Aurelio Martinez, singer-songwriter, guitarist and percussionist, is a cultural warrior for the Garifuna people of the Caribbean Coast of Central America. He and his band find a warm, inviting, danceable space creating a sound influenced by the Garifuna’s West African and Amerindian ancestry. On stage, Aurelio’s passion for his culture is equally matched by his guitar solos and warm vocal delivery.

The original home of the Garifuna is in St. Vincent, which is one of the windward islands in the West Indies, where a distinct culture developed that combined West African and Amerindian influences. The Garifunas were deported in 1796 by the British government from St. Vincent and sought refuge on Roatan island, situated in the Bay Islands of Honduras. They later dispersed along the Central American coast, but held on to a their language (Garifuna), and their own music and culture.