Earlham Echo

Parranderos Latin Combo mixes
up some spicy salsa, and more

June 18, 2024

Trying to define ‘Latin music’ is a nearly impossible task. The term is somewhat of a catchall phrase used to describe a broad spectrum of musical styles that originated just about everywhere Spanish is spoken. Then consider the myriad of sub-categories of Latin music: salsa, cumbia, samba, son montuno, Afrobeat, plena, vallenato, salsa dura, etc. All of those styles have nuances of their own and would require description that is, frankly, beyond this writer’s knowledge.

But don’t worry. Just come see Parranderos Latin Combo (PLC) in Earlham on June 23 for a lesson in all of the above—and more. All you really need to know before you get there is that the music is going to swing hard—and you will feel the urge to get out of your lawn chair, move near the front of the stage, and shake what your mama gave you. Don’t fight it.

Ask the band what kind of music they play, and they’ll probably tell you ‘salsa.’ After all, salsa music (like the delicious condiment of the same name) is a tempting mixture of a lot of good things. But, of course, salsa is just an appetizer.

“The music we write is not based in just salsa or ‘Latin music,’” said founding member and percussionist Ryan Mullin. “We’re pretty much wide open to anything that we want to do. So our influences are pretty broad. Some of them are very pop oriented and some of them are as raw as northern African music.”

PLC is a revolving and evolving musical collective founded in 2010 by Mullin and Fernando Aveiga. Mullin is an Iowa native that graduated from Des Moines East, but he’s been around. And around. He’s also lived in Florida, Los Angeles, Colorado, and Austin, TX, and has traveled extensively outside the country. His journeys have always been about music, and along the way, he met a ton of good musicians. Many of those guys, from as far away as the countries of Colombia and Ecuador, are members of PLC today. Officially, PLC is ‘Des Moines-based,’ but the band is truly worldwide. So obviously, it’s not easy for everybody to get together—just because of geography—but many of the players are also busy members of other successful groups, as well. The fact that all these players put effort into convening as PLC tells you that something special is happening. 

“It’s best for everybody’s schedule if we look at 5 or 6 times a year to come together. And that’s what we do,” said Mullin. “I tell my booking agent to look for things on these dates and that’s where we end up. If we get an anchor gig, then we schedule some gigs around it and just make it happen and do as much we can while we have everybody.”

Iowa may seem like a strange home base for a Latin music band, but there are many bands that have been playing in that style for a long time to diverse audiences. For creative freedom, Iowa may actually be a better environment than some of the countries where the music is more a part of daily life for its fans than it is here.

“Part of our sound is because we’re in Des Moines,” said Mullin. “There are no rules for us here. Nobody is expecting us to be a certain way. If we went to Colombia and played what we played, they would say, ‘Wow that’s weird. Why does it sound like that? And why are you playing cumbia and salsa?’ Usually groups just stick to one or the other. For us, we’re in Iowa, right? So we’re a combination. We’re trying to entertain people that come from central America, from Mexico, from Colombia, from Puerto Rico, from the Dominican Republic. Over the years, we’ve played the music that they want to hear. But that’s changed a lot, too, as we get older and more mature as a group. It’s more important for us to stay who we are and hone our sound. But our sound is very eclectic.”