Nil Lara was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Cuban immigrants, but spent a large part of his childhood in Venezuela where music teaching acquainted him with the country's folk traditions.
... At 8, he had mastered cuatro - a four-string Venezuelan instrument from which he graduated to the guitar. While studying at University of Florida, he rediscovered his Cuban roots in guajiro, the Cuban equivalent of country, and "son" - Cuban music's answer to the blues.
This led him to the tres, a Cuban instrument with a totally unique sound and with the status of a grass roots instrument in Cuba. Lara combines Western and Central American musical inspirations on his records.
