What We Heard At The Best Festivals For Latin Alternative Music

Every summer, Alt.Latino hits the road to attend the three largest Latin music festivals and it gets harder and harder to catch it all. The number of bands playing music for fans at the RuidoFest in Chicago, NuevoFest in Philadelphia and the Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC) in NYC continues to grow as does the number of fans braving the heat to hear bands that are pretty much ignored by the larger music festivals around the country.

As the saying goes, ni modo. There is plenty of music exploration and joy to be had as many of the bands already familiar to Alt.Latino listeners rub shoulders with up-and-comers as well as bands from Latin countries travelling for the first time in the U.S.

In fact, you can hear the musicians talk and jam for yourself. Alt.Latino contributor Marisa Arbona-Ruiz turns on her audio recorder and lets the chips fall where they may at the LAMC. She listened in on advise, impromtu performances and jam sessions that will catch your ear. Catalina Maria Johnson fights the elements and the noise at RuidoFest to introduce us to artists we should know. And I hung out on the green room at NuevoFest for a drumming session with a bunch of singers. Go figure! -- Felix Contreras

Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.