Louisville Music Awards Academy. In addition they are the feature of a Emmy-nominated PBS-affiliate documentary in the Kentucky Muse series, now distributed nationwide on public stations. The band released its 3rd studio recorded album in the spring of 2018.