We recently connected with Daniel Severin and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Daniel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

We are a folk/popular Latin American music band based in Baltimore. Our aim is to translate into the music our experiences brought to the city of Baltimore from our countries and create an atmosphere that invites our audience to explore the diversity of Latin American culture. We hope to be remembered as who expanded the local cultural and musical landscape to Charm City.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We are an ensemble of strings, accordion, percussion, and vocals, essentially acoustic instruments, and we play Latin American music from Chile, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Honduras, Mexico, and Cuba. Our lyrics are in Spanish.

We perform in restaurants, events organized by the local community, festivals, etc. Some of the music we play has potent poetry, and the lyrics need to be listened to with more attention; this music is suitable for acoustic venues. But we also play danceable and lively rhythms that fit a festival kind of mood.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I’m Daniel Severin, and I will tell you the story of our band, SON DEL SUR, a tale of people reconnecting to their roots and connecting with others on the same journey. We started in 2018 when a Spanish rock band recently created in Baltimore called BAD HOMBRES was presenting in Mt. Vernon. It was packed with people interested to know more about the Latin culture. Cecilia Suarez and I met during the show and connected with David Vass, the guitar player and singer of the Bad Hombres band. At that time, we all agreed that finding Latin American live music in Baltimore was challenging and even more complicated to find music genres different than those traditionally associated in the US with Latin American culture. For instance, nobody played South American Cuecas, Sayas, Peruvian Valses, Argentinian Zambas, Boleros, etc. After that inspiring conversation, we decided to make a band that plays a broad spectrum of Latin American music. We connected with other fellow musicians in the area, and soon after, Lilian Perez, from Honduras, joined the band on vocals; Gustavo Diaz, from Ecuador, on the accordion; and Eddy Cartagena, from Puerto Rico, on the bass. We picked the name SON DEL SUR, meaning we are from the south in Spanish. We were invited to play in several social events organized for the Latin community in Baltimore, and we had the opportunity to share the stage with BAD HOMBRES and CONJUNTO BRUJA, a Baltimore-based Latin-Mideast folk ensemble. We also participated in events organized by local organizations such as Cocina Luchadoras, Mera Kitchen, and Roots and Raices. We were supported by Yesenia Mejias, the CIELO Director & Artesanas Coordinator from Creative Alliance. They all helped us get to be known in the Baltimore Latin scene.

Then, COVID-19 arrived and hit Baltimore. We are all connected to this part of the story; the pandemic was a significant event that greatly restructured our society at different levels. Our band wasn’t the exception; we stopped playing in public, and some of us started different pathways. Only Lilian and I stayed in the loop; Son del Sur was still alive.

However, it wasn’t until the middle of 2021 that we started regaining momentum. First, Lilian and I met Enrique Olivares, a fellow Chilean singer, and strings player with a massive repertoire of Latin American music. Also, we played for a while with Kacey Rajkovich, a charming Minnesotan clarinet player who inspired us to expand our repertoire. Then, Enrique brought to the band Carlos Bahamón, a great Colombian musician with amazing charisma. Our last recruit was Jorge Gutierrez, a versatile Mexican musician who contributes with fresh melodies and the magic sound of his accordion. So right now, we are five musicians who aim to translate into the music our experiences brought to Baltimore from our countries and create an atmosphere that invites our audience to explore the diversity of Latin American culture. Lately, we have collaborated with Charanga Productions, Nuestras Raíces, and Cartagena Band in Bayside Cantina Bar and look forward to increasing our network. Son del Sur is becoming a bug in Baltimore’s ear, and we continue striving to expand the local cultural and musical landscape.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The pandemic was a struggling and defining moment in the story of our band. For that reason, more details are included in the previous question.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sondelsurbmore/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sondelsurbmore