Salvadoran band tours
Lara Pullin
Erupo Nacascol was born out of the ruins of Colonia Dolores, a community in San Salvador hard hit by the earthquake of October 1986.
Members of the group discovered their common love of music while working together in a grassroots organisation formed to help rebuild the neighbourhood.
Their name, Nacascol, is taken from a now nearly extinct tree in El Salvador. The group considers itself as rooted in the soil, beauty and cultural values of El Salvador. The seven members have dedicated themselves to preserving the traditional cultures of Latin America through music. They are artisans, painters, music students and graduates of El Centro Nacional de Artes in San Salvador.
The music of Nacascol reflects the diversity of their composition, as they explore traditional, contemporary and experimental forms of Latin American folk music. They perform with traditional instruments they make themselves — the chrango, curato, quena, bombo legiiero, zampona.
To overcome the impact of Western culture, Nacascol has developed a workshop for schools which re-acquaints Latin American children with their musical traditions — including the cultural traditions behind the songs they play, how each instrument is made and how it is played.
The vibrancy and passion of Nacascol make their music addictive. They come from the heart as they tell the tales of the old cultures, the indigenous peoples and their lands, and of the contemporary reality of the ordinary people — the women and children, the campesinos, the dispossessed.
Nacascol will be touring the eastern states until March in all major centres. Their first performance is a benefit concert at the Canberra Labor Club on December 18; all funds raised will be donated to the Committee to Defend Human Rights in El Salvador.