The Cubero Brothers (Los Hermanos Cuberos), Spain’s top bluegrass hybrid brother duet team, has released a new EP of their distinctive music, blending Castilian folk music with our beloved bluegrass.
A burrasca perdida contains 4 tracks, 2 traditional Spanish songs, and two Cubero originals. Hermano Roberto plays mandolin, highly influenced by Bill Monroe’s style, and hermano Enrique is on guitar, playing flatpicking rhythm just as is common in a bluegrass band.
The EP is available for download through bandcamp.com, and the brothers have recorded live versions of the songs and tunes on video. You can watch all four in the player below, switching between videos using the controls at the bottom of the player.
The first (El Aire) and last (Habanera de Maranchón) are Castilian folk songs, while the second (El vigor del dulzainero) is an instrumental of Roberto’s, and the third (Amor inefable) was written by Enrique. Roberto tells us that El vigor del dulzainero is in a Spanish folk dance form called rebolada, similar to an Irish jig.
Even if you don’t understand Spanish, it’s fascinating to see the influence of bluegrass on the music of Los Hermanos Cuberos. Well done boys!
